Who is Peter Serafinowicz?
Fans of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” will recognize Peter Serafinowicz as Denarian Saal, a highly respected member of the Nova Corps, and fans of Melissa McCarthy’s comedy “Spy” might well recognize Peter as Aldo, referred to as the human version of Pepe Le Pew. However, this versatile actor has over 120 credits to his name, and if you want to learn more about his work, life, and future projects, keep reading this article.
Early life, family, and education
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz comes from a family of Polish and Belarusian descent, but was born in Gateacre, Liverpool, England thus he holds British nationality. Peter celebrates his birthday on 10 July, and was born in 1972.
His father, Szymon was a scaffolder, and his mother Catherine was a post office worker. Peter has two siblings; a brother James, who is a film producer, and sister Helen, a writer.
Peter’s family made headlines in 2007 when it was revealed that his grandfather was a member of the Belarusian Auxiliary Police at the time of the 1941 Mir Ghetto massacre. Peter attempted to use the Human Rights Act against a national newspaper in order to prevent the publication of information about his grandfather, but he eventually gave up.
Speaking of Peter’s educational background, he attended Our Lady of the Assumption Primary School, in Belle Vale, since his family moved there when he was a toddler. Later, they moved back to Gateacre, and there, Peter attended Saint Francis Xavier’s College. Upon matriculating in 1990, he didn’t go to college but began working as a broadcaster on Radio 1, a British national radio station. He was the host of the show “The Knowledge”, and eventually he went on Radio 4, performing in shows such as “A Whole New Ball Game” and “Week Ending”.
Roles in movies
Peter made his acting debut in the 1998 TV movie “Jack and the Beanstalk”., and followed with his role as a Scientist in the 2001 short movie “Calcium”, which he co-wrote with Robert Popper.
His big-screen debut was his role as Pete in the 2004 comedy horror “Shaun of the Dead”, also starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, which had 20 award nominations, including three for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, and won 13.
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Peter was next seen in “Ripley Under Ground” (2005), “Sixty Six” (2006), and “Grindhouse” (2007).
In the following years, Peter had a small part in the 2009 comedy “Couples Retreat”, followed by his role in “The Best and the Brightest” in 2010. He then appeared in the 2011 musical comedy “Killing Bono”, which is based on the true story of Ivan and Neil McCormick, who dreamed of becoming rock stars, but ended up witnessing the success achieved by their former schoolmate after forming the band U2.
In 2014, Peter was cast to play his most notable role to date, as Denarian Saal in the action-adventure “Guardians of the Galaxy”, starring Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper. The movie had 102 award nominations, including two for Oscars (Best Achievement in Visual Effects, and Best Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyling), and won 52.
In the following year, Peter was seen in “Spy”, followed by his role as a Sommelier in the 2017 action movie “John Wick: Chapter 2”, starring Keanu Reeves, Riccardo Scamarcio, and Ian McShane. In the same year, Peter co-starred in “Going in Style” and “An Ordinary Man”.
Most recently, he was seen as a Theater Producer in the 2019 movie “Last Christmas”, which won the ReFrame Stamp for Top 100 Grossing Narrative & Animated Feature.
In April 2022, Peter finally landed a starring role, cast as Gavin in the comedy “The Bubble”, which followed the story of actors trying to finish a movie while they are trapped in a pandemic bubble in a hotel.
When it comes to his new projects, the action drama “The School for Good and Evil,” written and directed by Paul Feig, premiered in October 2022, with Peter playing Yuba; he’ll next be seen in the action comedy “Sumoterhood”, which is currently in development.
Roles in series
Peter made his television debut as Tony Frost in an episode of the series “Murder Most Horrid” in 1999, followed by his recurring role as Dean Yardley in “How Do You Want Me”, and was next seen as Duane Benzie in “Spaced” (1999-2001).
The early 2000s saw Peter as a guest star in numerous series, and since the list of his roles is too long, we will identify some of his most significant. Worth mentioning is his role in “Look Around You” (2002-2005), a BAFTA-nominated comedy, a parody of educational programs.
During 2010 and 2011, Peter was Fa’ad Shaoulian in “Running Wilde”, which was nominated for the People’s Choice Award, USA for Favorite New TV Comedy. In 2014, he starred as Ross in the comedy-drama “Mr. Sloane” opposite Nick Frost and Olivia Colman, and in the same year, he was cast as Lord British in the TV mini-series “The Britishes”, a satirical parody about a family of British aristocrats.
From 2016 until 2019, Peter starred as Tick in the adventure comedy action “The Tick”, which was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Award for Best New Media Superhero Series.
Most recently, Peter was King Cragnoor in the 2020 series “Miracle Workers”.
Voice roles
Peter is a well-known, renowned voice actor – his debut was voicing the character of Kenneth Clarke in the 1996 series “Spitting Image”, then in the following year, he was heard in “Look and Read”.
In 1999, Peter voiced Darth Maul in “Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace”, and was also heard in the 2001 video game “Z: Steel Soldiers”, and “Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior” in 2003.
When it comes to animated movies, Peter voiced Loco in “Underdogs” (2013), “Pudsey the Dog: The Movie” (2014), “Sing” (2016), and “Sing 2” (2021).
Peter is currently lending his voice to Neil in the animated comedy “Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm”, which is scheduled for release on 8 November 2022.
Love life and wife
Peter hasn’t been the subject of any rumors, primarily because he prefers to keep his personal life out of the spotlight, but it‘s widely known that he’s married. His wife is English actress Sarah Alexander, perhaps known best for starring in British series’ such as “Smack the Pony” and “Green Wing”, among others.
Peter met his future wife sometime in 2002, when she was still in a relationship with Gerald Harper, also an actor. After they separated, she and Peter soon married, but haven’t revealed the exact wedding date, because they are private about their personal lives. Peter and Sarah have a son and a daughter together, but whose names and birth dates they also haven’t revealed.
As of late 2022, the family of four lives in London, England.
Age, height, and net worth
Peter’s age is 50, and besides his piercing blue eyes, he‘s known for his towering height of 6ft 3ins (1.92m), and his trademark is his deep voice.
If you wondered about the wealth this actor has accumulated during his more than 30-year-long career, according to sources, as of November 2022, his net worth has been estimated at over $6 million.
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