Billy Howle

William Walter Douglas Howle^[1] (born 9 November 1989) is an English actor. His films include On Chesil Beach (2017), The Seagull (2018), and Outlaw King (2018). On television, he is known for his roles in the E4 drama Glue (2014), MotherFatherSon (2019), the BBC miniseries The Serpent (2021), the BritBox thriller series The Beast Must Die (2021), and the Netflix mystery series The Perfect Couple (2024).

Billy Howle
Howle in 2018
Born	William Walter Douglas Howle (1989-11-09) 9 November 1989 (age 34) Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
Alma mater	Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2014–present

Early life

Howle was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. His mother Allison was a school teacher and his father Tim was a music professor and composer.^[2] He was born the second of four boys, with three brothers, Sam (older), George and Alfie (younger).

Because of his father's profession, the family moved 12 times when Howle was a child, before settling in Scarborough. It was there that he became involved in the local music scene. At 18, he left home to study drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before embarking on his career.^[3]

Career

In 2014, Howle made his debut as James Warwick on the E4 television series Glue. He co-starred in the 2017 film The Sense of an Ending (as the younger version of Jim Broadbent's lead character) and the miniseries The Witness for the Prosecution in the pivotal role of the defendant in a murder case, Leonard Vole.^[4]

Howle appeared in the war film Dunkirk,^[5] and starred alongside Saoirse Ronan in the film, On Chesil Beach, an adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel. He appears in the film adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and in the Netflix film Outlaw King.

Howle was the face of Prada S/S16, shot by Craig McDean.^[6]

In 2019, Howle starred alongside Richard Gere and Helen McCrory in the BBC drama series MotherFatherSon, which was written by Tom Rob Smith and he and Jodie Comer made cameo appearances in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Rey's parents Dathan and Miramir.

In 2021, he starred in the BBC series The Serpent^[7] as Herman Knippenberg, and on BritBox's The Beast Must Die as Nigel.

In February 2022, Howle starred in Chloe as Elliott, appearing in all six episodes.^[8] He also appeared in Under the Banner of Heaven as Allen Lafferty who struggled his faith after his wife Brenda's (Daisy Edger-Jones) murder.^[9] In the latter part of 2022, Howle played the title role in John Haidar's production of Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was performed at the Bristol Old Vic.^[10][11]

In 2024, Howle portrayed a 1970s boxer in Kid Snow,^[12][2] and starred in the Netflix limited series The Perfect Couple as Benji Winbury, the son of the rich family.^[13][14] The long-delayed Sweet Dreams will set to start filming in October 2024.^[15] He started stage production of Look Back in Anger.^[16]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2017	The Sense of an Ending	Young Tony Webster
	Dunkirk	Petty Officer
	On Chesil Beach	Edward Mayhew
2018	The Seagull	Konstantin Treplyov
	Outlaw King	Edward, Prince of Wales
2019	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Dathan Palpatine	Cameo
2022	Infinite Storm	John
2024	Kid Snow	Kid Snow

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2014	Glue	James Warwick	8 episodes
	Vera	Billy	Episode: "Death of a Family Man"
	New Worlds	Joseph	2 episodes
2015	Cider with Rosie	Private James Harris	Television film
2016	The Witness for the Prosecution	Leonard Vole	2 episodes
2019	MotherFatherSon	Caden Finch	8 episodes
2020–2021	The Beast Must Die	Nigel Strangeways	5 episodes
2021	The Serpent	Herman Knippenberg	8 episodes
2022	Chloe	Elliot Fairbourne	6 episodes
	Under the Banner of Heaven	Allen Lafferty	Miniseries; 7 episodes
2024	The Perfect Couple	Benji Winbury	Miniseries; 6 episodes

Stage

• The Little Mermaid (2014)
• Ghosts (2015)
• Long Day's Journey Into Night, Bristol Old Vic(2016)
• Europe, Donmar Warehouse (2018)
• Hamlet, Bristol Old Vic (2022)
• Dear Octopus, National Theatre, Lyttelton (2024)
• Look Back in Anger, Almeida Theatre (2024)
• Roots, Almeida Theatre (2024)

References

1. Conner, Megan (20 May 2018). "Billy Howle: 'There's definitely something in me that is a bit broken and poetic'". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
2. Sigee, Rachel (26 July 2022). "'I'm drawn to darker things': how Billy Howle became crime TV's hottest property". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
3. "Billy Howle: 'I am not sure I would do full-frontal nudity again'". telegraph.
4. "Witness for the Prosecution's Billy Howle: 'I don't aspire to be a sex icon'". Evening Standard. 23 December 2016.
5. "David Mackenzie's 'Outlaw King' Adds Billy Howle". Deadline. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
6. "Meet Prada's Next Generation of Leading Men". Vogue.com. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
7. The Serpent
8. "Chloe". BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
9. "Review: 'Under the Banner of Heaven' is a dramatic powerhouse". Good Morning America.
10. "The Serpent actor Billy Howle returns to Bristol to play starring role in Hamlet". ITV. 3 November 2022.
11. Wiegand, Chris (1 November 2022). "The best theatre to stream this month: The Book of Dust, Four Quartets and the start of panto season". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
12. "Elle Driver Launches 'Kid Snow' Australian Boxing Film". Variety.
13. "'The Perfect Couple' Trailer: Nicole Kidman Leads a Wealthy (and Killer?) Nantucket Family in Netflix's Murder Mystery Series". Variety.
14. "Meet the Wedding Guests and Murder Suspects of The Perfect Couple". Netflix.
15. Wiseman, Andreas (7 February 2024). "'Sex Education' Star Aimee Lou Wood Joins Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, Billy Howle & Niamh Algar In Crime-Thriller 'Sweet Dreams' — EFM". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
16. "Breaking Baz: Billy Howle Prepares To Play An Angry Young Man On Stage & Dishes On The Hush-Hush Movie About How The Middle-East Became A Tinderbox". Deadline.

External links

• Billy Howle at IMDb