--- name: "Ken Stott" canonical: "https://film.one/person/ken-stott" fi1m_id: "ken-stott" imdb_id: "nm0832792" tmdb_id: 25136 wikidata_id: "Q722927" roles: ["Actor"] born: "19 October 1954" reviewed_on_fi1m: 8 average_fi1m_score: 64 average_as: "actor" average_over: 8 updated: "2026-10-07T17:33:37.411108+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." --- # Ken Stott ## Identity Ken Stott - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ken-stott - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** ken-stott - **IMDb ID:** nm0832792 - **TMDB ID:** 25136 - **Wikidata ID:** Q722927 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Stott, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722927, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832792/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25136 Actor. Born 19 October 1954 in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 19 October 1954, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK - **Active:** 1994–present - **Also known as:** 肯·斯托特, Kenneth Campbell Stott - **Frequently works with:** [Carolynne Cunningham](https://film.one/person/carolynne-cunningham.md), [Fran Walsh](https://film.one/person/fran-walsh.md), [Guillermo del Toro](https://film.one/person/guillermo-del-toro.md), [Ian McKellen](https://film.one/person/ian-mckellen.md), [Martin Freeman](https://film.one/person/martin-freeman.md), [Peter Jackson](https://film.one/person/peter-jackson.md), [Philippa Boyens](https://film.one/person/philippa-boyens.md), [Richard Armitage](https://film.one/person/richard-armitage.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 64, as actor, over 8 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 73 (2), 2000s 58 (1), 2010s 61 (4), 2020s 68 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 64 to 67 across 7 titles - **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 2 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 6 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Adventure 4, Fantasy 4, Action 3, Drama 3, Crime 1, Family 1 - **Screen time:** 16 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $3,392m across 6 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Stott, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722927, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0832792/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25136 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug*](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug.md) (65), [*The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey*](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey.md) (60), [*The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies*](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies.md) (54) - **Netflix:** [*The Dig*](https://film.one/film/the-dig.md) (68) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Ken Stott > Ken Stott is the man who arrives to take charge: the detective, the museum man, the dwarf in Peter Jackson's *The Hobbit*. He plays authority as tiredness rather than swagger, and the films that use him best are the ones that let him stay. Ken Stott usually turns up when somebody has done something they should not have. In *Shallow Grave* (1994) he is Detective Inspector McCall, the policeman circling three flatmates and the money they ought to have left alone. In *The Dig* (2021) he is Charles Phillips, down from the British Museum to take the Sutton Hoo excavation off the man who found it. In both he arrives late and expects to be obeyed, and in both the interesting thing is how little he appears to enjoy it. The Edinburgh voice comes out low and unhurried, the shoulders are set, and he looks at the people in front of him as though he has already heard the excuse. The career is mostly television, and mostly detectives. He came to notice as Eddie McKenna, the hospital radio DJ in *Takin' Over the Asylum* (1994), the same year as Boyle's film, and then spent the better part of a decade in a raincoat: *The Vice* (1999–2003), *Messiah* (2001–2005) and above all *Rebus* (2000–2007), the part that fixed his public image as the tired Scottish policeman. Peter Jackson then cast him as Balin across *The Hobbit* trilogy (2012–2014), which put the face in front of a far larger audience, though under a good deal of beard. Since then it has been supporting parts, *The Dig* among them, and *Crime* (2021–) on television. He has said of his early years with the RSC that "I had 17 small parts – they wouldn’t trust me with anything bigger", and there is a flavour of that in the men he now plays, who have waited a long time to be put in charge and do not intend to waste it. What he does well is refuse to perform power. He does not raise the voice or widen the eyes; the authority is in the stillness and the evident fatigue, and it makes the people around him look hasty. In *The Dig* we sat up when he walked onto the site, because for the first time the film had an argument, about who owns a thing once it comes out of the ground, and we were irritated when it left him for a romance that belongs to a thinner picture. That is not his failing. Simon Stone's film is at its best in the trench and weakest whenever it climbs out, and Stott is one of the reasons the trench is worth staying in. *Shallow Grave* is Boyle's film, brisk and nasty, and Stott's inspector is part of its machinery rather than its centre; the performances keep it entertaining and his is one of them, no more and no less. The limit of the career is plain enough: the parts are all the same shape. By reputation, Eddie McKenna was a warmer and wilder actor than the detectives ever allowed, and we would like a film director to remember that before the raincoat becomes permanent. Until then, when he walks into a scene, watch him rather than whoever he has come to tell off; the camera will generally cut away too soon. ## Biography Ken Stott is a Scottish stage, television and film actor. He was born in Edinburgh and trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. He began his career in theatre, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later the National Theatre. Stott is known for his role as Detective Inspector McCall in the film *Shallow Grave* (1994). He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 for his performance in *Broken Glass*. His other notable screen roles include Balin in *The Hobbit* film trilogy (2012–2014) and DI John Rebus in the television series *Rebus* (2000–2007). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (8) - *The Dig* (2021), Fi1m 68, as Charles Phillips — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dig.md) - *War and Peace* (2016), Fi1m 65, as Bazdeev — [page](https://film.one/tv/war-and-peace.md) - *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies* (2014), Fi1m 54, as Balin — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies.md) - *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug* (2013), Fi1m 65, as Balin — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug.md) - *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (2012), Fi1m 60, as Balin — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey.md) - *The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian* (2008), Fi1m 58, as Trüffeljäger — [page](https://film.one/film/the-chronicles-of-narnia-prince-caspian.md) - *The Boxer* (1997), Fi1m 68, as Ike Weir — [page](https://film.one/film/the-boxer.md) - *Shallow Grave* (1994), Fi1m 78, as Detective Inspector McCall — [page](https://film.one/film/shallow-grave.md) ## Complete filmography (60) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Crime* (2021), series, as DCS Robert Toal, DCS Bob Toal - *The Dig* (2021), as Charles Phillips — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dig.md) - *Strike* (2019), as The Boss (voice) - *The Mercy* (2018), as Stanley Best - *100 Streets* (2016), as Terence - *Café Society* (2016), as Marty Dorfman - *Scotland The Promised Land* (2016), series, as Narrator (Voice) - *War and Peace* (2016), series, as Bazdeev — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/tv/war-and-peace.md) - *An Inspector Calls* (2015), as Arthur Birling - *Man Up* (2015), as Bert Patterson - *Fortitude* (2015), series, as Erling Munk - *The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies* (2014), as Balin — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies.md) - *The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug* (2013), as Balin — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug.md) - *The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey* (2012), as Balin — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey.md) - *The Runaway* (2011), series, as Joey - *One Day* (2011), as Stephen Mayhew - *Toast* (2010), as Dad - *Send In The Dogs* (2008), series, Actor - *The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian* (2008), as Trüffeljäger — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/the-chronicles-of-narnia-prince-caspian.md) - *Hancock & Joan* (2008), as Tony Hancock - *Charlie Wilson's War* (2007), as Zvi - *Casanova* (2005), as Dalfonso - *The Girl in the Café* (2005), as Chancellor - *The Mighty Celt* (2005), as Good Joe - *Uncle Adolf* (2005), as Adolf Hitler - *King Arthur* (2004), as Marius Honorius - *Spivs* (2004), as Jack - *Promoted to Glory* (2003), as Mike - *The Key* (2003), Actor - *I'll Sleep When I'm Dead* (2003), as Turner - *Messiah* (2001), series, as DCI Red Metcalfe - *Rebus* (2000), series, as Inspector John Rebus - *The Miracle Maker* (2000), as Simon Peter (voice) - *Dockers* (1999), as Tommy Walton - *The Debt Collector* (1999), as Gary Keltie - *Vicious Circle* (1999), as Martin Cahill - *Plunkett & Macleane* (1999), as Thief Taker General Chance - *The Vice* (1999), series, as DI Pat Chappel - *The Boxer* (1997), as Ike Weir — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/the-boxer.md) - *Stone, Scissors, Paper* (1997), as Redfern - *Fever Pitch* (1997), as Ted, the Headmaster - *Saint-Ex* (1996), as Prevot - *Rhodes* (1996), series, as Barney Barnato - *Silent Witness* (1996), series, Actor - *A Mug's Game* (1996), series, as McCaffrey - *Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life* (1995), as Woland the Knifeman - *Shallow Grave* (1994), as Detective Inspector McCall — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/shallow-grave.md) - *Takin' Over the Asylum* (1994), series, as Eddie - *Being Human* (1994), as Gasper Dias - *Bad Company* (1993), as Joe Hickey - *Anna Lee: Headcase* (1993), as Bernie Schiller - *All Good Things* (1991), series, as Lawrence Wilson - *Your Cheatin' Heart* (1990), series, as Fraser Boyle - *Your Cheatin' Heart* (1990), Actor - *For Queen & Country* (1988), as Civil Servant - *The Singing Detective* (1986), series, as Uncle John - *Screen Two* (1985), series, as Redfern - *The Beggar's Opera* (1983), as Jeremy Twitcher - *King Lear* (1982), as Curan - *Secret Army* (1977), series, as Baroja ## Gallery - ![Ken Stott](https://film.one/media/person/85169/gallery-a7f9bee451b0.jpg) Ken Stott — Malachi108, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Ken_Stott.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Ken Stott](https://film.one/media/person/85169/gallery-a742fe6ddc44.jpg) Ken Stott — Image via TMDB - ![Ken Stott](https://film.one/media/person/85169/gallery-fc157bd87372.jpg) Ken Stott — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Other awards — 1 won - Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role 1995: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/ken-stott