Christian Brassington

Christian Brassington (born 6 June 1983) is an English actor and writer, best known for playing the odious vicar Ossie Whitworth in the third and fourth series of the BBC hit period drama Poldark.^[2] Brassington also portrayed a young Boris Johnson in the More4 documentary drama When Boris Met Dave (2009), having previously played a young Tony Blair for Channel 4 in 2006.

Brassington was born on 6 June 1983 in Wellington, Shropshire, England.^[3] He spent much of his youth in Basingstoke, going to the local comprehensive Brighton Hill Community School and then to Queen Mary's College.^[4] He also attended a stage school run by his father Colin Flaherty. Determined to become an actor, he studied at London's prestigious Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.^[3]

He made his on-screen debut in the BBC's police procedural drama The Cops back in 1999^[1] and got his big break shortly after graduation in Tony Blair: Rock Star (2006),^[5] a Channel 4 docudrama recreating the days when the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's ambition was to be on stage.^[6] A year later, the young Brassington starred opposite Cate Blanchett as Charles II, Archduke of Austria in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and in 2009 he followed up his part as Blair with a portrayal of the then Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as a younger man in When Boris Met Dave, an account of how Johnson and David Cameron's lives became intertwined.^[7]

Brassington welcomes all kinds of roles as long as they are interesting and challenging.^[1] In an interview with PBS, he said, "I think you get yourself into trouble if you start thinking about what people's reactions are going to be while you're playing them".^[8] His portrayal of the loathsome Reverend Ossie Whitworth in the third and fourth series of the BBC historical drama Poldark (2015–2019) is possibly one of his most recognisable roles.^[1] In order to prepare for the part, he had to gain 30 pounds.^[9] According to Digital Spy, he said, "Normally actors have to get into shape for a role rather than out of it, but Osborne is described as a large character and a man of a huge appetite, so there was no getting around that. I had to gain a lot of weight."^[10]

In 2020, Brassington made his debut as a screenwriter and director with a short film called Screening, starring David Tennant, Georgia Tennant and Stephen Mangan.^[11] He also has written Doctor Who audio dramas "Neon Reign" (2018) and "Altered Status" (2021) for Big Finish Productions.^[12][13]

In 2022, he appeared as prison officer Dean in Catherine Tate's six-part mockumentary sitcom Hard Cell, released on Netflix.^[14][15][16]

• Christian Brassington at IMDb

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