English actor Russell Tovey was BOTD in 1981. Born in Essex, he acted from a young age, making his screen debut aged 13 in the TV series Mud. He came to wider attention in the London premiere of Alan Bennett’s 2004 play The History Boys, in which a group of precocious teenagers play games with their closeted gay teachers. After reprising his stage role in Nicholas Hytner‘s 2006 film version, Tovey appeared in TV dramas Being Human, Gavin and Stacey, Sherlock and The Job Lot. He became better known to American audiences in Andrew Haigh‘s 2014 gay-themed TV series Looking, and had a brief role in Matthew Warchus’ film Pride, a film about 1980s gay activists supporting striking coal miners. After buffing up to Chippendale stripper proportions, he played a closeted and mostly-shirtless gay footballer in the indie film The Pass, and starred as a closeted gay Mormon in the 2017 London revival of Tony Kushner‘s play Angels in America (disappointingly not appearing fully nude, as per Kushner’s stage directions). His other notable appearances include Russell T. Davies’ dystopian TV drama series Years and Years, playing a gay man who leaves his husband to have an affair with a Ukrainian refugee, and the 2025 thriller Plainclothes, playing an undercover policeman who falls in love with a man he arrests for cottaging. Openly gay since forever, he attracted widespread criticism after a 2015 newspaper interview in which he commented on his muscleman status, saying: “I feel like I could have been really effeminate, if I hadn’t gone to the school I went to … If I’d have been able to relax, prance around, sing in the street, I might be a different person now. I thank my dad for that, for not allowing me to go down that path.” He later apologised for his comments, branding himself “worst gay ever”. Tovey was in a long-term relationship with fitness coach Steve Brockman, to whom he was engaged, hitting tabloid headlines after Brockman was revealed to be former gay porn star Ryan Stack. After several well-publicised separations and reconciliations, they separated in 2023. In 2025, Tovey was awarded Attitude magazine’s Man of the Year award, completing an impressive decade-long reputational rehabilitation. He lives in Margate, Kent, and co-hosts the podcast Talk Art. His current relationship status is unknown.