Johnny Flynn

John Patrick Vivian Flynn (born 14 March 1983) is a British actor and singer-songwriter.

Flynn was born on 14 March 1983 in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of Eric Flynn, a British actor and singer, and Caroline Forbes.

He has a younger sister, Lillie Flynn, who sings with the Sussex Wit, and from his father's first marriage he has two older half-brothers, actors Jerome Flynn and Daniel Flynn, and an older half-sister, Kerry Flynn.

At the age of two, he moved with his family to the UK.

Flynn won a music scholarship to Pilgrims School, an independent school in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, where he sang in the chapel choir and was required, because of his scholarship, to learn two instruments: the violin and trumpet.

Later, he taught himself guitar and won a second music scholarship to Bedales School, an independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield, also in Hampshire, before moving on to Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art to study acting.

Flynn has scars on his face from an attack by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier when he was a child in South Africa.

In 2005, Flynn was one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow.

Flynn had parts in the television series Murder in Suburbia, Holby City and Kingdom.

He rose to fame in his starring role of Dolf Vega in the film Crusade in Jeans (2006).

Flynn performed in Propeller's all-male Shakespeare troupe, playing Curtis (The Taming of the Shrew) and Sebastian (Twelfth Night) in the 2007 season.

In 2011, Flynn's music was used in the film A Bag of Hammers.

He has also performed in several other plays including Richard Bean's play The Heretic at the Royal Court Theatre (2011).

Johnny Flynn was cast in the role of Lee in Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth's hit play, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for best supporting actor.

In summer of 2012, Flynn appeared in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's productions of Richard III, as Lady Anne, opposite Jerusalem co-star Mark Rylance and then as Viola/Cesario in the Globe's production of Twelfth Night with Rylance as well.

In 2013, Flynn was cast in Song One, a film starring Anne Hathaway.

Flynn plays a musician by the name of James Forester, who becomes involved with Hathaway's character, following an accident involving her brother.

In 2014, Flynn played the lead role of Dylan in the rom-com television series Love Sick which aired on Channel 4.

In 2015, he was one of the stars of the Comedy Central sitcom Brotherhood.

In it, he played one of two adult brothers who have to raise their younger brother when their mother unexpectedly dies.

It was billed as the British version of the US sitcom Two and a Half Men.

After finding success on Netflix, the streaming network went on to commission a second series of 8 episodes, without Channel 4's involvement, which was made available globally on the streaming network in November 2016 under the new name Lovesick.

In 2017, he played the younger Albert Einstein in National Geographic's show Genius .

The show's third series arrived on Netflix on 1 January 2018.

Also in 2017, he played Pascal Renouf, a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders in director/writer Michael Pearce's debut dark thriller Beast, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the UK on 27 April 2018.

In 2018, Flynn played William Dobbin in the ITV and Amazon Studios television serial adaptation of Vanity Fair.

He also played Felix Tholomyès in the BBC miniseries adaptation of Les Misérables.

In 2019, he starred as David Bowie in the drama Stardust, based on a screenplay by Christopher Bell and directed by Gabriel Range.

He has starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom Lovesick, and portrayed David Bowie in the 2020 film Stardust and Nicholas Winton as a young man in the 2023 film One Life.

Flynn is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit.

He has released five studio albums, and soundtracks and live albums.

In 2020, he starred in Emma, Autumn de Wilde's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name, alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Nighy, and Josh O'Connor.

He wrote the song played over the ending credits, "Queen Bee," which was released as a single alongside the film.

The next year, he co-starred in another British film The Dig, which was released on Netflix on 29 January 2021.

He plays the character of Rory Lomax.

In 2022, he had a major role in The Outfit, alongside Mark Rylance.

In 2023 he portrayed Nicholas Winton as a young man in the film One Life.

His upcoming projects include a heist musical starring Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie, titled The Score.

He has also been cast as Dickie Greenleaf for Showtime's new TV series of Ripley, to star Andrew Scott.

The film Operation Mincemeat, in which Flynn played author Ian Fleming, was released in 2021.