Distinguished stage, television, and film actor Toby Edward Heslewood Jones was born on September 7, 1966 in Hammersmith, London. His parents, Freddie Jones and Jennie Heslewood, are actors as well. Toby has two brothers: Rupert, a director, and Casper, a fellow actor. He studied Drama at the University of Manchester from 1986 to 1989, and at L'École Internationale de Théâtre in Paris under Jacques Lecoq in Paris from 1989 to 1991. Naturally, his career began on the stage (and continues there), but film and television roles came soon after his studies.
Toby made his film debut with a small role in Sally Potter's experimental take on Virginia Woolf's novel, Orlando (1992), starring Tilda Swinton. Other small film roles included the doorkeeper in Les misérables (1998) and a memorable turn as the Royal Page in À tout jamais: Une histoire de Cendrillon (1998) with Drew Barrymore.
Roles in the acclaimed Victoria et Albert (2001) and the Helen Mirren-starring Elizabeth I (2005) were balanced with film work, from his voice role as Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter et la chambre des secrets (2002) to supporting appearances in Les dames de Cornouailles (2004) (co-starring his father, Freddie), Neverland (2004), and Madame Henderson présente (2005).
He continued stage work during this period, appearing on Broadway in The Play What I Wrote in 2003, a year after winning the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the London production.
Scandaleusement célèbre (2006), directed by Douglas McGrath and released in 2006, was Toby's first starring role. His acclaimed portrayal of Truman Capote remained mostly in the shadow of Philip Seymour Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance of the author in 2005's Truman Capote (2005).
A steady stream of film roles followed with appearances in Amazing Grace (2006), Le voile des illusions (2006), La ronde de nuit (2007), The Mist (2007), and St Trinian's: Pensionnat pour jeunes filles rebelles (2007). Toby then appeared in three successive films that could have been commercial breakthroughs: kid-lit flop La cité de l'ombre (2008), the Oscar-nominated Frost/Nixon, l'heure de vérité (2008), and Oliver Stone's W., l'improbable président (2008).
He reprised the voice-role of Dobby in Harry Potter et les reliques de la mort: 1ère partie (2010), appeared in the St. Trinian's sequel, as well as the Charles Darwin biopic Création (2009) and Dustin Lance Black's post-Harvey Milk (2008) directorial outing, Virginia (2010). More Hollywood roles followed with appearances in Le rite (2011), Votre majesté (2011), and his first big live-action breakthrough as Red Skull's biochemist Dr. Arnim Zola in Captain America: First Avenger (2011).
Even before Toby was announced as Cladius Templesmith in the adaptation of the novel Hunger Games (2012), his star was on the rise after Captain America, with roles in three Oscar-nominated films: La taupe (2011), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and Les aventures de Tintin: Le secret de la Licorne (2011). Though chances are he will forever be known by many as Cladius, the announcer for The Hunger Games with the booming voice and penchant for ending his statements with the phrase, "And may the odds be ever in your favor!"
Toby followed up this massive success with roles in Red Lights (2012) for Buried director Rodrigo Cortés and a memorable turn as one of the dwarves in worldwide hit Blanche-Neige et le chasseur (2012). He will next be seen in The Girl (2012), a BBC/HBO co-production in which he stars as Alfred Hitchcock, in the miniseries Titanic (2012), Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio (2012), Susanne Bier's Serena (2014), and he will reprise his role as Cladius Templesmith in Hunger Games: L'embrasement (2013).
Toby lives in London with his family.
