Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Chris Addison(I)

  • Director
  • Actor
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Chris Addison
Interview: Gina McKee and Chris Addison "On the film"
Play interview6:57
In The Loop
3 Videos
36 Photos
Born in Cardiff, Chris Addison grew up in Manchester where he attended the Manchester Grammar School before going on to study at the University of Birmingham. Following his graduation in 1994, he put ambitions to direct theatre on hold and "drifted into stand-up comedy" which became his full-time job in 1996. He wrote and performed eight one-man shows at the Edinburgh Festival, gaining two Perrier Award nominations and going on to turn two of the shows ('The Ape That Got Lucky' and 'Civilization') into series for BBC Radio.

He moved into acting in 2005, with the role of Ollie Reeder in Armando Iannucci's BBC sitcom The Thick of It (2005). Subsequent roles have included the Cameron-esque evil headmaster David Blood in three series of Skins (2007), Seb in Doctor Who (2005) and the hard-living porn Svengali Tony Power in Michael Winterbottom's movie The Look of Love (2013). In 2016 he took and co-wrote the spoken role of Smith in Emanuel Chabrier's opera 'L'Étoile' at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

During the final series of The Thick of It (2005), he made his directorial debut and subsequently went on to direct many episodes of HBO's Veep (2012), for which he won the Directors Guild of America Award in 2016 as well as an Emmy nomination. In 2015 he won an Emmy for his work as Executive Producer on the show.

He has co-created two sitcoms, Lab Rats (2008) (with Carl Cooper) and Trying Again (2014) (with Simon Blackwell), both of which he starred in.

Chris has written two books, 'Cautionary Tales for Grown-Ups' (a book of comic verse) and 'It Wasn't Me' (a book of grumpy complaint).
BornNovember 5, 1971
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornNovember 5, 1971
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Won 2 Primetime Emmys
      • 4 wins & 9 nominations total

    Photos36

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 29
    View Poster

    Known for

    Peter Capaldi in The Thick of It (2005)
    The Thick of It
    8.7
    TV Series
    • Director
    In the Loop (2009)
    In the Loop
    7.4
    • Toby Wright
    • 2009
    Mock the Week (2005)
    Mock the Week
    7.8
    TV Series
    • Self(archive footage)
    Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep (2012)
    Veep
    8.4
    TV Series
    • Director

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Director



    • Hallelujah!
      • Director
      • Pre-production



    • Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard in Breeders (2020)
      Breeders
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2020–2023
    • Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson in The Hustle (2019)
      The Hustle
      5.5
      • Director
      • 2019
    • Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair in Playing House (2014)
      Playing House
      7.7
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2017
    • Lucille Soong, Randall Park, Constance Wu, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, and Hudson Yang in Fresh Off the Boat (2015)
      Fresh Off the Boat
      7.7
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2017
    • Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Veep (2012)
      Veep
      8.4
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2013–2016
    • Peter Capaldi in The Thick of It (2005)
      The Thick of It
      8.7
      TV Series
      • Director
      • 2012

    Actor



    • Spinal Tap II
      • Completed
      • 2025



    • Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard in Breeders (2020)
      Breeders
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Andrew
      • Psychiatrist
      • 2020–2023
    • Kim Cattrall, Rupert Graves, Derek Jacobi, Alexander Armstrong, Nick Frost, Lee Mack, Craig Roberts, Alex Macqueen, Kate Nash, Emilia Jones, and Sebastian Croft in Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019)
      Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans
      5.4
      • Colin (Reporter)
      • 2019
    • Patriot (2015)
      Patriot
      8.2
      TV Series
      • James Clifford
      • 2018
    • Doctor Who: New Series Adventures (2005)
      Doctor Who: New Series Adventures
      7.6
      Podcast Series
      • Narrator (voice)
      • 2017
    • Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi, David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Jodie Whittaker in Doctor Who (2005)
      Doctor Who
      8.5
      TV Series
      • Seb
      • 2014
    • Trying Again (2014)
      Trying Again
      6.3
      TV Series
      • Matt
      • 2014
    • Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Tamsin Egerton, and Imogen Poots in The Look of Love (2013)
      The Look of Love
      6.0
      • Tony Power
      • 2013
    • Peter Capaldi in The Thick of It (2005)
      The Thick of It
      8.7
      TV Series
      • Oliver Reeder
      • 2005–2012
    • Martha Howe-Douglas, Ben Willbond, and Mathew Baynton in Horrible Histories (2009)
      Horrible Histories
      8.7
      TV Series
      • Various
      • 2012
    • Jack O'Connell, Dakota Blue Richards, Dev Patel, and Kaya Scodelario in Skins (2007)
      Skins
      8.2
      TV Series
      • David Blood
      • 2010–2012
    • In the Loop (2009)
      In the Loop
      7.4
      • Toby Wright
      • 2009
    • Lab Rats (2008)
      Lab Rats
      5.3
      TV Series
      • Dr. Alex Beenyman
      • 2008

    Writer



    • The Dublin Trilogy
      • script writer:
      • In Development
      • TV Series



    • Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard in Breeders (2020)
      Breeders
      7.6
      TV Series
      • co-created by
      • created by
      • 2020–2023
    • Trying Again (2014)
      Trying Again
      6.3
      TV Series
      • creator
      • 2014
    • Chris Addison in Chris Addison: Live (2011)
      Chris Addison: Live
      7.2
      Video
      • written by
      • 2011
    • My Funniest Year
      TV Series
      • written by
      • 2011
    • Lab Rats (2008)
      Lab Rats
      5.3
      TV Series
      • writer
      • 2008
    • Armando Iannucci in 2004: The Stupid Version (2004)
      2004: The Stupid Version
      7.6
      TV Movie
      • additional material
      • 2004
    • Revolver (2001)
      Revolver
      7.4
      TV Series
      • written by
      • 2004
    • Harry Hill in TV Burp (2001)
      TV Burp
      7.2
      TV Series
      • additional material
      • 2002

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos3

    In The Loop
    Clip 1:46
    In The Loop
    In The Loop
    Interview 6:57
    In The Loop
    In The Loop
    Interview 6:57
    In The Loop
    Trailer Season 4
    Trailer 0:31
    Trailer Season 4

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Height
      • 6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
    • Born
      • November 5, 1971
      • Cardiff, Wales, UK
    • Spouse
      • ?2001 - present (2 children)
    • Other works
      TV commercial (with Alexander Armstrong) for "Direct Line" car insurance
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Interview

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Is an 11-year Edinburgh Fringe veteran.
    • Quotes
      Everybody mocks Daleks but they're somehow astonishingly scary. I put this down to the way they have no faces - you just don't know their thoughts. Also, they seem to have phlegm in their throats, which is no doubt because they've no faces to spit it out with. I like the flashing lights on top of their heads, they look like menacing versions of those vans laying out cones on motorways at night.

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.