Cree was born on 29 February 1980 in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of a local kitchen and bathroom fitter.[3] Upon completion of Secondary School, he attended Langside College in Glasgow for a year before applying, and being accepted to, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now known as the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). At RSAMD, he was signed by a London talent agent and moved to the city after completing school.[2]
Career
Cree began his professional career in 2001 with the guest starring role of Gerry in an episode of CBBC's weekly comedy series G-Force.[4] He went on to guest star in an episode of BBC's medical drama Doctors in 2002, and ITV's prison drama Bad Girls in 2003.[5][6] 2006 saw Cree guest star in BBC's medical drama Holby City and Sky 1's football drama Dream Team.[7][8] Cree returned to BBC's Doctors in 2007 with a second guest role in series nine, and he had a guest role in series eleven of the popular crime drama Silent Witness.[9][1][10]
In 2009, Cree made the transition from television to feature films by starring as Antonio Vivaldi in director Liana Marabini's Vivaldi, the Red Priest and director Craig Lyn's short film Closing Doors.[11][12] He was then cast in episode five of ITV's six part mini-series Identity,[13] a crime drama following a newly formed police unit investigating identity theft cases.[14] Cree worked with actor/director Noel Clarke twice in 2010 as he was featured in the thriller 4.3.2.1., which followed four friends targeted by a smuggling ring, and the comedy Huge, which focused on a would-be stand-up comedy duo.[15][16]E4's teenage science-fiction drama Misfits saw Cree return to episodic television with a season two guest spot that same year.[17] He was then featured in award-winning Kurdish director Chiman Rahimi's sort film Rojin.[18][19] 2011 saw Cree feature in the supernatural thriller film The Awakening and in director Tom Harper's short film The Swarm.[20][21]
2012 brought Cree a recurring role on BBC Three's groundbreaking drama Lip Service.[22] He portrayed Ryder, Sam Murray's police partner, opposite Heather Peace.[23] His next performance was as featured guest star Corporal Vince Grafton in a series two episode of ITV's murder mystery series Vera.[24][25] Throughout 2012, Cree had minor roles in major motion pictures such as Disney's John Carter and Brave (animated; voice work), British thriller Tower Block, and the Noel Clarke comedy The Knot.[26]
Actor turned director Sam Hoare's 2013 debut film, Having You, featured Cree in the role of Paul.[27][28] That same year, he portrayed Lennox in Kenneth Branagh's stage production of Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival.[29] The production sold out, but was broadcast live to audiences in Manchester, England and around the globe on 20 July 2013 as part of the National Theatre's NT Live broadcasts.[30] That same year, director Ruth Sewell cast Cree in the lead role of Matt in her short film Fish Love, which was featured at the London Short Film Festival.[31]
2014 saw Cree return to television in series two of the BBC's crime drama Shetland, based on the best-selling book series by Ann Cleeves.[1] He next tackled minor roles in Disney's live action film Maleficent, which focuses on the villain of their 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty, and the made-for-television film Marvellous.[32][33] He returned to television to guest star as Miras in the two-part Series Two premier of BBC's family drama Atlantis, which only ran for two seasons before being cancelled.[34][35][36] It was announced in 2014 that Cree has been cast in the role of Ian Murray in Starz time travel drama Outlander, based upon the best-selling book series from author Diana Gabaldon. The role is recurring and will continue throughout the series.[37]
In 2016, Cree returned to crime drama Silent Witness in the two-part season nineteen episode "Flight", which focused on the murder of a critic of Muslim fundamentalism.[1][45] Once again reuniting with director Noel Clarke, Cree was featured as Brick in the feature length crime drama Brotherhood.[46] He then portrayed Scottish war hero and Navy meteorologist Captain James Stagg in 2017's D-Day film Churchill, which shed light on the little known fact that the invasion date had been moved due to weather.[24]
Cree would go on, the next year, to portray Andrew Bentham in BBC Two's political drama MotherFatherSon, opposite Richard Gere (in his first major television role).[52] He would then join the cast of ITV's female centric drama Deep Water as series regular character Joe Kallisto.[53] Late fall 2019 saw Cree feature in the latest feature film installment of the Terminator franchise, Terminator: Dark Fate, opposite Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger.[54]
Early 2020 saw him star as Chief Constable Stuart Collier, opposite Robert Carlyle, in Sky One's political thriller Cobra.[55] He also completed filming on Ruth Platt's ghost story Martyrs Lane, which is scheduled to premiere at Fantasia Film Festival's 25th anniversary edition the next year.[56][57] In 2021 Cree debuted as popular Scottish character Gallowglass in the second season of Sky One's television drama A Discovery of Witches, which is based upon Deborah Harkness' book series of the same name.[58][59] He will reprise the role in season three of the series.[60] Cree completed filming on horror feature The Twin, alongside fellow A Discovery of Witches cast member Teresa Palmer, in June 2021.[61][62]
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