Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ITV drama Heartbeat and for playing Lord Yohn Royce in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2014–2019).

Vansittart was raised in Cranleigh, Surrey,^[1] and is of partial Dutch ancestry. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Vansittart started his acting career in an episode of Bulman in 1985.^[1] In 1995, he starred in the serial Pride and Prejudice,^[1] as Mr Hurst, the brother-in-law of Charles and Caroline Bingley. He has also worked with Rowan Atkinson on a number of occasions, appearing as a guest star in two episodes of Mr. Bean in addition to The Thin Blue Line,^[2] and Johnny English Reborn.^[2]

In 1993, he appeared in Remains of the Day as Sir Geoffrey Wren, a character based on the 1930s British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley.^[2] In 1994, he appeared in the film Braveheart as Lord Bottoms.^[1] He worked in Four Weddings and a Funeral,^[1] as George the Boor at the Boatman in 1995.^[3]

In 2002, he appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "Market for Murder".^[1] He also portrayed General Asquith in the Doctor Who episodes "Aliens of London" and "World War Three".^[2] In 2003, he appeared in the West End adaptation of Arsenic and Old Lace. In 2006, Vansittart portrayed Thomas J. Dodd in the BBC three-part drama documentary Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial.^[2] In 2007, he appeared in another episode of Midsomer Murders, "The Axeman Cometh". He also appeared in the 2008 BBC serial Spartacus as Consul Lentulus.^[2]

In 2009, he was asked to play Peter Morrison in Margaret. Two years later in the critically acclaimed The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep he played Cabinet minister John Biffen.^[4] He has also played political characters on stage: in 2014 he was one of the main actors in the cast of Great Britain at the National Theatre.^[5]

2009 also saw his third appearance in Midsomer Murders, in the episode "The Dogleg Murders".^[1] In 2010, he appeared in Doctors as Anthony Chippington, a friend of Charlie's. He played Harrison Ashton Lard, the "posh girl's father", in How Not to Live Your Life. He provided additional voice-over for World's Craziest Fools. He appeared in the final two seasons of Foyle's War as Sir Alec Myerson, the title character's boss at MI5.^[1] Vansittart also appeared in the BBC Three comedy Bad Education, playing Mr. Humpage.^[2] In 2014, Vansittart started playing Lord Yohn Royce in the HBO series Game of Thrones,^[1] making recurring appearances in season 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.^[1] In 2016, he appears in the BBC TV series Father Brown as Arthur Le Broc in episode 4.7 "The Missing Man".^[2] In January 2016, he played Peter Jennings in an episode of the BBC series Casualty.^[2]

Vansittart has been married to Emma Kate, daughter of the actors Moray Watson and Pamela Marmont, since 1987.^[1] They have two children. When Emma Watson was cast for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Emma Kate Watson changed her name to Emma Vansittart, adopting her husband's surname as her new stage name, to avoid being confused with the young actress.^[6]

• The Revengers' Comedies (1989)
• Taking Steps (1990)
• The Revengers' Comedies (1991)
• A Westwood Diary (1996)
• Arsenic and Old Lace (2003)
• This House (2013)
• Great Britain (2014)