Alex Lawther – An English Actor
Alex Lawther – An English Actor
Alex Lawther: Alexander Jonathan Lawther (born 4 May 1995) is an English actor, known for portraying James in the Channel 4 series The End of the F***ing World, and for his acclaimed role as Kenny in the season three episode “Shut Up and Dance” of the Netflix series Black Mirror.
For playing the young Alan Turing in the film The Imitation Game (2014), he won the London Film Critics’ Circle Award for Young British Performer of the Year.
Alex Lawther Movies
Lawther was born in Petersfield, Hampshire. The youngest of three, he has said that his aspiration to be an actor came from having to make up his own games to entertain himself as a child. His parents both work in law, while his older brother, Cameron Lawther, is a film producer, and his older sister Ellie Lawther works in public policy. In 2010, the brothers worked together on The Fear.
In 2009, Lawther wrote and put together a play as part of his drama club involvement at Churcher’s College. Lawther played Ratty in The Wind in the Willows at school.Lawther did not study drama at GCSE or A level. He trained with the National Youth Theatre.
Lawther’s professional debut came at the age of 16 when he appeared as John Blakemore in David Hare’s South Downs at Chichester Festival Theatre. He made his feature film debut as the young Alan Turing in the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game (2014). The role won him the London Film Critics’ Circle Award for “Young British Performer of the Year” in 2015. In 2015, he appeared in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama film X+Y. In 2016, he gained his first lead role playing Elliot, alongside Juliet Stevenson in the British film, Departure, the debut film of Andrew Steggall.
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, Lawther received acclaim and significant recognition for his performance. In 2017, he also starred, alongside Jessica Barden, as James in the television series, The End of the F***ng World. The role also brought Lawther more acclaim from critics.
Alex Lawther Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict | Benjamin Britten | Docudrama |
| 2014 | The Imitation Game | Young Alan Turing | London Film Critics’ Circle Award for “Young British Performer of the Year” Nominated – BFI London Film Festival Award for Best British Newcomer |
| 2014 | X+Y | Isaac Cooper | |
| 2016 | Departure | Elliot | |
| 2017 | Freak Show | Billy Bloom | |
| 2017 | Goodbye Christopher Robin | Older Christopher Robin Milne | |
| 2018 | Ghost Stories | Simon Rifkind | |
| 2018 | Old Boys | Amberson | |
| TBA | The French Dispatch | Post-production |
Alex Lawther Tv Shows
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Holby City | Fred Bamber | 1 episode |
| 2016 | Black Mirror | Kenny | Episode: “Shut Up and Dance” |
| 2017 | Carnage | Volunteer: Joseph | Mockumentary |
| 2017–present | The End of the F***ing World | James | The main role, 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Howards End | Tibby | Miniseries |
Alex Lawther Radio
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | South Downs | John Blakemore | |
| 2014 | How to Say Goodbye Properly | Toby | |
| 2014 | Rock Me Amadeus | Charlie | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2015 | Decline and Fall | Peter |
Alex Lawther Height
The End of the F***ing World, based on a graphic novel of the same name, has a somewhat grotesque premise. Lawther plays James, a 17-year-old who kills animals for fun and then sets his sights on a human target: Alyssa (Jessica Barden). If that sounds a little troubling, Lawther agrees. “When Charlie Covell, our screenwriter, started reading the comic, before she reached the end she was worried. It’s kind of gross: a young man doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions, so he takes it out, violently, on a young woman. That’s not a story that she was interested in telling, and I wouldn’t have been either.” Thankfully, the plot goes down a very different road. “It becomes more complicated, and hopefully more and more human. They start out as a sort of comic-book characters, and then unravel to become messy and sad and bleak.”
