Laurie Davidson (actor)

Laurie Davidson (born 1 July 1992) is an English actor. He played a fictionalised version of a young William Shakespeare in the 2017 TNT television series Will, and played Mr. Mistoffelees in the 2019 film Cats, based on the musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Laurie Davidson
Born	(1992-07-01) 1 July 1992 (age 32) Dulwich, London, England
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

Early life

Davidson was born in the Dulwich neighbourhood of South London.^[1][2] He is a 2016 graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Career

After arriving at the LAMDA, he earned a part in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, which is where his agent first noticed him.^[3] Davidson was a newcomer to television prior to his Will casting; his prior work included stage work and a minor role in the film Vampire Academy.^[4] He has also been cast in the BBC film Diana & I as a journalist who is present at the time of the death of Princess Diana.

Will

A casting director for Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite suggested that he audition for Will. He had several rounds of auditions. Just as school was set to resume following Christmas of his final year at LAMDA and as he was set to play Tevye in a school production of Fiddler on the Roof, he was informed in January 2016 that he was cast in Will, and he dropped out of Fiddler to shoot the show's pilot.^[5][4]

To prepare for his modern take on Shakespeare, Davidson did not focus on modern depictions of Shakespeare, such as Joseph Fiennes performance in Shakespeare in Love,^[6] but he did use Straight Outta Compton and 8 Mile for inspiration, on the advice of director Shekhar Kapur.^[7] He also relied on the works attributed to Shakespeare to learn about him.^[8] TNT picked up the show in May 2016,^[9] but Davidson graduated from LAMDA in July 2016—on schedule.^[5] Will premiered on 10 July 2017.^[10]

Cats

In September 2018, he joined the cast of Cats.^[11]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	Vampire Academy	Party Host	Uncredited
2019	The Good Liar	Hans Taub
	Cats	Mr. Mistoffelees	Motion capture performance
2023	The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die	Ingimundr

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Will	William Shakespeare	Main role, 10 episodes
	Diana and I	Michael Lewis	Television film
2021	Guilty Party	George	Main role, 10 episodes
2022	The Sandman	Mark Brewer	1 episode
2024	Masters of the Air	Lt. Herbert Nash	Miniseries, 1 episode
	Mary & George	Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset	Miniseries, 3 episodes
TBA	The Road Trip	Dylan	Main role[12]

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Theatre	Notes
2017	The Ferryman	Shane Corcoran[13]	Gielgud Theatre	Replacement cast
2018	The Meeting	Nathaniel Burns	Chichester Festival Theatre
2019	The End of History	Tom[14]	Royal Court Theatre
2022	Jack Absolute Flies Again	Jack Absolute	National Theatre	Main role

Notes

1. "Laurie Davidson displays a strong 'Will.'". 25 July 2017.
2. Nordstrom, Leigh (10 July 2017). "Laurie Davidson Is Not Your High School Shakespeare". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
3. Nordstrom, Leigh (10 July 2017). "Laurie Davidson Is Not Your High School Shakespeare". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
4. Andreeva, Nellie (7 January 2016). "Young William Shakespeare TNT Pilot 'Will' Casts Lead, Shekhar Kapur To Direct". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
5. Radish, Christina (10 July 2017). "'Will' Star Laurie Davidson on Upending Preconceived Notions of Shakespeare". Collider. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
6. Lenker, Maureen Lee (10 July 2017). "Will star Laurie Davidson on giving Shakespeare a rock 'n' roll makeover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
7. Kis, Eva (23 June 2017). "TNT's 'Will' Laurie Davidson used rap to get into Shakespeare". Zimbabwe Metro. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
8. Butler, Karen (10 July 2017). "Laurie Davidson went to the text to play Shakespeare in TNT's 'Will'". United Press International. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
9. Andreeva, Nellie (18 May 2016). "'Will' Drama About Young William Shakespeare Picked Up To Series By TNT—Watch Trailer". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
10. Kinane, Ruth (20 April 2017). "Sharpen thy wit, TNT's Shakespeare series will premiere in July". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
11. D'Alessandro, Anthony (25 September 2018). "'Cats' Cast Grows: Tom Hooper-Directed Musical Adds Laurie Davidson". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
12. Warner, Sam (28 November 2023). "The Witcher star lands next lead TV role". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
13. Clement, Olivia (1 September 2017). "Jez Butterworth's London Ferryman to Welcome New Cast". Playbill. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
14. Billington, Michael (4 July 2019). "The End of History ... review – Jack Thorne surveys the death of radical England". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 December 2023.

External links

• Laurie Davidson at IMDb
• Laurie Davidson at Rotten Tomatoes