John Hopkins

John Hopkins (born 1975) is an English actor. Some of his best-known roles include Sgt. Dan Scott on Midsomer Murders (2004–2005), Lowell in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Sir Francis Basset in the British TV series Poldark (2017–2018). In addition to his television and film work, Hopkins also acts on stage and does voiceovers for video games, television and radio. Early life and education John Hopkins was born in Luton, England, a town close to London. There is little publicly available information about his family or childhood. He attended secondary school at Manshead CofE Upper School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, and later studied at the University of Leeds (1993-1996), majoring in English. After this, Hopkins started to show interest in the theatre. He joined a drama group and took part in various productions. Hopkins received a Sunday Times Short Story Award for student-actors for his role in A Short Play About Sex and Death. After graduation from the University of Leeds, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1997-2000). He was noticed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and had his first repertory season there (2001-2002). That was the beginning of his professional acting career. Career Around 2002, Hopkins began receiving offers for television roles. Some of the first were minor parts in Trial and Retribution 7 and Love in a Cold Climate. After those, he accepted an offer to play the role of Detective Sergeant Dan Scott in the British television series Midsomer Murders. His involvement with the show continued from the beginning of the 7th series (2004) to the end of the 8th series. Hopkins' character was conceived as a "ladies' man" because of his appearance. During this time, John Nettles was playing the lead role of "Barnaby". Because the actors shared the same first name, Hopkins was assigned the nickname "Hoppers". The two formed a friendship while working together from 2004 to 2005 when Hopkins left the show, returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company to participate in the 2006-2007 London and Stratford-upon-Avon season. At that time, he played Caesar opposite Patrick Stewart in Antony and Cleopatra. He also appeared in Patrick Barlow's comedic version of The 39 Steps as Richard Hannay, as Richard I at the Shakespeare's Globe in the Holy Warriors, and as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing.