Line #28 Creator/AnthonyHead


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anthonyhead.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm fortunate because people can't [[TypeCasting put a label on me]], which I embrace wholeheartedly."'']]
3
4	->''"All through childhood, I dressed up. My Christmas present was always a new dressing-up outfit, that my mother – who was a brilliant seamstress – would make herself. At playgroup the woman who ran it took my parents aside one day and said, we love it when Anthony comes in dressing-up clothes, but it would be really nice to meet Anthony himself one day – he gets absolutely immersed in whatever character he’s dressed up as."''
5
6	Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954 in Camden town, London) is a British actor best known as his role as Rupert Giles in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', and more recently as King Uther in ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}''. He also had a short role as Will's terrible dad in ''Film/TheInBetweeners'' (which his eldest daughter Emily also starred in).
7
8	He also has released several albums (''Music for Elevators'' in 2002, and ''Staring At The Sun'' in 2014), played Nathan in the RockOpera ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' and served up glorious sides of [[LargeHam ham]] as the [[EvilIsHammy evil guardian]] Mr Gently Benevolent in [[Creator/TheBBC Radio 4]]'s ''Radio/BleakExpectations''. He also played Michael the Prime Minister in sketch show ''Series/LittleBritain'' ("It's [[LampshadeHanging not the real prime minister]] of course, it's just [[ActorAllusion that bloke from Buffy]]"). Throughout the early 2000s he was a perennial fan suggestion as the actor who should be cast as the Doctor if ''Series/DoctorWho'' were revived. When it was, he appeared in the episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]] as VillainOfTheWeek, Mr. Lucas Finch. In the wider ''Who'' franchise he played LargeHam Grayvorn in the ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' Excelis story arc, and [[RuleOfThree another villain]] as the voice of SpacePirate Balthasar in the animated story ''[[Recap/DoctorWho2007TDWASTheInfiniteQuest The Infinite Quest]].'' He occasionally turns up in ''Radio/CabinPressure'' as [[Creator/RogerAllam Douglas]]'s old friend Herc Shipwright. More recently, he played the MadScientist Paracelsus in ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', obsessed with immortality. Lately he can be seen as the charismatic and incredibly scummy Rupert Mannion in ''Series/TedLasso''. Before he was famous he was also in an episode of ''Series/{{Highlander}}'', sadly not as an Immortal, however.
9
10	Long before he was Giles, he was most recognisable for being half of an insufferably smug WillTheyOrWontThey couple flirting over instant coffee in commercials for Nescafé and its [[TransAtlanticEquivalent American equivalent]] Taster's Choice.
11
12	Oh, and he played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in some performances of ''[[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow The Rocky Horror Show]]''.
13
14	He has a brother who is a veteran of musicals on the West End, named Murray Head. Murray is better known for his performances in the original ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar'' and his biggest chart hit, "One Night in Bangkok" (from a far less successful musical called ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'').
15
16	He has been with his partner Sarah Fisher since 1984, and they have two daughters, [[Creator/DaisyHead Daisy]] and Emily, who like him are actors.
17	----
18	!!Select Roles
19	* 1997 - 2003 -- ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' as Rupert Giles
20	* 2006 -- ''Series/DoctorWho'' as [[Characters/DoctorWhoVillains Mr. Finch/Brother Lassar]] ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]")
21	* 2021 -- ''Series/TedLasso'' as Rupert Mannion
22	----
23	!!Tropes associated with Anthony Head:
24	* ActorInspiredElement: James Marsters based Spike's London accent off Anthony's real voice. The character was at first written with a Texan accent. The inspiration is clear when he uses his natural accent to portray "Ripper" Giles in the episode "Band Candy."
25	* TheCastShowOff: He shows off his singing talents many times in ''Buffy'', before the MusicalEpisode even. He performs "Behind Blue Eyes" at the Bronze in 'Where The Wild Things Are' and sings his exposition in 'Restless'. Also subverted as his appearance in the Season 7 premiere was supposed to show off his horse riding skills, but he refused to gallop without a helmet which the crew worried would make him unrecognizable at a distance, so he simply has the horse walk.
26	* CastingGag: After playing the Prime Minister in ''Series/LittleBritain'' he got to play an actual former chancellor Geoffrey Howe in ''Film/TheIronLady''.
27	* DeletedRole: Was cast in the film version of ''Film/SweeneyTodd'' playing a ghost who sings "The Ballad of Sweeny Todd", its reprises and "Epilogue". The songs were recorded but deleted, as Tim Burton felt they were too theatrical for a film. He does still have a ten second cameo which presumably would have set up his later killing.
28	* FakeAmerican: For ''Dominion'', marking the first time he had done an American accent for a major production.
29	* TheOtherDarrin: He replaces Creator/PierceBrosnan as Chiron for ''Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters''.
30	* PlayingAgainstType: ''{{Series/Merlin\|2008}}'' was this at the time. Fans were still used to seeing him as Giles, so it was a big change to play a ruthless tyrant like Uther.
31	** He also played Mr. Vandemar in the radio adaptation of ''{{Literature/Neverwhere}}''. To clarify, Mr. Vandemar is an assassin generally considered one of the most terrifying things in existence, whose least creepy trait is his tendency to eat any animal he can grab that is small enough to fit in his mouth.
32	** Now playing an ''absolute bastard'' on ''Series/TedLasso'', but again a very different kind of bastard. Rupert is a superficially charming, always smiling, rich asshole who makes the main characters absolutely ''seethe'' with rage.
33	* PromotedFanboy: A fan of ''Series/DoctorWho'', he later appeared in two episodes.
34	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: He was PutOnABus in ''Buffy'''s sixth season to spend more time with his family.
35	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
36	** He screen-tested for the role of the [[Characters/DoctorWhoEighthDoctor Eighth Doctor]] in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who: The Movie]]'' before Creator/PaulMcGann was cast. He would later go on to portray Mr. Finch in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion "School Reunion"]].
37	** He auditioned for the part of Commander Sisko in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' before the casting of Creator/AveryBrooks.

Context Creator / AnthonyHead