Steve Draper is an actor who has appeared in many UK television shows, including Emmerdale and The Royal. He is best known for his role as a Viking character in the series of adverts for Direct Line insurance, which appear on British television. He was born in Yorkshire, England and lives in Leeds with his wife Sue, who also works in West Yorkshire Theatre as a stage manager.
Born in Chicago, Steve Draper grew up in a family of Methodist ministers and church musicians. His first introduction to the theater came from his older sister, who was a college professor at Northwestern University in Evanston and taught theater history.
“She would take me to see her students perform,” Draper said. “I found it very interesting and exciting.”
Draper went on to study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theatre and performance. He then moved to New York City and studied improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre before moving back to Chicago, where he continued performing improv comedy with groups such as ComedySportz, iO Theater (formerly known as Improv Olympic), and The Annoyance Theatre.
“My mother was very supportive of my interest in acting,” Draper said with a smile. “My father was not so supportive, but he doesn’t mind it now.”
Draper has performed since the age of 10 when he began singing in his church choir and later attended high school at Chicago’s famed Francis W. Parker School, which has graduated such notable alumni as Bonnie Hunt, John Cusack, David Schwimmer and Jeremy Piven. During his time there, Draper performed with Parker’s theater
Steve Draper has been an actor for over 30 years. His first acting job came in 1989 when he played the role of Viking in the comedy All Change.
His first credited role was as a police officer in the television series Thief Takers. In 2002 he got a part in the film 28 Days Later, playing a soldier at Downing Street.
He has had roles in several other films, including Dead Man’s Shoes, This is England, The Arbor and 4.3.2.1.
Draper was cast as Freda Kelly, manager of the Beatles fan club, in the 2013 drama film Good Ol’ Freda. He is also known for his portrayal of Howard Ogden, father of Kevin Ogden (played by Thomas Scott), from 2009 to 2011 on ITV’s soap opera Emmerdale. In 2015 he appeared in the first episode of The Last Kingdom as Earl Ragnar of Northumbria.
Steve Draper is a freelance actor based in London, England. He has been working as an actor since 1992 and has been a professional voice-over artist since 2008.
Steve works extensively as a corporate and eLearning voiceover, providing narration for training videos and internal communications, as well as promoting clients’ products and services via promotional videos that are shown at conferences and exhibitions around the world.
Steve’s background as an actor means he works equally well with both scripted and ad lib copy, recording on his own home studio or at various pro studios around the capital.
Steve Draper has worked as a voice artist and actor in theatre, film and television for over 30 years. His theatre credits include Julius Caesar and Macbeth at the RSC, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Theatre Royal Bath), The Entertainer (The Old Vic), Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe, Loveplay and The Birthday Party (Almeida Theatre), The Miracle Maker and Jesus Christ Superstar (UK Tour), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal Shakespeare Theatre/Young Vic) and Coriolanus (Royal Exchange).
His film credits include The Last Legion, Vikingdom, Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire and Invictus.
Steve’s television credits include Vikings for History Channel, Doctor Who for BBC Television, Merlin for Shine TV/BBC Television, Jane Hall for ITV1, Murphy’s Law for Tiger Aspect/BBC Television, Kingdom for Carnival Films/ITV1, Prime Suspect 4: Inner Circles, Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement and Cassandra’s Dream for Ecosse Films/Granada Television.
Steve Draper is a 6’5″ 250lbs actor from Canada. He was born in 1971 and grew up in the West Island area of Montreal. A lifelong fascination for Vikings, led him to study medieval history at Concordia University in Montreal, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree with honors in 1995.
His interest in medieval reenactment, and his desire to play a Viking lead him to take up axe throwing as a hobby. This then lead to the discovery of the sport of Hurlbat which he learned while living in England and training under Medieval warrior expert Matt Easton of Schola Gladiatoria. After moving back to the States, he decided to try his hand at Modern Arnis after being introduced to it by another group of actors. His first class was taught by Rick “Handsome” Baker, who took an immediate liking to Steve and encouraged him to train further. Rick’s guidance helped Steve improve his skills enough for him to take on a role as a stunt man for the upcoming film “The Raven”.
Steve has been training in Modern Arnis for over 5 years now and teaches regularly at the Black Dragon Dojo. In addition to teaching he also helps run the Film Fight Choreography class along with Bart Abbott and Rick Baker. His
Hi, I’m Steve Draper. I’m an actor, based in London and Los Angeles.
I was recently a featured extra in Vikings Season 4, as an Anglo Saxon warrior.
My hobbies are martial arts and music, and I have travelled to the far east to train with some of the best martial artists in the world.
I speak Cantonese fluently and have done a lot of voiceover work for video games and documentaries.
I regularly write articles on my blog, stevedraperactor.com, where you can find out more about me, see my acting showreel or listen to some of my music.
