2003–2010 Carvel has appeared in
Revelations at the
Hampstead Theatre, in
Rose Bernd at the
Arcola Theatre, as Alexander Ashbrook in the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007
National Theatre production of
Helen Edmundson's
Coram Boy and in their productions of
The Life of Galileo and
The Man of Mode, in
Parade at the
Donmar Warehouse, and in
Matilda the Musical at the
Cambridge Theatre, produced by the
Royal Shakespeare Company. Carvel was nominated for the
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in
Parade in 2008. He won the award in the same category in
2012 for his performance as
Miss Trunchbull in
Matilda the Musical, a production that won six other Oliviers. Carvel also won the UK's
TMA Award for Best Performance in a Musical and was similarly nominated for the London's
Evening Standard Award. He played Enrico in
Damned By Despair at the
National Theatre.
2011–2020 From 2011 to 2024, Carvel was the voice of the male Imperial Agent in the
MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic until the role was reassigned to
Wilf Scolding. In March 2013, he reprised his role as
Miss Trunchbull in Matilda on
Broadway at the
Shubert Theatre. This won him a
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical and a nomination for
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, one of only a handful of nominations for an actor portraying a character of the opposite sex. From August to October 2015, Carvel played both Pentheus and Agave in
Bakkhai at the Almeida Theatre. Carvel also performed as Yank in the play
The Hairy Ape at
the Old Vic in November of the same year. In February 2016, Carvel announced his directorial debut. He directed the play
Strife at the
Minerva Theatre, Chichester, which opened in August 2016. In September 2017, Carvel played the role of
Rupert Murdoch in the play
Ink by James Graham, which debuted at the Almeida Theatre before transferring to the West End. In April 2019
Ink transferred to Broadway, with Carvel reprising his role. This performance won him a
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Carvel other project’s include
The Wrong Mans,
Babylon,
Doctor Who (episode "
The Lazarus Experiment"),
Sherlock (episode "
The Blind Banker"),
Bombshell,
Hawking,
The Crimson Petal and the White,
Money and
Midsomer Murders (episode "The Great and the Good"). He played
Lord Carmarthen in
John Adams. In the television film
Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures, he played Christie's second husband
Max Mallowan. Carvel appeared as Bamatabois in the film
Les Misérables, based on the musical of
the same name. In 2009, Carvel played Wormwood in
Focus on the Family's audio adaptation of
The Screwtape Letters, alongside
Andy Serkis as Screwtape. This production was a 2010 Audie Award finalist. In 2015, Carvel starred as Jonathan Strange in the
BBC One adaptation of
Susanna Clarke's novel
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, opposite
Eddie Marsan as Gilbert Norrell. He played
Nick Clegg in the
Channel 4 drama
Coalition and in September appeared as the unfaithful husband of
Suranne Jones's title character in the BBC One thriller series
Doctor Foster. The second series of
Doctor Foster started filming in September 2016 and was broadcast in September 2017.
2021–present Since 2021, Carvel has starred as
Adam Dalgliesh in
Helen Edmundson's
Dalgliesh. He plays former Prime Minister
Tony Blair in the fifth and sixth series of
The Crown. In April 2025, it was revealed that Bertie Carvel would serve as the narrator for the upcoming revival of
Walking With Dinosaurs. In 2022, he returned to
The Old Vic to play US President
Donald Trump in
The 47th, a play by
Mike Bartlett. Carvel portrays Baelor Targaryen in the series
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026). On June 9, 2025, it was reported that Carvel would play Cornelius Fudge in the upcoming
Harry Potter television series. ==Personal life==