Alex Lawther

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 Irish father, who is from Northern Ireland. The son of two lawyers, 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 a Hollywood film producer, and his older sister Ellie Lawther working in public policy. Lawther was educated at Churcher's College, an 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 joined the 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. ==Career==

2011–2016: 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. 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: wider recognition to promote Alien: Earth 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, 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. Later that same year, he also starred, alongside Jessica Barden, as James in the Peabody Award-winning television series The End of the F***ing 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 replaced Andrew Scott in the titular role of Hamlet when Robert Icke's adaptation was 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. In 2022 he provided the voice of Abacus Woodlouse in Aardman Animations' Lloyd of the Flies and in 2023 he also voiced of Bird-Bee and Mr. Beak-Bee in Adventures of ArachnoFly, Lloyd of the Flies' spin-off. 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. His short film Rhoda, starring Emma D'Arcy and Juliet Stevenson was selected for the BFI London Film Festival in 2024. ==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 previously lived in Paris. Lawther currently lives with his partner in 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 during the Gaza war, 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". Lawther was named as one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits for 2015. His acting style has been compared favourably to actor Ben Whishaw, ==Acting credits==

Film Television Theatre Radio Podcasts Music videos ==Awards and nominations==