Adam Godley (born ) is an English and American actor. He has been nominated for two Tony Awards and four Laurence Olivier Awards for his performances on the New York and London stages, including Private Lives in 2001, The Pillowman in 2002, Anything Goes in 2011, and The Lehman Trilogy in 2019. Godley made his Broadway debut in 2002 in a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives, for which he earned a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway debut. In 2011, Godley returned to Broadway in the musical Anything Goes for which he earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical nomination. In 2021, The Lehman Trilogy made its Broadway transfer to great critical acclaim, and securing Godley another Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play.
Godley's film roles include Love Actually (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), ' (2007), and The Theory of Everything (2014). He has also had television roles as Elliott Schwartz in Breaking Bad (2008âÂÂ2013), Nigel Nesbitt in Suits (2013), Phinneus Pogo in The Umbrella Academy (2019âÂÂ2024), and Archie the Archbishop in The Great (2020âÂÂ2023).
Godley was born to Jewish parents in Amersham, the son of a magistrate mother and solicitor father. He grew up near Watford and went to Rickmansworth School in Croxley Green.
Godley began his acting career at the age of nine in a BBC radio production of Hemingway's My Old Man. Godley's first stage role came at age 11, as Prince Giovanni in The White Devil at The Old Vic. His childhood career also included work at the National Theatre, in Lillian Helman's Watch on the Rhine, and Close of Play, directed by Harold Pinter. Godley achieved national prominence after playing the lead in the 1984 BBC TV adaptation of J. Meade Falkner's Moonfleet.
In 1986, Godley joined Alan Ayckbourn's theatre company in Scarborough, where he stayed for three seasons. Productions included June Moon and The Revengers' Comedies, both of which transferred to the West End, and Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays, which transferred to the National Theatre.
Godley spent one season as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before creating the role of Cliff in Sam Mendes's production of Cabaret at the Donmar Warehouse in 1993. Several major productions followed, including Mouth to Mouth at the Royal Court, The Front Page at the Donmar, and The Rivals in the West End, after which Godley went on to create a series of roles at the National, including Kenneth Williams in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick; and the title role in Howard Davies' production of Paul. In 1999, Godley played John Worthing in the West End production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
In 2002, Godley made his film debut in Claude Lelouch's And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen starring Jeremy Irons and Patricia Kaas which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. He continued acting in films such as the Christmas classic Love Actually (2003), Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Nanny McPhee (2005), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).
In 2002, Godley made his Broadway debut when he starred as Victor Prynne alongside Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan in a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives at the Richard Rogers Theatre in New York City. For his performance, Godley earned a Theatre World Award. The following year, he starred as Michal in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman opposite Jim Broadbent and David Tennant at the Royal National Theatre.
In 2008, Godley played Raymond Babbitt in the West End production of Rain Man opposite Josh Hartnett. Two years later, Godley played Jonathan Powell in the HBO television film The Special Relationship about Tony Blair's relationship with Bill Clinton. He had recurring roles as Elliott Schwartz in AMC's Breaking Bad and Jocelyn Pugh in Lodge 49. Godley also appeared in BBC's A Young Doctor's Notebook (2011), CBS's The Good Wife (2012), USA Networks's Suits (2012), Showtime's Homeland (2015), and NBC's The Blacklist (2017). In 2011, he played Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Roundabout Theatre's multi-award-winning Broadway revival of Anything Goes. The production starred Sutton Foster, John McMartin, Jessica Walter and Joel Grey. For his performance, Godley earned a Tony Award nomination, a Drama Desk Award nomination, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. In 2013, he led a new adaptation by Dennis Kelly of Georg Kaiser's 1912 German expressionist masterpiece, From Morning to Midnight, at the National Theatre.
Godley's most recent stage role was as one of the three Lehman brothers in the 2019 National Theatre's The Lehman Trilogy, for which he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play alongside Simon Russell Beale and Ben Miles. The play transferred to Broadway in 2021, where Godley received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play along with Adrian Lester and Simon Russell Beale.
In 2023, Godley portrayed pollster Darwin Perry in the HBO drama series Succession episode "America Decides".
Godley is gay. He is a naturalised American citizen and lives in the Los Angeles area.