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->''"From the moment you start talking to Stephen Dillane you realise this is a man who doesn't do bullshit. No equivocation, no meandering; he's thoughtful in his answers but straightforward. A professional."''
-->-- '''[[http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/stephen-dillane/28822/stephen-dillane-on-the-tunnel-and-game-of-thrones Rob Smedley]]'''

Stephen John Dillane (born 27 March 1957 in Kensington, London) is an English actor from [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs Kensington]]. Initially, he studied history and political science at the University of Exeter, and then became a journalist, but he was unhappy in this profession. He then switched to acting and entered the Bristol Old Vic theatre school, and his acting career began in the late 1980s. Since then, he has not yet been a headline actor, but he has been in several movies, shows, and plays.

His best-known roles have been as UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson on ''Series/JohnAdams'' and as King Stannis Baratheon on ''Series/GameOfThrones'', both of which happen to be HBO series.

His wife Naomi Wirthner, his brother Richard Dillane and his younger son Creator/FrankDillane are also actors.

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!Roles
* ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' (1985) as Bradford Galt
* ''Film/TheSecretGarden1987'' as Captain Lennox
* ''The One Game'' (1988) as Nicholas Thorne
* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' (1990 adaptation) as Horatio
* ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'' (1993 production) as Prior Walter
* ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' (1994 production) as Hamlet
* ''Endgame'' by Samuel Beckett (1996 production) as Clov
* ''Two If by Sea'' (1996) as Evan Marsh
* ''Film/WelcomeToSarajevo'' (1997) as Michael Henderson
* ''Firelight'' (1997) as Charles Godwin
* ''Uncle Vanya'' (1998 production)
* ''Literature/AnnaKarenina'' (2000 miniseries) as Karenin
* ''The Real Thing'' by Tom Stoppard (2000 production) as Henry (won a Tony)
* ''Film/SpyGame'' (2001) as Charles Harker
* ''Film/TheHours'' (2002) as Leonard Woolf
* ''Film/KingArthur2004'' as Merlin
* ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'' (2005) as Harry Vardon
* ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' (2005 one-man production)
* ''Series/JohnAdams'' (2008) as UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson (nominated for an Emmy)
* ''The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall'' (2008) as Anthony Hurndall (won British Academy Television Award for Best Actor)
* ''44 Inch Chest'' (2009) as Mal
* ''[[Series/{{Marple}} Marple: The Secret of Chimneys]]'' (2010) as Finch
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' (2012 - 2015) as King Stannis Baratheon
* ''Series/SecretState'' (2012) as Paul J. Clark
* ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'' (2012) as John Brennan
* ''Series/TheTunnel'' (2013) as Karl Roebuck
* ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'' (2013) as Michael Macratty
* ''Series/TheCrown2016'' as Graham Sutherland
* ''Film/DarkestHour2017'' as Viscount Halifax
* ''Film/OutlawKing'' (2018) as [[UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst Edward I of England]]
* ''Series/{{Alex Rider|2020}}'' (2020) as Alan Blunt
* ''Film/BoxingDay'' (2021) as Richard
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!!Tropes
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In his first years acting, his name was often misspelled as "Stephen Dillon."
* {{Typecasting}}: As straight-laced, powerful, semi-deadpan authority figures.
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