Fionn Whitehead

Fionn Whitehead
Whitehead at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival
Born (1997-07-18) 18 July 1997 (age 27)
Richmond, London, England
OccupationActor
Years active2016–present
FatherTim Whitehead

Fionn Whitehead (/fɪn/; born 18 July 1997)[1] is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role in the 2017 film Dunkirk and the 2018 film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.[2] His first acting credit was in the 2016 ITV miniseries Him.

Life

Whitehead was born on 18 July 1997[1] in the Richmond area of London, to jazz musicians Tim and Linda Whitehead.[3][4] He was named after Irish folk legend Fionn mac Cumhaill.[5] Whitehead has two older sisters, Maisie, a performance artist and Hattie, a singer, and one older brother, Sonny. Whitehead was raised "in an artistic household".[6][7] As a child, he aspired to become either a guitarist or a breakdancer.[3][8] He began acting at the Orange Tree Theatre aged thirteen.[9] He then went to Richmond College and entered the National Youth Theatre's summer course.[9] By 2015, he was an aspiring actor working at a coffee shop in Waterloo, London.

Career

In 2016, Whitehead starred in the British miniseries Him.[10] In 2017 he acted in a stage performance of Glenn Waldron's Natives.[11]

He was cast as the protagonist of Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk, which was released in 2017.[12] Nolan compared Whitehead to actor Tom Courtenay in his youth.[10] Weeks after Whitehead finished with Dunkirk, he began work with Richard Eyre's film The Children Act, opposite Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017.[13] He also starred in one of eight monologues in the television series Queers that aired in 2017.[14]

In 2018, Whitehead starred in the Black Mirror television series’ interactive stand-alone film Bandersnatch, as lead character Stefan Butler. In 2019, Whitehead appeared in Sebastian Schipper's drama Roads, and the Martin Scorsese produced Port Authority. He later appeared in The Duke and Don’t Tell a Soul (both 2020). He co-stars as Branwell Bronte in the Emily Bronte biopic Emily (2022), and in a television adaptation of Great Expectations (2023), playing the lead role of Pip.

Filmography

Whitehead at the premiere of Dunkirk in 2017
Movies & Television
Year Title Medium Role Notes
2016 Him Miniseries Him
2017 Dunkirk Film Thomas "Tommy" Jensen
2017 Queers TV series Andrew "A Grand Day Out" monologue (one of eight monologues)[14]
2017 The Children Act Film Adam Henry
2018 Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Film Stefan Butler Stand-alone interactive film of Black Mirror[15]
2019 Roads Film Gyllen
2019 Port Authority Film Paul
2020 Inside No. 9 TV series Gabriel Episode: "Misdirection"[16]
2020 The Duke Film Jackie Bunton
2020 Don't Tell a Soul Film Matt
2021 Voyagers Film Zachary "Zach"
2022 Emily Film Branwell Brontë
2023 Great Expectations TV series Pip Main role

Accolades

Whitehead's accolades
Year Film Award Ceremony Result Ref.
2017 Dunkirk Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer 23rd Empire Awards Nominated [17]
London Film Critics' Circle Award for Young British/Irish Performer of the Year 38th London Film Critics' Circle Awards Nominated [18]
The Children Act London Film Critics' Circle Award for Young British/Irish Performer of the Year 39th London Film Critics' Circle Awards Nominated [19]
2022 Emily British Independent Film Awards' Award for Best Supporting Performance 25th British Independent Film Awards Nominated [20]
British Independent Film Awards' Award for Best Ensemble Performance Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "UPI Almanac for Thursday, July 18, 2019". upi.com. UPI. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (8 January 2019). "Bandersnatch's Fionn Whitehead: prince of darkness". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b Ritman, Alex (18 July 2017). "Hollywood's Next Big Thing: 'Dunkirk' Star Fionn Whitehead Goes From London Barista to Leading Actor". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Kevin P. (27 December 2016). "Meet the young star of Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  5. ^ Jones, Ellen E. (February 2017). "HIM actor Fionn Whitehead: 'You don't have to like me – just watch what I'm in'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  6. ^ Polowy, Kevin (15 February 2017). "Meet Fionn Whitehead, the Lead of Christopher Nolan's Highly Anticipated Battle Epic 'Dunkirk'". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ^ Chu, Ben (10 October 2003). "Wealth Check: 'I am a jazz fanatic so it's time I faced the music'". The Independent. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  8. ^ Bramesco, Charles (11 May 2017). "Fionn Whitehead Shines in 'Dunkirk'". Nylon. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b Sandwell, Ian (3 October 2016). "Fionn Whitehead, Stars of Tomorrow 2016". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. ^ a b Rottenberg, Josh (21 April 2017). "How Fionn Whitehead went from washing dishes to starring in Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  11. ^ N'Duka, Amanda (28 April 2017). "'Dunkirk's Fionn Whitehead Inks With UTA". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  12. ^ MacKenzie, Steven (20 July 2017). "Fionn Whitehead: 'Dunkirk set the mood for the rest of the war'". The Big Issue. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  13. ^ Croot, James (3 December 2018). "Dunkirk star Fionn Whitehead's heart-wrenching new role mirrors life". Stuff. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  14. ^ a b Staff (31 July 2017). "Everything you need to know about BBC4's Queers". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  15. ^ Zack Sharf (27 December 2018). "'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch' Photo Features Will Poulter and Fionn Whitehead, Netflix Lists 90 Min Runtime". IndieWire. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  16. ^ "BBC Two - Inside No. 9, Series 5, Misdirection". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  17. ^ Travis, Ben (18 January 2018). "Star Wars The Last Jedi and Thor Ragnarok Lead Empire Awards 2018 Nominations". Empire. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  18. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (19 December 2017). "'Three Billboards' Leads London Critics' Circle Film Award Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  19. ^ Ritman, Alex (18 December 2018). "'The Favourite' Leads Nominations for London Critics' Circle Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  20. ^ Ntim, Zac (4 November 2022). "British Independent Film Awards: 'Aftersun,' 'Blue Jean' & 'The Wonder' Lead Nominations". Deadline. Retrieved 5 November 2022.