John Noble, the 76 year old actor, made a guest appearance in this week’s episode of Severance, playing Cecil Fields, the spouse of retired Lumon worker Burt Goodman (portrayed by Christopher Walken) in the TV+ drama. The episode saw a dinner between Fields, Burt and Irving (John Turturro), who was invited to discuss the events at Lumon.
Many Severance fans are intrigued about Noble’s past work. Originally from Australia, Noble gained international fame with his role as Denethor in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the steward of Gondor who met a tragic end when Mordor’s dark forces besieged Minas Tirith.
Before this, Noble had been working hard, appearing on stage throughout the 70s and 90s and serving as an artistic director for the Stage Company of South Australia for 10 years. As per IMDB, Noble steadily built up his screen credits through the 80s and 90s, making his film debut at 40 in the 1988 horror movie The Dreaming.
However, it was after his role in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings that Noble’s career truly soared. He featured in numerous films and secured a regular role in the medical drama All Saints, as well as guest roles in the Australian soap Home and Away.
He also featured in The Unit, had guest spots on 24, and was part of The Last Airbender film cast. However, it was his portrayal of Dr Walter Bishop in the hit series Fringe that made him a familiar face to audiences everywhere, starring in a whopping hundred episodes of the JJ. Abrams production, reports the .
John Noble’s international career took off after appearing in The Lord of the Rings (Image: GETTY)
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Post-Fringe, Noble enjoyed roles in acclaimed shows such as The Good Wife, Sleepy Hollow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Blacklist, Salvation, and Elementary. Most recently, he lent his distinctive voice to the animated TV series Star Trek: Prodigy.
His future projects include appearances in Stream, Nameless, Guardians of Luna, and Call Waiting.
Away from acting, Noble cherishes family life with his wife Penny Noble, and their three children, which includes actress Samantha Noble. They split time between New York and Australia.
John Noble is also known for TV series Fringe (Image: GETTY)
He’s not just talent onscreen; Noble is quite the theoretical physics aficionado, once requesting the Fringe writers to anchor the show’s fiction in science as much as possible.
Noble discussed his unique interest in a 2015 interview with Red Carpet News TV: “I’m not a scientist but I have a deep, abiding passion for it and particularly the theoretical side, the future. I’m just spellbound by the possibilities that I have been revealed all the time.”
His reading list isn’t light, preferring intricate works within the realm of physics. He mused, “I don’t have to be a scientist, there’s some fantastic literature around, which is quite dense but you don’t have to understand pure maths to do it, so that’s probably my main reading. Fascinating stuff.”
Severance season 2 airs weekly on Apple TV+ on Fridays