Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. (born 16 April 1971) is an English actor and musician. His television and film credits include The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1997), The Match (1999), Hotel (2001), Kill Me Later (2001), The Last Minute (2001), Bodies (2004-2006), The Last Enemy (2008), Survivors (2008–2010), Mad Dogs (2011-2013), Suits (2013), Empire (2015-2016), Ordinary Lies (2015), Jamestown (2017-2019), The Outsider (2020), Operation Fortune (2022), The Midwich Cuckoos (2022), and Hijack (2023). In 2024, he starred as boxing promoter Henry Collins in Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen (2024).
Beesley was born on 16 April 1971 in Burnage, Manchester.[1][2] His father, Maxton Beesley Sr, is a professional jazz drummer and actor,[2] and his mother was a jazz singer who performed under the stage name Chris Marlowe.[3] He has a step-brother, Jason Milligan, who is also an actor.[4] His middle name was inspired by the American actor Gig Young.[3]
Beesley has studied at the Chetham's School of Music,[5] and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[6] Beesley is an advocate for method acting,[3] being tutored by Sheila Gray, owner of the independent acting studio in Manhattan.[7]
Beesley came to prominence with his first major acting role in BBC's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,[3] a 1997 television mini-series based on the book of the same name. In 1999, he played the lead role of Wullie Smith, in the Scottish comedy film The Match, working with Isla Blair, Samantha Fox and Richard E Grant.[3]
In 2001, he played a bank robber in the film Kill Me Later, alongside Selma Blair.[3] The same year, he starred as Antonio in Mike Figgis' movie Hotel.[3] In 2004, he starred in the ethics challenging BBC Three dark medical drama Bodies,[2] which ran until 2006, and won best drama at the Royal Television Society awards.[3] In 2006, he starred as Charlie, the hotel Deputy Manager in the BBC One series Hotel Babylon.[3]
In June 2007, Beesley starred in the ITV series Talk to Me.[1] He also starred in the film Red Roses and Petrol,[1] alongside Malcolm McDowell, and in the BBC thriller The Last Enemy,[1] with Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Carlyle. In October 2008, he was one of the lead characters in BBC One's remake of the 1970s drama Survivors,[1] as remorseless former criminal Tom Price. The series consisted of six episodes, with a second series of six episodes transmitted in January 2010. He starred in the ITV drama The Reckoning in April 2011.[1] Beesley gained more exposure with American audiences with a recurring role on Suits,[1] in 2013 and from October 2015 with another recurring role, this time in the US spy drama Homeland,[1] opposite Claire Danes, as ex-British special forces bodyguard Mike Brown. From 2016 to 2018 he starred in Jamestown as Henry Sharrow, depicting the first British settlers to colonise Virginia in 1609.[1]