Rupert Friend

Rupert William Anthony Friend was born in October 1981 in Cambridge, England. His mother is Caroline and his father David Oxton Friend, an art historian, and he is the elder of two children. When he was two, his family moved to a small village in Oxfordshire, called Stonesfield. He was a voracious reader from a young age and loved books by Roald Dahl. Friend attended The Marlborough C of E School in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Originally, Friend wanted to be an archaeologist and travel around the world after seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, but scrapped the idea after realising that the occupation was perhaps not as exciting as Indiana Jones's adventures had led him to believe. Instead, he turned to acting, in which he was inspired by Marlon Brando who played Vito Corleone, and Daniel Day-Lewis, whom he described as his childhood hero. After school Friend took a gap year, in which he travelled to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. There he had a motorcycle accident and had to be airlifted to hospital in New Zealand. His injuries were serious and he was in danger of having a foot amputated. By the time he returned to England to go to college, he was still having to use crutches. Friend received his professional acting training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.