Leo Staar (born 24 July 1986) is an English actor, best known for his portrayals of Alec Jesmond in Call the Midwife and Inspector Lapointe in Maigret.

Leo Staar
Born (1986-07-24) 24 July 1986 (age 38)
OccupationActor
Years active2009 – present
TelevisionCall the Midwife, Maigret
Children1

Biography

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Leo Staar was born in London and grew up in Worthing, West Sussex. After graduating from drama school in 2009, he went straight into theatre, playing the roles of Ferdinand in The Tempest and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet in the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. He also played Mr Wickham in a stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 2010, he appeared in Thea Sharrock's production of Terence Rattigan's After the Dance, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch at the National Theatre. That same year, he played a minor role in the National Theatre Live cinema broadcast of Sir Nicholas Hynter's production of Hamlet, with Rory Kinnear in the title role. In 2011, he appeared in Josie Rourke's production of Much Ado About Nothing at Wyndham's Theatre, alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate.[1]

Staar became known to the public in 2013 when he landed his first major television role in the BBC medical drama Call the Midwife, where he played the recurring character Alec Jesmond, who became the boyfriend of main character Jenny Lee. He appeared in six episodes until the character died in a tragic accident.[2] He then made guest appearances on Casualty, Lewis and Death in Paradise.

In 2015, Staar landed his next major television role when he was cast as Inspector Lapointe in the ITV detective drama Maigret, based on the books by Georges Simenon and starring Rowan Atkinson in the title role. The series ran from 2016 to 2017.[3] In 2019, he played Denning in the BBC mini-series Summer of Rockets, opposite Toby Stephens and Keeley Hawes.[4] He appeared in Fabio D'Andrea's music video The Sleeping Beauty, where he played a widowed father whose young daughter dreams of becoming a ballerina. The video was officially released in 2020.[5]

In 2022, Staar appeared in the spy movie, The 355, opposite Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penélope Cruz and Sebastian Stan.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2011 An Outstanding Performer Charlie Short film
2019 Cheating Charlie Volker Short Film
2022 The 355 Grady

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Dark Matters: Twisted But True Ed Forman/Krasnogorskiy 2 episodes
2013 Dancing on the Edge Young Upper Class Man 1 episode
2013-2014 Call the Midwife Alec Jesmond 6 episodes
2014 Casualty Will Jamison Episode: "To Yourself Be True"
2014 Lewis Simon Eastwood Episodes: "Entry Wounds parts 1&2"
2015 Death in Paradise Simon Parke Episode: "Til Death Do You Part"
2016 Maigret Sets a Trap Inspector Lapointe TV film
2016 Maigret's Dead Man Inspector Lapointe TV film
2017 Maigret's Night at the Crossroads Inspector Lapointe TV film
2017 Maigret in Montemartre Inspector Lapointe TV film
2018 Jack Ryan Williams Episode: "Pilot"
2019 Summer of Rockets Denning 5 episodes
2022 Van der Valk Florian Barby Episode: "Blood in Amsterdam"
2023 Silent Witness Calvin Dunn Episodes: "Effective Range - Part 1&2"

Live Streaming Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 National Theatre Live Hamlet Cornelius/Priest Live via satellite

Music videos

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Year Artist Title Role
2020 Fabio D'Andrea The Sleeping Beauty The Father

Audio

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Year Title Role Notes
2020 The Avengers: Steed and Mrs Peel[6] Jack/Agent Rogers/Rocliffe Comic Strip Audio

Video games

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Year Title Role
2014 Dreamfall Chapters Reza Temiz (voice)

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
2009 The Tempest Ferdinand Cambridge Shakespeare Festival
2009 Romeo and Juliet Benvolio Cambridge Shakespeare Festival
2009 Pride and Prejudice Mr Wickham Theatre Royal, Bath
2010 After the Dance Partygoer/Dr George Banner/Cyril Carter Royal National Theatre
2010 Hamlet Cornelius/Priest Royal National Theatre
2011 Much Ado About Nothing Messenger Wyndham's Theatre
2012 Celebrity Night at Café Red Harry Trafalgar Theatre
2015 Hello/Goodbye Leo Hampstead Theatre
2018 The Country Wife Harcourt Southwark Playhouse

References

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  1. ^ MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING - Sonia Friedman Productions Limited
  2. ^ "Meet the cast of Maigret's Night at the Crossroads". Radio Times. July 12, 2020.
  3. ^ "ITV Maigret Sets a Trap". ITV.com. May 6, 2020.
  4. ^ "Meet the cast of Summer of Rockets". Radio Times. June 25, 2019.
  5. ^ "Fabio D'Andrea - The Sleeping Beauty". YouTube. June 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Avengers: The Comic Strip Adaptations Volume 4: Steed and Mrs Peel". Big Finish.com. June 2020.
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