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(Redirected from Old Boys (2018 film)) British actor (born 1995)

Alex Lawther
Lawther in 2022
BornAlexander Jonathan Lawther
(1995-05-04) 4 May 1995 (age 29)
Winchester, Hampshire, England
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland
EducationChurcher's College
National Youth Theatre
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present
Known forThe End of the F***ing World
Black Mirror
The Imitation Game
South Downs

Alexander Jonathan Lawther (born 4 May 1995) is an English actor, writer, and director. He made his professional acting debut originating the role of John Blakemore in Sir David Hare's South Downs in the West End. He made his feature film debut playing a young Alan Turing in the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game (2014), for which he received the London Film Critics' Circle Award for "Young British Performer of the Year" and was declared one of BAFTA's 2015 Breakthrough Brits.

He achieved more mainstream success for his role as Kenny in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode of the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2016), and for portraying the lead role of James in the Channel 4 series The End of the F***ing World (2017–2019). His other notable work includes his roles in Freak Show, Howards End, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Ghost Stories, The Last Duel and Andor. On screen, he is known for his frequent portrayals of outsiders and eccentric characters.

Early life

Lawther was born in Winchester, Hampshire and raised in Petersfield. He is of English and Irish descent, possessing dual British and Irish citizenship through his Northern Irish father. The son of two lawyers, Lawther has described himself as having come from a "white middle-class bubble". As the youngest of three children, he said that his aspiration to be an actor came from having to make up his own games to entertain himself as a child. Both of his siblings live and work in the United States, with his older brother, Cameron Lawther, being an award-winning Hollywood film producer, and his older sister Ellie Lawther working in public policy.

Lawther was educated at Churcher's College, a selective independent school in Petersfield. After getting into trouble for creating an illegitimate drama club at his school with friends, Lawther became heavily involved in the drama programme when an official one was started. He played Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, and Lucas in The Third Bank of the River, and received the Sir Daniel Day-Lewis Award by the Petersfield Town Council. In 2009, a fourteen-year-old Lawther was allowed to write and direct his own full-length play based on a song by Sara Bareilles entitled Rejected Fairytales as part of his drama club involvement, where he received laudatory coverage in the local press as a "theatrical whiz kid" who would end up working as an actor in the West End.

In 2010, he was accepted into the prestigious National Youth Theatre, where he received his only formal training as an actor. He also collaborated with his brother as an actor on his short film The Fear, made when the elder Lawther was applying to film school. He did not study drama at GCSE or A level. He initially planned to read History at King's College London, but ultimately gave up his place after being cast in The Imitation Game; instead, he moved to London at 18 to pursue acting professionally.

Career

2011–2016: South Downs, The Imitation Game, Departure and early roles

Lawther's professional debut came at the age of 16, when he appeared as John Blakemore in Sir David Hare's South Downs at Chichester Festival Theatre. Lawther found out about an open audition for the play through his school, as the casting directors were scouting real students attending elite private schools in the South Downs for the play's public school setting. He travelled to London, where he beat hundreds of other young actors for the lead role. After a local trial run, the play then went to the West End, where he performed the role at the Harold Pinter Theatre in sold out runs whilst still studying for his A Levels. He received critical acclaim for his performance and, having previously viewed acting as only a hobby, he was encouraged to pursue a career in film and theatre. Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with a film agent.

Following his performance in South Downs, Lawther spent much of his early career playing wealthy English schoolboys. After several small television roles, he portrayed Benjamin Britten as a schoolboy in the docudrama by Tony Britten, Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (2013), also featuring John Hurt as the narrator. Lawther received his breakthrough film role as a young Alan Turing during his time at Sherborne School in the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game (2014), with Benedict Cumberbatch portraying the older Turing. The role won him the London Film Critics' Circle Award for "Young British Performer of the Year". Subsequently, he appeared in a supporting role as a maths prodigy in the critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama film X+Y, alongside Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins. He also starred as a young castrato in Virtuoso, a pilot produced for HBO by Alan Ball, but the show was not picked up by the network. He returned to the theatre doing various small productions in London during this period, playing a sexually precocious young gay man in The Glass Supper, and the lead in the post-apocalyptic Crushed Shells and Mud.

In 2015, he starred alongside Juliet Stevenson in his first lead film role, playing Elliot in the British film, Departure, the debut film of director Andrew Steggall, filmed in a mixture of French and English.

2016–present: Black Mirror, The End of the F***ing World, and wider recognition

In 2016, Lawther played the main character Kenny in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode from series three of the British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. While the episode overall received mixed reviews, and Lawther himself later expressed lukewarm feelings for the episode, he received universal acclaim and significant recognition for his performance. He also performed in the mockumentary film Carnage, directed by his frequent collaborator, comedian Simon Amstell.

In 2017, Lawther played Tibby Schlegel in Howards End, a BBC One adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel that starred Hayley Atwell, as well as the lead role of Billy Bloom in Trudie Styler's Freak Show, where he was supported by Bette Midler, Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Lorraine Toussaint and Larry Pine. Freak Show marked his first (and thus far only) appearance in an American film; Lawther has expressed a lack of interest in performing in more American films.

Later that same year, he also starred, alongside Jessica Barden, as James in the Peabody Award-winning television series The End of the F***ng World. The role also brought Lawther more acclaim from critics and further raised his profile in the entertainment industry. He would go on to reprise this role during the show's second and final season, which received a BAFTA Award for Best Drama. He also originated the role of Sam in the Stephen Daltry-directed play The Jungle, which focused on the refugee crisis in Calais, in both its London and New York productions. Lawther spent time in France meeting with refugees for this job, and ultimately found it to be one of his most challenging roles due to his character's right-wing views which were antithetical to his own. Subsequently, Lawther played the lead role of Amberson in Toby MacDonald's debut film Old Boys, as well as a supporting role in the horror film Ghost Stories.

In 2020, Lawther played the lead role in Régis Roinsard's thriller, Les Traducteurs (The Translators), his first non-English language film. As a result of fans of both Lawther and English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna frequently pointing out their resemblance, Lawther made an appearance in the music video for McKenna's song "The Key to Life on Earth". In 2021, Lawther appeared in Ridley Scott's The Last Duel, Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, and Lucile Hadzihalilovic's Earwig. He starred as Ariel in a French production of Shakespeare's The Tempest at Les Bouffes du Nord directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne and replaces Andrew Scott in the titular role of Hamlet when Robert Icke's adaptation is brought to New York City, after previously being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He appeared in the Star Wars spin-off series Andor as rebel operative Karis Nemik.

Directing

In 2021, Lawther made his directorial debut with the music video for "Fountainhead" by Linus Fenton, starring Roman Griffin Davis and sponsored by CALM. In 2022, he wrote and directed the short film "For people in trouble", produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and starring Emma D'Arcy and Archie Madekwe.

Personal life

Lawther stopped using social media as he began to take more high-profile roles and considers himself to be "technophobic". He has described himself as politically left-wing, and generally tries to avoid discussing his private life when possible. He considers his biggest inspirations as an actor to be Ben Whishaw, Sally Hawkins, and Andrew Scott.

Lawther has been a Francophile and a fan of French cinema from a young age. He speaks fluent French and divides his time between Paris and London.

Activism

In 2020, Lawther co-signed an open letter to the government of the United Kingdom to ban conversion therapy for LGBT youth. In 2023, he co-signed an open letter alongside more than 1,000 artists in the British film industry calling on the arts and culture sector to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, amplify Palestinian voices, and protect artists who speak out in favor of Palestinians. He has also been involved in climate activism with Extinction Rebellion. He is a feminist and has critiqued the lack of diversity in the film industry. He became involved with causes supporting refugees following his work in The Jungle and supports the charity Choose Love.

Recognition

After seeing a sixteen-year-old Lawther's West End debut in South Downs, Dame Maggie Smith reportedly remarked to him that "most of us spend our lives trying to do what you've achieved". For that same performance, he was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award for "Best Newcomer" and named one of London's "Top 25 Under 25" by the Evening Standard. He has since received the London Film Critics' Circle Award for "Young British Performer of the Year" for The Imitation Game and the Dublin Film Critics Award for "Best Actor" for Departure. With the cast and crew of The Jungle, he received a Special Citation at the Obie Awards for the play's off-off-Broadway production and was cited for his "deeply funny and moving performance" in The End of the F***ing World when the show received a Peabody Award.

Lawther was named as one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits for 2015. His acting style has been compared favourably to actor Ben Whishaw, whom he cites as an idol of his.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2010 The Fear The Boy Short film
2013 Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict Benjamin Britten Docudrama
2014 The Imitation Game Young Alan Turing
X+Y Isaac Cooper Released in the US as A Brilliant Young Mind
2015 Yussef is Complicated Rory Short film
Departure Elliot
2016 Narrated By Sam Simpowitz Short film
2017 Freak Show Billy Bloom Credited as "Alex J. Lawther"
Goodbye Christopher Robin Christopher Robin Milne Age 18
2018 Ghost Stories Simon Rifkind
Old Boys Martin Amberson
Alex's Dream Alex Morin Short film
2019 The Translators Alex Goodman
Miss Fortunate Jack Short film
2020 Spark Theo Short film
2021 The French Dispatch Morisot
The Last Duel King Charles VI
Earwig Laurence
2022 Samovar Anton Short film
The Lost Patient Bastien
For people in trouble Short film; director and writer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2014 Holby City Fred Bamber 1 episode
2015 Virtuoso Battista Pilot
William Freddy Television short
2016 Black Mirror Kenny Episode: "Shut Up and Dance"
2017 Carnage Volunteer: Joseph Mockumentary
Howards End Tibby Schlegel Miniseries
2017–2019 The End of the F***ing World James Main role, 16 episodes
2020 Unprecedented Zac 1 episode
Grand Amour Television movie
2021 Summer Camp Island Mildred's Friend Voice; 3 episodes
2021–2022 The Owl House Philip Wittebane Voice; 4 episodes
2022 Lloyd of the Flies Abacus Woodlouse Voice; Main role
Andor Karis Nemik 4 episodes
2023 The Cleaner Dan Mangkukulam/Watson Episode: "The Shaman"
The Velveteen Rabbit Velveteen Rabbit Television special
2025 Alien: Earth CJ Upcoming series

Stage

Year Title Role Venue Ref.
2011 South Downs John Blakemore Chichester Festival Theatre
2012 South Downs John Blakemore Harold Pinter Theatre
2013 Fault Lines Ryan Hampstead Theatre
2014 The Glass Supper Jamie Hampstead Theatre
2015 Crushed Shells and Mud Derek Southwark Playhouse
2017–2019 The Jungle Sam Young Vic Theatre & Playhouse Theatre (2018)
St. Ann’s Warehouse
2021 The Tempest Caliban/Ferdinand Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
2022 Hamlet Hamlet Park Avenue Armory

Radio

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 South Downs John Blakemore
2014 How to Say Goodbye Properly Toby BBC Radio 4
Rock Me Amadeus Charlie BBC Radio 4
2015 Decline and Fall Peter Beste-Chetwynde BBC Radio 4
2020 Murmurs Lloyd Episode: "Man's Best Friend"

Podcasts

Year Title Role Notes
2018 The London Necropolis Railway Barney Main Role, 7 episodes
2020 The Painkiller Podcast Leo Episode: "Object"

Music videos

Year Title Artist Album Role Notes
2020 "The Key to Life on Earth" Declan McKenna Zeros Himself
2021 "Fountainhead" Linus Fenton Director

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Refs.
2013 WhatsOnStage Awards Best Newcomer South Downs Nominated
2014 BFI London Film Festival Best British Newcomer The Imitation Game Nominated
2015 London Critics' Circle Film Awards Young British Performer of the Year Won
2016 Audi Dublin International Film Festival Best Actor Departure Won
Dinard British Film Festival Special Mention - Actors Won
2018 International Online Cinema Awards Best Actor in a Comedy Series The End of the F***ing World Nominated
Fright Meter Awards Best Supporting Actor Ghost Stories Runner-Up
2019 Obie Awards Special Citation - Cast and Creative Team The Jungle Won
2024 London Critics' Circle Film Awards British/Irish Short Film of the Year For people in trouble Nominated
Annie Awards Voice Acting in an Animated Television/Media Production The Velveteen Rabbit Nominated

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