---
name: "Craig Roberts"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/craig-roberts"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 January 1991"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-17T07:29:24.451420+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Craig Roberts

Actor. Born 21 January 1991 in Newport, Wales.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 January 1991, Newport, Wales
- **Also known as:** Craig Haydn Roberts
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3400399, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1064292/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/104561

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Submarine*](https://film.one/film/submarine.md) (82)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Craig Roberts

> Craig Roberts makes clever, awkward young men funny without treating them as jokes. We rate him most when his dry delivery allows some doubt through, as it does in *Submarine*.

Oliver Tate has decided that his first romance and his parents’ marriage need his help, which is already plenty to be getting wrong. In *Submarine* (2011), Craig Roberts gives him enough conviction to be funny without making him so pleased with himself that we stop caring. The wide-eyed look and dry delivery suggest a boy who has considered everything except the possibility that he is being foolish. We felt protective of Oliver, because Roberts lets us see the doubt behind his confidence.

Richard Ayoade’s direction helped establish that restraint, and it remains the useful lesson of their collaboration. Roberts does not have to make every line announce Oliver’s oddness. Alongside Yasmin Paige, he keeps the film human when its visual jokes become too insistent. Our reservation about *Submarine* is that those distractions can draw attention away from performances that need little decoration: Roberts already makes Oliver’s attempts to take charge funny and recognisably adolescent.

After that breakthrough, the work spread across British independent films and Hollywood comedies, including *Neighbors* (2014). Those awkward young men gave Roberts a recognisable place on screen, though repeated casting of this sort risks making each new character feel decided before he has spoken. As David Myers in *Red Oaks* (2014–2017), he had a sustained American comedy-drama lead across three seasons. That longer stretch offers something useful for an actor whose quiet delivery needs room for us to notice the differences between characters.

His move into writing and directing with *Just Jim* (2015), in which he also played Jim, gave him more to do than return to a familiar kind of part. He went on to direct *The Phantom of the Open* (2021), though the acting still warrants attention on its own. The reservation is simple: deadpan delivery becomes a habit if the character has nothing else to show us. In *Submarine*, Roberts gives Oliver enough vulnerability to prevent that happening. Start there, and allow for a few visual jokes getting in the way of two performances worth watching.

## Biography

Craig Haydn Roberts (born 21 January 1991) is a Welsh actor and director. He began his career as a child actor, appearing in the CBBC series *The Story of Tracy Beaker* (2004–2006) as Rio Wellard and in *Young Dracula* (2006–2008).

Roberts gained international recognition for his lead role as Oliver Tate in the coming-of-age film *Submarine* (2010), directed by Richard Ayoade. He has since appeared in films including *Jane Eyre* (2011), *Neighbors* (2014), *22 Jump Street* (2014), *The Fundamentals of Caring* (2016) and *Tolkien* (2019), and starred in the Amazon series *Red Oaks* (2014–2017). In 2015 he made his feature directorial debut with *Just Jim*, which he also wrote and starred in.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Submarine* (2011), Fi1m 82, as Oliver Tate — [page](https://film.one/film/submarine.md)

## Also known for

- *22 Jump Street* (2014), Spencer
- *Neighbors* (2014), Assjuice
- *The Fundamentals of Caring* (2016), Trevor Conklin
- *The First Time* (2012), Simon Daldry
- *Jane Eyre* (2011), John Reed
- *Tolkien* (2019), Private Sam Hodges
- *Red Lights* (2012), Ben
- *The Current War* (2018), Robert Lane

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/craig-roberts