Actor Joseph Morgan was born in London, England but grew up in Swansea, Wales. He was educated at Morriston Comprehensive School. After school he attained a BTEC in Performing Arts at Gorseinon College, Swansea and followed this by moving back to London to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He made his small screen debut in 2003 with two TV movies Eroica (2003) and Henry VIII (2003), and also made his first big screen appearance in Peter Weir’s well regarded Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), alongside Russell Crowe. Various acting successes followed including roles in Hex (2004), Doc Martin (2004) and Casualty (1986). In 2010 he won the lead role in Ben Hur (2010) and in 2011 he was cast in the re-occurring role of Klaus in The Vampire Diaries (2009). He also appeared as Lysander in the hit film Immortals (2011).