Theatre Hodge has acted in plays by
Harold Pinter, including ''
No Man's Land at the Comedy Theatre in February 1993; Moonlight at the Almeida Theatre in September 1993; A Kind of Alaska
,The Lover; The Collection at the Donmar Warehouse in May 1998; as Jerry in Betrayal'' at the
Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre, in November 1998; and as Aston in
The Caretaker at the
Comedy Theatre in November 2000, co-starring
Michael Gambon (Davies) and
Rupert Graves (Mick), directed by
Patrick Marber – for which he was nominated for an
Olivier Award for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In April 2003 he portrayed Andrei in
Michael Blakemore's revival of
Chekhov's
Three Sisters at the
Playhouse Theatre. In 2004, he made his Royal Court debut as Barry in
Joe Penhall's study of entrapment journalism
Dumb Show, directed by
Terry Johnson. Hodge's directorial debut came in 2004, at the
Oxford Playhouse in a double bill of
The Dumb Waiter and Other Pieces. Hodge appeared in the 2005 revival of
Guys and Dolls at the
Piccadilly Theatre playing Nathan Detroit opposite
Ewan McGregor playing Sky Masterson. He received an
Olivier Award nomination for his performance. During the summer of 2006, he acted the title role in
Titus Andronicus, at
Shakespeare's Globe. Simultaneously, he made his West End directorial debut with
See How They Run, a 1940s wartime farce by
Philip King, preceded by a UK tour. When his production opened in the West End,
Nancy Carroll took over from
Hattie Morahan in the role of the vicar's young wife. In May 2007 he displayed a
lyric tenor voice as Frank, the neurosurgeon in
A Matter of Life and Death with the
Kneehigh Theatre company at the National Theatre, a production with music, based on events in the film of the same name. Also in 2007 he guest starred in the
Doctor Who audio dramas
Urban Myths and
Son of the Dragon. In 2008, Hodge starred as Albin in the London revival of
La Cage aux Folles which played originally at the
Menier Chocolate Factory. He later reprised this role at the
Playhouse Theatre in the West End and won the 2009
Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Hodge received an
Olivier Award nomination for his performance. In 2012, Hodge returned to
Broadway when he starred as Cyrano de Bergerac in the
Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of
Cyrano de Bergerac at the
American Airlines Theatre. In October 2012, Hodge was cast as Willy Wonka in the musical
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane London. In 2015, Hodge made his debut as a Broadway director, helming a revival of Pinter's 1971 play
Old Times, which starred
Clive Owen,
Eve Best and
Kelly Reilly, and opened at the
American Airlines Theatre.
Writing Hodge wrote a musical with
Aschlin Ditta, temporarily called
Meantime.
Josefina Gabrielle,
Denis Lawson and several others participated in a cast recording, and actors including
Rory Kinnear,
Indira Varma and
Cillian Murphy participated in a reading of the book. He wrote the music and lyrics for the musical
101 Dalmatians, based on the
novel by
Dodie Smith with a book by Johnny McKnight (from a stage adaptation by
Zinnie Harris) at the
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. The musical was due to open in May 2020, however was postponed to July 2022 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Directing Hodge has parallel careers as a writer, director and composer, most recently directing
Torch Song Trilogy at the
Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012. He was associate director at the
Donmar Theatre directing
Dimetos in 2009,
Absurdia in 2007. He directed the world premiere of
Last Easter by
Bryony Lavery at
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and
See How They Run. He also directed the
Millennium Dome Show in the year 2000.
Awards Hodge has received
Olivier Award nominations for
Best Actor for
Inadmissible Evidence in 2012 and
Best Actor in a Musical for
Guys and Dolls in 2006, winning
Best Actor in a Musical for
La Cage aux Folles in 2010. He was also nominated for Best Actor in the 2005
Evening Standard Awards for his role in
Dumbshow at the
Royal Court. Hodge starred as Albin in the Broadway transfer of
La Cage aux Folles, for which his performance won him a
Tony Award for
Best Actor in a Musical, a
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, and an
Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. He originally played the role in London in 2008 at the
Menier Chocolate Factory and then at the
Playhouse Theatre in the West End.
Television With Peter Searles, Hodge co-wrote ''Pacha Mama's Blessing
and Forest People'', about the
Amazon rainforest, performed by the
National Youth Theatre on
BBC Television in 1989. He appeared in the
BBC's production
Middlemarch, adapted by
Andrew Davies from the novel by
George Eliot and directed by
Anthony Page. In the US it aired on
Masterpiece Theatre in 1994. His other TV appearances include leading roles in
Behaving Badly (1989);
Capital City (1989–1990);
A Fatal Inversion (1992);
Bliss (1995);
Only Fools and Horses (1996)
The Uninvited (1997); ''
The Scold's Bridle (1998); Shockers: Dance
(1999); The Law'' (2000); the BBC serial adaptation of
Trollope's
The Way We Live Now (2001), as Roger Carbury;
The Russian Bride (2001);
Red Cap (2003–2004);
Spooks (2005);
ITV's 2007 adaptation of
Mansfield Park, as Sir Thomas Bertram; and the
made-for-TV film
Lift, directed by
James Hawes, a 2007
Hartswood Films production for
BBC Four, as Paul Sykes, "a constantly exasperated, highly-strung middle-aged businessman with commitments.". In 2010, he appeared in the episode "The Restaurant" of the third series of the
BBC sitcom
Outnumbered as Brick Bolenger, an American therapist who is married to Auntie Angela (played by
Samantha Bond). The character was involved in a story line of the fourth series in 2011, but never appeared on screen. In 2012, Hodge had a role in the BBC drama
One Night, as well as appearing in the conspiracy thriller miniseries
Secret State, and the ITV-1 drama
The Town. In 2016, he featured as Rex Mayhew in the BBC adaptation of
John le Carré's
The Night Manager. In 2017, he appeared in "
Black Museum", an episode of the
anthology series Black Mirror. He appeared as Inspector Bartholomew Rusk in the series
Penny Dreadful. He played Grimes in a BBC adaptation of
Evelyn Waugh's
Decline and Fall, alongside Jack Whitehall, Stephen Graham and David Suchet. From 2020 to 2023, Hodge played the role of General Velementov, head of Catherine the Great's armies in
The Great, alongside
Elle Fanning and
Nicholas Hoult.
Music Doug Hodge released two albums of his own compositions: "Cowley Road Songs" in 2005, and "Nightbus" in 2009. He won the Stiles and Drewe 2012 Best New Song Award for his song 'Powercut' from "Meantime", the musical he co-wrote with
Aschlin Ditta. "I've been writing songs all my life but — apart from the occasional girlfriend late at night — I'd never sung them to anyone. Then last year I finally started playing at various venues in and around
Oxford. Each time I wrote a new song I'd go down the Ex [on Cowley Road] and sing it... Then Rightback Records asked me to record them. We went into the Blue Moon Studios in
Banbury for just four days. This [Cowley Road Songs] is what we came out with..." – Douglas Hodge ==Personal life==