Steve Toussaint

Stephen Toussaint (born 22 March 1965) is a British actor and writer. He first gained prominence through his role in the ITV crime drama The Knock (1994–2000). As of 2022, he plays Corlys Velaryon in the HBO fantasy series House of the Dragon. His films include Shooting Dogs (2005) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). On television, he appeared in the second series of Line of Duty (2014), the ninth series of Lewis (2015), the Australian series Pine Gap (2018), and Small Axe: Red, White and Blue (2020). Early life Toussaint was born in Birmingham to Barbadian parents and grew up on an estate in the New Cross area of South London, where his father worked for the London Underground and his mother worked as a nurse. His first taste of acting came in a school nativity play as a Roman Centurian in a suit of Armour made from cardboard. He studied Politics at the University of Sussex. During his time there, he was scouted for a role in a play and joined the drama society. After graduating, he briefly worked in merchant banking and hospital administration before deciding to try acting again. He took evening drama classes. Toussaint changed his surname to Toussaint because his birth name conflicted with a pre-existing member of his actors' union. He chose the name from Toussaint Louverture, the Haitian revolutionary leader (as at the time he had been reading about him in The Black Jacobins by C. L. R. James).