Tovey is the younger of two children, born to Carole Haynes (formerly Webb) and George Tovey who run a Romford-based coach service taking passengers from Essex to Gatwick Airport. Tovey has an older brother, Daniel. He grew up in Billericay, Essex, and he attended Harold Court School in Harold Wood and Shenfield High School. As a boy, Tovey said he "was an avid collector of various things and prone to participating in fads." His parents supported his efforts, taking him to archeological digs and museums, buying him a metal detector, and going to conventions for mineralologists. For a time he wanted to be a history teacher, but after seeing Dead Poets Society, The Goonies, and Stand By Me, he decided to be an actor. For a time during his teens, he worked as a kitchen assistant in Billericay\'s King\'s Head pub.\n', '

Tovey began his career as a child actor. He joined a local drama club, and garnered the attention of a talent agent. He began acting when he was 11 years old, featuring in television adverts for WHSmith and Heinz. He worked so steadily and missed so much school that his father suggested his acting career be cut back, but his mother convinced his father to let their son continue. His TV career started in 1994, when he was cast in Mud, a children\'s series broadcast on CBBC.\n', '

He left high school at the age of 16, and started a BTEC in performing arts at Barking College. He was expelled after a year for refusing a role in the school play in favour of a paying acting job. He acted in plays in Chichester under the direction of Debra Gillett, wife of Patrick Marber. He met Marber through Gillett, and Marber cast him in the play Howard Katz at the National Theatre. He also performed in His Girl Friday and His Dark Materials there.\n', '

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