Clive Standen

Biography

Clive James Standen (born 22 July 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the NBC series Taken (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as Rollo in the History Channel series Vikings (2013–2018), Sir Gawain in the Starz series Camelot, Archer in the BBC One series Robin Hood, and Private Carl Harris in the BBC science-fiction program Doctor Who.

Standen's first experience of stunts, horse riding, and sword fighting was at age 12 when he got his first job working in a professional stunt team in Nottingham. 

At the age of 15 Standen was a member of both the National Youth Theatre and the National Youth Music Theatre performing in productions at many well-known venues. Later Standen won a place on the three-year acting course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In 2004, Standen appeared in Waking the Dead; the Second World War documentary drama Ten Days to D-Day; and took the lead role of Major Alan Marshall in Zero Hour a TV dramatization of Special Air Service mission operation Barras in Sierra Leone. 

The next year he appeared in three episodes of the British soap Doctors and Tom Brown's Schooldays, the acclaimed ITV adaptation of the book by Thomas Hughes. Standen played Private Carl Harris in three episodes of the fourth series of the relaunched British sci-fi program Doctor Who. 

The following year he played Archer, the half-brother of Robin Hood in the BBC One series Robin Hood. Standen was part of the main cast of the TV series Camelot for Starz in which he portrayed the famous Arthurian knight Sir Gawain.

In film, Standen took a supporting role in the mainstream Bollywood film Namastey London, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. In 2012, Standen completed filming on the Vertigo Films feature film Hammer of the Gods. 

He is a series lead on the History Channel's Vikings in the role of Rollo. Clive portrayed Bryan Mills in the television adaptation of Taken then starred as Colonel Knox in the Screen Gems thriller film Patient Zero. Standen was cast in the main role of Anthony Lavelle for NBC's Council of Dads;

In 2021, Standen and Amy Bailey (who played Kwenthrith in Vikings) teamed up to create the Vikcast podcast about the Vikings TV series they will co-host, with Bailey stating: “We've gathered our beloved castmates, production members, and celebrity guests to talk about the show and everything beyond.”

In addition to his screen roles, Standen has done voiceovers for video games such as Aliens vs. Predator and Inversion. He also lent his voice to the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, portraying Lieutenant Titus.

In February 2023, Standen got engaged to actress Lucy Martin.