Adrian Lester

Lester was born on 14 August 1968 in Birmingham, the son of Jamaican immigrants, Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. His maternal grandfather, James Lester, had arrived in the United Kingdom in 1954, followed by his wife Mabel a year later. His mother was brought up by her grandparents in Jamaica until 1960, when she joined her parents in Birmingham at the age of 14.

From the age of 9, Lester sang as a boy treble in the choir of St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham. At 14, he began acting with the Birmingham Youth Theatre. After leaving Archbishop Masterson RC School, Lester attended Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College for one year, before winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1986, at which he completed three years of training, graduating in 1989.

Theatre:

Lester received an Ian Charleson Award commendation and a Time Out Award for his 1991 performance as Rosalind in Cheek by Jowl's all-male production of As You Like It. In 1992 he played Paul in the UK premiere of John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, alongside Stockard Channing at the Royal Court Theatre in a production that transferred to the West End's Comedy Theatre. The following year, he appeared as Anthony Hope in the National Theatre's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical. He has also appeared on stage as Robert in the Donmar Warehouse production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Company, for which he won an Olivier Award, and in the title role of Hamlet (Carlton TV Theatre Award).

In 2003, he played the title role in Henry V at the National Theatre.

In 2010, he played the part of Brick in Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre in London.

In 2012, he appeared as Ira Aldridge in the play Red Velvet, written by his wife Lolita Chakrabarti.

Lester played the part of Othello in the Shakespeare play of the same name in 2013 alongside Rory Kinnear as Iago at the National Theatre. Both actors won the Best Actor award in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for their roles; the award is traditionally given to only one actor, but the judges were unable to choose between the pair.

In 2018, he played Sky Masterson in the Royal Albert Hall production of Guys and Dolls.

In 2021, he appeared in the live-streamed production of Hymn written by his wife Lolita Chakrabarti for the Almeida Theatre. The play co-starred Danny Sapani and was performed with social distancing in place in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions.

He made his Broadway debut in the 2021 production of The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes. His performance earned him a Tony Award nomination.

Lester made his debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2025, playing the title character in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. In January 2026, it was announced that the production would be transferring to the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End later in the year.

Television:

In 1997, Lester starred in an episode of Silent Witness. It was in a two-part episode of series two entitled "Cease upon the Midnight", where he played the part of Danny Morris. For his role in the BBC feature-length drama Storm Damage, in 2000 he was nominated for the EMMA Award for Best TV Actor.

He is known for playing a big-time con artist named Michael "Mickey Bricks" Stone on the BBC television series Hustle between 2004 and 2012. The character was written out of the fourth series and replaced by Ashley Walters, although Lester returned from the fifth series (2009) onwards.

On American television, he appeared on the sitcom Girlfriends from 2002 to 2003, as Ellis Carter, a film star who dated Tracee Ellis Ross's character, Joan Clayton.

In late 2005, he had a major guest-starring role in Channel 4's police drama The Ghost Squad.

In 2008, he starred on the BBC drama Bonekickers, a programme focusing on a team of archaeologists.

He played the character Myror in a 2009 episode of the British television drama Merlin.

In 2024, Netflix announced that Lester would play the role of Destiny of the Endless in the upcoming second season of The Sandman.

Film:

Lester played campaign manager Henry Burton in Mike Nichols' film Primary Colors (1998), based on the novel by Anonymous (Joe Klein). His character is believed to represent George Stephanopoulos. This part earned him a Chicago Film Critics Association award nomination for "Most Promising Actor".

He appeared as Dumain in Kenneth Branagh's Love's Labour's Lost (2000), a musical adaptation of the William Shakespeare play, set in the 1930s. The film itself was poorly received, but Lester received a British Independent Film Awards nomination for his performance.

In The Day After Tomorrow, Lester had a small but important role as Simon, one of the three researchers who drink a toast of "twelve-year-old Scotch" shortly before freezing to death.

He filmed scenes for Spider-Man 3 (2007), as a research scientist who is sought after by the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) to find a cure for his ailing daughter. He was seen in one teaser trailer for the film; however, his scenes were cut from the final theatrical version.

Other work:

In 2010, Lester appeared in the documentary When Romeo Met Juliet together with his wife Lolita Chakrabarti as acting mentors to the pupils of two Coventry schools involved in a production of Romeo and Juliet.

He recorded Alpha Force: Survival, an audio book written by Chris Ryan.

Lester was the presenter at the 2024 Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance Festival at the Royal Albert Hall.

In 1997 Lester married actress and writer Lolita Chakrabarti, whom he met while they were both students at RADA. They lived in East Dulwich, south-east London with their two daughters. They divorced in 2024.

In 2007, Lester took part in Empire's Children, a Channel 4 documentary exploring the journey taken by the "Windrush Generation" to the United Kingdom. Lester's grandfather, Kenneth Nathaniel Lester, was to be included in the documentary, but was unwell during filming in Jamaica and could not be interviewed. Kenneth died soon after the documentary completed filming and never saw the programme aired.

In April 2013, Lester appeared on the Cultural Exchange feature of Front Row on BBC Radio 4, a feature of the programme where people had to choose a piece of art that meant a great deal to them. He chose "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley.

Lester holds a 4th Dan black belt in Moo Duk Kwan Taekwondo.