Bio
Blake Ritson is an English actor best known for his roles as Edmund Bertram in the ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park (2007) and as Mr Elton in the BBC adaptation of Emma, in 2009.
He is also known for his starring role as Lord Girolamo Riario, Count and Captain-general of the Holy Roman Church who leads the mission to destroy the Medicis, in the historical fantasy drama television series Da Vinci's Demons.
Blake's other notable roles include playing King Edward III in the eight-part adaptation of Ken Follet's best-selling novel World Without End, also starring Cynthia Nixon, Ben Chaplin and Miranda Richardson; and two seasons playing the socialite playboy the Duke of Kent in Upstairs Downstairs, for BBC One.
He has also appeared in the BBC and ENCORE's critically acclaimed The Crimson Petal and the White as Bodley, alongside Romola Garai and Chris O'Dowd; and Charles Fox in BBC's courtroom drama Garrow's Law.
Blake is well known for portraying Mr. Elton in the BBC's 2009 adaptation of Emma, playing the self-absorbed and conceited Reverend of Highbury whose attempts to court Emma played by Romola Garai are met with both surprise and consternation.
Blake took the lead role of Edmund Bertram in the 2007 ITV adaptation of Mansfield Park playing opposite Billie Piper and Hayley Atwell, and played Giles Vicary in three seasons of Red Cap for the BBC.
He appeared as David Jason's sidekick Robert Presley in A Touch of Frost, Justin in The League of Gentlemen, Idek in God on Trial, and Nick in Stephen Poliakoff's multi-award winning Shooting the Past.
Blake's films include the role of Johnson in Hyde Park on Hudson, starring Bill Murray and directed by Roger Michell; Jarvis in Dead Man Running, directed by Alex De Rakoff; Johnny in Guy Richie's RocknRolla; and Anthony Hopkins' son in Titus, directed by Julie Taymor.
He also appears in Serena, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper.
A notable theatre role was in The Almeida Theatre's Rope, directed by Roger Michell, taking the lead as sociopath Wyndham Brandon, a student who commits an apparently motiveless murder in order to test the limits of his Nietzschean ideals.
While still a student, Blake appeared as Augustus in Tom Stoppard's acclaimed 1996 play Arcadia directed by Trevor Nunn, for which he received excellent reviews. He also appeared in White Chameleon and Macbeth at the National Theatre directed by Richard Eyre.
Blake has also co-directed and co-written four prize-winning short films with his brother Dylan, with cast including Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw, Mark Gatiss, Jessica Hynes, Douglas Hodge, Joanna Page and his fiancée Hattie Morahan.
Blake attended Cambridge University where he studied English and Medieval Italian.