Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor having had roles in EastEnders (2000), Pearl Harbor, All or Nothing and Vera Drake (2001), Rehab (2005), Shifty and Red Riding (trilogy) (2008), Made in Dagenham and Ashes to Ashes (2010), Outcasts (2011), Mrs Biggs and Byzantium (2012), Line of Duty and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Des and White Lines (2020). Mays has been nominated for best supporting actor at both the BIFA's (2008), and the BAFTA's (2017), as well as having extensive experience in theatre. Early life Born in Epping, Essex, the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts before going on to become a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2000 with an Acting (RADA Diploma). Acting career In 2000, Mays debut role was a slot in EastEnders. Mays started his big screen career in 2001, as a pilot in the movie Pearl Harbor. His big break happened in 2002, when Mike Leigh cast him in both All or Nothing and Vera Drake, and Mays has said that working with Leigh was a big influence, advising that no stone be unturned when creating truly believable characters. In 2005, he was cast in the BBC drama Rehab, then in 2008, played the role of Michael Myshkin in Channel 4's adaptation of David Peace's Red Riding trilogy. His appearance in the 2008 independent British crime film Shifty, co-starring Riz Ahmed, earned him a nomination for best supporting actor at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2010, Mays starred as Eddie O'Grady in the film Made in Dagenham. In the same year, he played DCI Jim Keats in the third series of Ashes to Ashes, in which he portrayed a character that was the antagonist of Philip Glenister's Gene Hunt. In 2011, Mays appeared in the BBC sci-fi series Outcasts. He had roles in No One Gets Off in This Town and a supporting role in the Steven Spielberg film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. He then played a criminal on a curfew after serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of his girlfriend when he was 19 in the programme Public Enemies, which aired on BBC One in early January 2012. He played Ronnie Biggs in a