Joseph Morgan

He was born Joseph Martin in London, England, but spent his formative years in Morriston in Wales. In his late teens, Morgan returned to London to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama. He made his acting debut on the small screen, appearing in made-for-TV movies such as "Eroica" (BBC, 2003) and "Henry VIII," a miniseries chronicling the tumultuous 38-year reign of King Henry VIII. He had a minor role in the 2003 action-adventure "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," about a brash British captain (Russell Crowe) in pursuit of an indefatigable French war vessel around South America. In 2004, Morgan landed a multi-arc part on the cult fantasy television series "Hex," about students who attend an English country school where witches and other evil entities battle for dominance. He played a handsome student who, in spite of his tough guy façade, struggled with insecurity. That same year, he also appeared in the critically maligned epic "Alexander," opposite Colin Farrell in the title role as the great King of Macedonia and Angelina Jolie as Queen Olympias.Morgan continued to make inroads in his native Britain with a recurring role in the miniseries "The Line of Beauty" (BBC, 2006) based on the 2004 novel by Alan Hollinghurst about Nick Guest (Dan Stevens), a homosexual Oxford graduate who moves in with the aristocratic Fedden family. Morgan played a wealthy, pleasure-seeking estate agent who was also one of the love interests of the family's sole daughter, Cat Fedden (Hayley Atwell). The year 2007 was a busy one for Morgan; he appeared in the TV movie "Mansfield Park" (ITV); portrayed a James Dean impersonator in the comedy-drama "Mister Lonely;" and began appearing on the comedy series "Doc Martin" (ITV, 2004-2011), which followed a socially inept surgeon (Martin Clunes) who moves from his high-profile London clinic to a small seaside town. In 2008, Morgan joined the cast of the long-running medical drama "Casualty" (BBC, 1986-), as a villainous drug-dealer.Morgan next scored the lead on the ABC drama "Ben Hur," a swords-and-sandals epic that chronicled the life of a Jewish prince who was betrayed and then sold into slavery. Obviously drawn to epic adventure films, Morgan's next role was in yet another fantasy saga, "Immortals," which was loosely based on the Greek myths of Theseus, the Minotaur, and the War of the Titans. In the film, Morgan portrayed a cowardly soldier-gone-rogue who ends up maimed and disfigured after being defeated in combat by Theseus (Henry Cavill). In 2011, Morgan joined the cast of the supernatural hit "The Vampire Diaries," as Klaus, a manipulative and egotistical vampire-werewolf hybrid that, over the course of the series, slowly unveils a more human and vulnerable side.By Candy Cuenco