About
Jack Murphy
A choreographer and movement director based in London, working across television, film and stage.
Jack Murphy trained as an actor at LAMDA, graduating with the Alec Clunes Memorial Prize. He moved into movement direction at the Royal National Theatre, where he has since created the movement for more than twenty-five productions, before becoming one of British screen's most sought-after choreographers for period drama.
His work aims to realise the director's vision and release the physical potential of a moment, ranging from precise period movement to contemporary, character-led physicality. He has worked with directors including Jane Campion, Mira Nair, Nicholas Hytner and Marianne Elliott, and with performers including Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt and Reese Witherspoon.
In 2025 he received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Choreography, for Bridgerton and Doctor Who.
“There are two reasons to dance: to have, or to give, pleasure.”
On screen, the dance is the scene. It serves the story; it doesn't sit on top of it. The work is to find the physical truth of a moment so the narrative can keep moving, whether that's a first look across a ballroom or a body that has carried a long day.
Jack approaches dancers and non-dancers through an actor's language and sporting analogies, making performers comfortable in their bodies so the camera, the score and the scene can do their work around them. The point is never to be impressive. The point is for the scene to live.