Sharpe graduated in 2008 and joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) for their 2008/2009 season. He spent a year at the RSC, appearing in such plays as
The Taming of the Shrew,
The Merchant of Venice, and
The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, in which he played a young
Isaac Newton. He played the character of Yuki Reid in the BBC medical drama
Casualty. Sharpe is known for writing, directing, and starring in the dark comedy-drama
Flowers, which premiered on
Channel 4 in 2016. In 2020, Sharpe won a
BAFTA Television Award for his supporting role as Rodney Yamaguchi in
BBC drama
Giri/Haji—a role
The Independent called 'one of the most riotously funny turns since Richard E Grant stepped out as
Withnail.' Sharpe directed and co-wrote the 2021
biographical comedy-drama film
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, starring
Benedict Cumberbatch as the artist
Louis Wain. In 2022, Sharpe joined the cast of the
HBO series
The White Lotus in its
second season, set in
Sicily, as Ethan Spiller, a newly wealthy tech entrepreneur on vacation. This role earned him a
Primetime Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In 2023, Sharpe was announced as the director of the film adaptation of
Japanese Breakfast frontwoman
Michelle Zauner's memoir,
Crying in H Mart. In 2025, Zauner said that Sharpe had stepped down from the project. In 2024, Sharpe had a supporting role in the
comedy-drama film
A Real Pain, alongside
Jesse Eisenberg and
Kieran Culkin. That same year, he starred in
Emmanuelle. Sharpe also began hosting the
paranormal podcast
Extrasensory. In 2025, he was cast in a lead role in the romantic comedy series
Too Much as well as the upcoming British series
Amadeus and
Prodigies. ==Personal life==