Greg Wise can make a charming man difficult to trust without signalling every doubtful thought. We rate his restraint under Ang Lee; the trouble is how often subsequent roles have asked him to repeat himself.
Fi1m perspective
As John Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility (1995), Greg Wise is charming without making the man easy to read. He leaves room for doubt, and does not labour to make sure we have noticed it. Ang Lee gets good work from that restraint, within an ensemble whose feelings stay awkward and recognisable. We were moved by Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet's performances because they make those feelings seem so difficult to manage. Wise fits into their film without competing for our attention.
Willoughby was his breakthrough, and the charming rogue became a recurring assignment across a career largely spent in supporting parts in British film and television. That familiarity can work against him: we start to expect a catch before the character has done much. Johnny English (2003) takes him into comedy as Agent One, under Peter Howitt. Our qualified affection for the film rests on Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy; the writing supplies too few fresh mistakes for him to make. Wise's presence is no reason to overlook that limitation.
The later historical roles give his reserve a different use. He plays John Ruskin in Effie Gray (2014), written by Thompson, and Lord Mountbatten in The Crown (2016–2017). Ruskin's austerity can become one-note, a reminder that doing little is not always enough to suggest something happening underneath. Mountbatten makes better use of the authority he can suggest, though both parts keep him close to familiar self-control.
Wise has said that Lee repeatedly told him to do less on screen, advice that fits the strongest qualities of his acting. We do not need a performer to announce every thought, and his charm is more persuasive when we cannot settle what lies behind it. The caveat is that casting him as another enigmatic man can ask him to repeat an effect rather than find anything new. Start with Sense and Sensibility; the thinner comedy of Johnny English can wait.
Biography
Greg Wise is an English actor. Born Matthew Gregory Wise on 15 May 1966 in Newcastle upon Tyne, he studied architecture at Heriot-Watt University before training in drama at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. His early professional work was on stage, including the musical Good Rockin' Tonight.
Wise's film debut came in 1995 with roles in Feast of July and Sense and Sensibility, in which he played John Willoughby. He has appeared in supporting roles in films including Johnny English (2003) and Effie Gray (2014), and on television in series such as The Crown (2016) as Lord Mountbatten and Galavant (2015).
Wise married actress Emma Thompson in 2003; the couple met while working on Sense and Sensibility.
