David Leon

David Leon is an English actor, director, writer, and producer born on 24 July 1980 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His father, Anthony N. Leon, worked in a power station, and his mother, Ann J. Brown, was a secretary. Leon describes himself as half-Jewish through his father's side. He was educated at Dame Allan's School and is a graduate of the National Youth Theatre. He briefly played for Blackburn Rovers F.C. before pursuing a career in the arts.

Leon began his on-screen career as a presenter on CITV in 2002. That same year, he appeared in Rankin and Chris Cottam's feature film Lives of the Saints, playing the character Othello. In 2004, he dropped out of drama school to shoot Oliver Stone's Alexander in Morocco, in which he played Hermolaous. From 2004 to 2005, he appeared in 12 episodes of the television series Cutting It as Troy Gillespie. His 2006 credits included the film These Foolish Things, which starred Lauren Bacall, Anjelica Huston, Terence Stamp, and Zoë Tapper, as well as the BBC mini-series The Wild West, in which he played Billy the Kid. In 2008, he appeared in director Guy Ritchie's feature RocknRolla as Malcolm.

Leon's stage and Broadway work includes the 2010 play Rain on Broadway, as well as the role of Jesus in Mark Haddon's Polar Bears at the Donmar Warehouse that same year. From 2011 to 2014, he co-starred with Brenda Blethyn in the ITV detective series Vera, playing DS Joe Ashworth across the first four series. On 30 March 2023, it was confirmed that Leon would reprise the role after a decade away from the show. He returned as Joe Ashworth, promoted to DI, in the first episode of series 13, titled Fast Love, and continued through series 14. His additional television credits include the 2017 BBC drama In the Dark, in which he played DI Adam Perrin, and the 2019 series Gold Digger, in which he played Kieran.

Behind the camera, Leon co-wrote and co-directed the 2009 short film Father with Marcus McSweeney, on which he also served as producer. The same team followed with the 2010 short Man and Boy, which won the award for best narrative short at the Tribeca Film Festival. Leon then wrote and directed the 2012 short Orthodox, which was selected for the 58th BFI London Film Festival. He subsequently expanded the project into a feature-length film, completed in 2015 and released in 2016, on which he also served as producer.