Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans (born Rhys Owain Evans, July 22, 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician, who plays Captain Hook in the 2011 Syfy-Channel film Neverland. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth.

Early life
Ifans was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales. His first language is Welsh and he has said that he began using the Welsh spelling of his last name, "just to be difficult".

Ifans grew up in Ruthin, North Wales, and received his primary education at Ysgol Pentrecelyn, where his mother worked, before attending Ysgol Maes Garmon, a Welsh language secondary school in Flintshire. He also attended youth acting schools at Theatr Clwyd and trained at The Royal Scottish Academy.

Career
In 1990, Ifans presented Sdwnsh (Welsh for "Mash"), an anarchic children's quiz show, broadcast on Welsh language TV channel S4C.

Ifans appeared in many Welsh television programs before embarking on his film career, as well as performing at the Royal National Theatre, London and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

He was briefly lead vocalist of the rock band Super Furry Animals before they found national success.

After his role as Jeremy Lewis in the Swansea-based movie Twin Town (1997), he gained international exposure in his role as the slovenly roommate Spike in the British film Notting Hill (1999). According to the DVD commentary, Ifans did not wash or brush his teeth, in preparation for the role. He played Adrian, the pompous eldest brother in Little Nicky (2000).

His film roles include: Eyeball Paul in Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000), Nigel in The Replacements (2000), Iki in The 51st State' (2001), William Dobbin in Vanity Fair (2004) and Vladis Grutas in Hannibal Rising'' (2007). He played Jed Parry in the film version of Ian McEwan's Enduring Love and the lead role in Danny Deckchair (2003) as Danny Morgan.

In 2002 he gained some controversy in the British media for his alleged support of Welsh nationalist group Meibion Glyndŵr, a militant group who support violence against English home owners in the Welsh heartlands.

In 2005, Ifans picked up a BAFTA for his critically acclaimed portrayal of comedian Peter Cook in the TV film Not Only But Always. Later that year he made a guest appearance for the rock band Oasis in the video for their single "The Importance of Being Idle" for which he accepted their award for Video Of the Year at the 2005/2006 NME Awards. This was not Ifans's first foray into the world of music videos: he has also made appearances in the music videos for "God! Show Me Magic", and "Hometown unicorn" by the Super Furry Animals, "Mulder & Scully" by Catatonia, and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Tom Jones and the Stereophonics.

In December 2006, he returned to the London stage for the first time since 2003 in Michael Grandage's production Don Juan In Soho at the Donmar Warehouse. He had appeared previously at the Donmar in 2003's Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Earlier stage work includes Hamlet at Theatre Clwyd, A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Regent's Park Theatre and Under Milk Wood and Volpone at the Royal National Theatre.

On 16 July 2007, he received an Honorary Fellowship from Bangor University in north Wales, for services to the film industry.

Since 2007 Ifans has sung with Welsh psychedelic rock band The Peth (Peth is Welsh for "Thing"), featuring Super Furry Animals' Dafydd Ieuan, which played a number of concert dates in South Wales and in London in the autumn of 2008.

Ifans plays Xenophillius Lovegood, editor of the wizarding magazine The Quibbler and father of the eccentric Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. He will be playing Howard Marks, the real person who was released from prison for helping illiterate criminals to read and write so they could get an education behind bars. He played a villain in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang.