Ben Whishaw made his debut in the 1999 British war film ‘The Trench’ where he played the role of ‘Pte. James Deamis.’ The following year, he became a part of the four-episode 2000 British television drama series ‘Other People's Children.’ He next appeared in films like ‘My Brother Tom’ (2001), ‘Ready When You Are Mr. McGill’ (2003), and ‘The Booze Cruise’ (2003). In 2004, Whishaw starred as ‘Spud’ in the Roger Michell-directed British psychological thriller film ‘Enduring Love.’ The film received mixed reviews from critics. That same year, he also appeared in the British crime film ‘Layer Cake’ directed by Matthew Vaughn. The film was inspired by J. J. Connolly’s novel of the same name. ‘Layer Cake’ opened to positive reviews with Owen Gleiberman of the Entertainment Weekly describing it as a "Fast, convulsive, and densely exciting new British gangster thriller." He continued to star in films like ‘Stoned’ (2005), ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ (2006), ‘I'm Not There’ (2007), and ‘Brideshead Revisited’ (2008).Â
In 2008, Whishaw joined the cast of the British television drama series ‘Criminal Justice’ where he played the role of ‘Ben Coulter.’ He appeared in 5 episodes and became a recipient of the ‘Emmy Award’ for his performance in the series. The year 2009 saw the release of the action thriller film ‘The International’ where Whishaw was seen playing the role of ‘Rene Antall.’ The film received a mixed response from critics. The same year, he also portrayed ‘John Keats’ in the biographical fiction romantic drama film ‘Bright Star’ directed by Jane Campion. The film saw critical acclaim upon release and gained a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic. In 2010, he starred as ‘Q’ in the twenty-third ‘James Bond’ film ‘Skyfall.’ The film opened to mostly positive reviews from critics and was a massive commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time.Â
He continued to star in films like ‘The Zero Theorem’ (2013), ‘Days and Nights’ (2013), ‘Lilting’ (2014), ‘Paddington’ (2014), ‘The Lobster’ (2015), ‘Suffragette’ (2015), ‘The Danish Girl’ (2015), ‘Spectre’ (2015), ‘A Hologram for the King’ (2016), ‘Paddington 2’ (2017), ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ (2018), ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’ (2019), ‘No Time to Die’ (2021). In 2022, he became a part of the comedy-drama television series ‘This Is Going to Hurt’ where he is seen playing the role of ‘Adam Kay.’ He is all set to appear in the upcoming American drama film ‘Women Talking’ directed by Sarah Polley.