Born in Penang, Malaya, into a medical family, at the age of eight he became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral. At the age of fourteen he gave his first theatre performance in Othello at Clifton College. He went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and obtained a first class degree in English. He graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1983.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and distinguished himself in a series of comic parts. He continued to extend his range as Richard III and in King Lear (1994), acting the role of Edgar. He joined the National Theatre in 1995 and performed in Ben Johnson's Volpone, later playing Iago in Othello and in 2000 taking on the role of Hamlet.

He has also appeared on television and in film, notably in the television series A Dance to the Music of Time in 1997, and the film An Ideal Husband, acting the role of Sir Edward (1999). He was appointed CBE in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List.