Stage Ifans' early stage work included
Hamlet at Theatr Clwyd, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the
Regent's Park Theatre, and
Under Milk Wood and
Volpone at the
National Theatre. He appeared at the
Donmar Warehouse in 2003's
Accidental Death of an Anarchist. In 2006, he returned to the London stage in
Michael Grandage's production of
Don Juan in Soho at the
Donmar Warehouse. In 2016, Ifans played Fool alongside
Glenda Jackson in
Deborah Warner's production of
King Lear, at The
Old Vic. He returned to The Old Vic to play
Ebenezer Scrooge in
Matthew Warchus' production of
A Christmas Carol (adapted by
Jack Thorne) in 2017 and in 2018 returned to the National Theatre to play King Berenger in
Patrick Marber's new adaptation of
Eugene Ionesco's
Exit the King. Ifans was given the role of
Atticus Finch in
Aaron Sorkin's
To Kill A Mockingbird to begin at London's Gielgud Theatre on 21 May 2020. The play was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but was rescheduled for May 2021. The role of Atticus Finch was later given to
Rafe Spall due to scheduling conflicts.
Television Ifans appeared in many
Welsh-language television programmes before embarking on his film career, including the comedy show ''
, as well as performing at the National Theatre, London and the Royal Exchange, Manchester. In 1990, he presented Stwnsh'' (Welsh for "Mash"), an anarchic children's quiz programme; 31 fifteen-minute programmes were broadcast on Welsh-language TV channel
S4C. In 2000, he narrated the children's animated series
Sali Mali for
S4C. In 2004, his performance as
Peter Cook in the TV film
Not Only But Always won him the
BAFTA Best Actor at the
2005 British Academy Television Awards. In 2005, Ifans made a guest appearance for the rock band
Oasis in the video for their single "
The Importance of Being Idle" (where he mimed to
Noel Gallagher's vocals), for which he accepted their award for Video of the Year at the 2006
NME Awards. He has also appeared in the music videos for "God! Show Me Magic" and "Hometown Unicorn" by
Super Furry Animals, "
Mulder and Scully" by
Catatonia, and "
Mama Told Me Not to Come" by
Tom Jones with
Stereophonics. In 2008, he appeared in "Six Days One June", one of three episodes of the TV series
The Last Word Monologues, written by
Hugo Blick and broadcast on
BBC Two. He played a lonely Welsh farmer trying to free himself from a domineering mother. From 2016 to 2019, Ifans portrayed hard-nosed American CIA case officer Hector DeJean in the U.S. pay-cable
Epix network espionage thriller drama series
Berlin Station, filmed on location in Berlin. Ifans plays Otto Hightower in the
Game of Thrones prequel
House of the Dragon, which premiered 21 August 2022.
Film Following his role as Jeremy Lewis in the
Swansea-based movie
Twin Town (1997) alongside his brother
Llŷr, Ifans gained international exposure in his role as slovenly housemate Spike in the British film
Notting Hill (1999). Reportedly, in preparation for the role, Ifans did not wash himself or brush his teeth. He played Adrian, the pompous eldest brother in
Little Nicky (2000). Other film roles include: Eyeball Paul in
Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), Nigel in
The Replacements (2000), Iki in
The 51st State (2001), William Dobbin in
Vanity Fair (2004), and Vladis Grutas in
Hannibal Rising (2007). He played Jed Parry in the 2004 film version of
Ian McEwan's
Enduring Love, and the lead role in
Danny Deckchair (2003) as Danny Morgan. Ifans revealed in March 2009 that he was to appear in
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). He played Xenophillius Lovegood, editor of the wizarding magazine
The Quibbler and father of the eccentric
Luna Lovegood. In the same interview, he announced that he would play the title role in the film
Mr. Nice, based on the life of the drug smuggler
Howard Marks. He played Nemo Nobody's father in
Mr. Nobody, and a villain in
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang. On 11 October 2010
Associated Press confirmed that Ifans would portray the villain in the
Spider-Man reboot film
The Amazing Spider-Man. The villain was revealed as the
Curt Connors / Lizard a few days later, and the film was released in July 2012. In 2015, Ifans starred in ''
She's Funny That Way'', directed by
Peter Bogdanovich. Ifans also starred in
Steven Bernstein's
Last Call, which was released theatrically, followed an extremely long delay, in the US on 25 November 2020. It is a
surrealistic
biopic, which recreates the life of Welsh poet
Dylan Thomas through flashbacks during the famous drinking binge at the White Horse Tavern in
New York City which ended fatally during the fall of 1953. It stars Ifans as Thomas alongside
John Malkovich,
Rodrigo Santoro,
Romola Garai,
Zosia Mamet, and
Tony Hale. On 16 November 2021 it was revealed, through the film's official trailer, that Ifans would reprise his role as Lizard from
The Amazing Spider-Man in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe film
Spider-Man: No Way Home, to be released on 17 December. Later it was revealed that Ifans was not actually present on set and only lent his voice for the character created through digital means, with his human form at the end of the film being from archival footage from
The Amazing Spider-Man. Ifans also appeared as
Grigori Rasputin in the spy film ''
The King's Man'', which was released in December 2021.
Music Ifans was briefly lead vocalist of the rock band
Super Furry Animals before they released any records. Since 2007, Ifans has sung with the
psychedelic rock band
The Peth ("peth" is Welsh for "thing"), featuring Super Furry Animals'
Dafydd Ieuan, which played a number of concert dates in south Wales and in London in the autumn of 2008. In 2009 the band supported
Oasis at a concert in the
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. ==Personal life==