After graduating from London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1980, he performed in various television and stage productions over the next decade, earning a 1983 nomination as Most Promising Newcomer from the London Theatre Critics for his role in Falkland South.

His roles in 'Our Country's Good', 'Serious Money', and' Another Country' helped those dramas win Best Play Laurence Olivier Awards in the 1980s. Wadham's television career has resulted in a number of industry awards. He won the Royal Television Society and Prix Europa prize for Goodbye, Cruel World and the Royal Television Society award for Blind Justice.

In the 1990s, he achieved worldwide recognition for roles as Sir James Chettam in the acclaimed TV miniseries Middlemarch and Maddox in the Oscar-winning film The English Patient. He also appeared as Pitt in the brilliant film 'The madness of King George' (1993) which went on to win the BAFTA film oscar and was nominated for several American oscars.

Wadham also has a prolific career in theatre, including The Madness of George III, The Changeling, A Letter of Resignation, David Hare's Plenty, The Good Samaritan at Hampstead, and, most recently, The Winter's Tale at the Royal National Theatre. His good looks and aristocratic bearing make him a popular choice among casting directors seeking a proper gentleman at home with beautiful women and high society. Wadham performs frequently for Britain's National Theatre in productions of such esteemed directors and producers as Richard Eyre, Harold Pinter, Peter Gill, Stuart Burge, and Max Stafford-Clark.

In cinema he was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild along with the other members of the cast. Wadham more than holds his own, amongst the plethora of talent in The English Patient. He embodies the role of Maddox and delivers a simply superb performance. Indeed, in my opinion, Wadham has just as much charisma and screen presence as alongside Ralph Fiennes, given the right role.”.