Career
Parker joined the National Youth Theatre, and after training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He portrayed Bassanio in Peter Hall's 1989 production of The Merchant of Venice in both London and on Broadway, co-starring with Dustin Hoffman. In 1997, Nathaniel portrayed David in a made-for-TV film of the life of the biblical character King David. In 2000, he played Bob in Rupert Goold's West End revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. "With his unforced, tough demeanour and conviction Parker substantially carries the evening," wrote John Thaxter in The Stage (6 July 2000).
In a Radio Times interview in 2007, Parker said that his first big television break came in 1988 when he played a Battle of France pilot in ITV's glossy six-part drama Piece of Cake. Other early roles include playing Wilfred Owen in Derek Jarman's War Requiem, a 1989 film adaptation of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, co-starring Laurence Olivier as an old soldier in his last screen role before his death, and playing Edward Rochester in John Duigan's 1993 film adaptation of Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea.
Parker established his reputation by playing a variety of television costume drama roles, such as Martin Jordan in the 1995 TV production of Joanna Trollope's A Village Affair, Gabriel Oak in the ITV production of Far From the Madding Crowd (1997), Martin Tanley in the comedy film Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), Rawdon Crawley in a BBC version of Vanity Fair (1998), and notably Harold Skimpole in the BBC1 dramatisation of Bleak House (2005). He starred in the BBC series Merlin as Lord Agravaine, Arthur's uncle.
From 2001 through 2007, Parker played Detective Inspector Lynley in the long-running BBC1 thriller series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, co-starring Sharon Small as his sidekick Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers. He played Edward Gracey in Disney's 2003 film adaptation of The Haunted Mansion, Albert Speer in the 2006 BBC production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial and Dunstan Thorne in the 2007 fantasy film Stardust. Parker also starred briefly in St Trinian's (directed by his brother, Oliver).
Parker is a voiceover artist and has done work in audio books, including Eoin Colfer's children's Artemis Fowl series, the first three books in Charlie Higson's Young James Bond series, and The Gardens of The Dead by William Brodrick. He read Mark Haddon's novel A Spot of Bother for BBC Radio Four's Book at Bedtime. Parker also appeared in the indie comedy-drama The Perfect Host, alongside David Hyde Pierce.
In 2011, Parker joined the cast of Merlin, where he played the character of Agravaine for all 13 episodes to the fourth series. He played Axel in Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth first broadcast on BBC Radio Four Extra on 20 November 2011 and again on 12 November 2012.
In 2012, Parker was also cast alongside YouTube reviewer Stuart Ashen in the Alienware sponsored sci-fi/thriller series The Proxy. Despite his British accent, he was also cast as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec in the film adaption of Louise Penny's murder mystery novel Still Life, set in rural Quebec. Currently Parker is starring in the TV series, Me and Mrs Jones.
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