2000s In 1999, Bell was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of
Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his
working-class widowed father and elder brother by taking up ballet. Bell's performance received widespread acclaim, and 14-year-old Bell won
London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Newcomer of the Year,
British Independent Film Award for Best Newcomer,
Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, becoming one of the youngest winners of the awards. His lack of an Oscar nomination was met with criticism. He also appeared in
Close and True, an
ITV legal drama shown in 2000, which starred
Robson Green,
James Bolam,
Kerry Ann Christiansen and
Susan Jameson. Bell served as Honorary Jury President of the 2001
Giffoni Film Festival. In 2002, he appeared as the disabled servant
Smike in an adaptation of
Nicholas Nickleby and a young soldier in
Deathwatch. In the following years, he portrayed a teenager on the run in
Undertow, a gun-toting pacifist in
Dear Wendy, a disaffected
Southern California teenager in
The Chumscrubber, and the young Jimmy in the 2005 film version of
King Kong. Also in 2005, he starred opposite
Evan Rachel Wood in the
Green Day video "
Wake Me Up When September Ends", directed by
Samuel Bayer. In 2007, he played the title character in
Hallam Foe – for which he was nominated for the best actor award at the
British Independent Film Awards – and appeared as himself in
lonelygirl15 spin-off
KateModern. He had roles in two 2008 films: the
sci-fi film
Jumper and the
World War II drama
Defiance. In the second film he plays
Asael Bielski, the third of the Bielski Brothers, leaders of a partisan group that saved 1,200 lives during the
Holocaust. In 2009, producers announced that Bell would play the title role in the
motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin, alongside
Andy Serkis and
Daniel Craig. The film was released in 2011.
2010s Bell appeared in a number of films during the early 2010s, beginning with the 2011 films
The Eagle as Esca and
Jane Eyre as St John Rivers. In 2013, he starred alongside
James McAvoy in the film
Filth and appeared as Edgar in
Snowpiercer. From 2014 to 2017, Bell appeared as
Abraham Woodhull in ''
Turn: Washington's Spies. In 2015, he played the Thing in the Fantastic Four''
reboot. The film would go down in infamy as one of the worst comic book films ever made. In 2022, Bell would say of it, "I don't think [it deserves a second look.] Save your money, save your time." In 2017, Bell had starring roles in
6 Days and ''
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. The latter earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2019, he had a supporting role as Bernie Taupin in the biographical musical film based on the life of Elton John, Rocketman''. In 2023, he appeared in the critically acclaimed movie
All of Us Strangers as the protagonist's father. In April 2026, it was announced that Bell will take over the role of
Duke Shelby, the son of
Tommy Shelby (
Cillian Murphy) in the unnamed
Peaky Blinders sequel series that takes place 10 years after
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. ==Personal life==