Alex Sharp
{{short description|English actor (born 1989)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alex Sharp
| image = Alex Sharp Stagedoor.jpg
| caption = Sharp signing autographs at the stage door of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2015
| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date |35|2024|5|31}}
| birth_place = Westminster, London, England
| education = {{ubl|Yeovil College|Juilliard School
(BFA)}}
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 2014–present
| signature = Alex_Sharp_Sig.png
}}
Alexander Ian Sharp (born 1988/1989) is an English actor. He is known for originating the role of Christopher Boone in the Broadway production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.{{cite web |url=http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/alexander_sharp_makes_his_broadway_debut_in_curious_incident.html|title=Alexander Sharp makes his Broadway debut in 'Curious Incident'|date=14 September 2014|access-date= 8 June 2015|publisher= Nj.com}} He is also known to a wider audience as Will Downing in 3 Body Problem.
After graduating from the Juilliard School in the summer of 2014, he made his Broadway and acting debut in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the autumn. For his role as the autistic teenager Christopher Boone, he was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/curious-incident-top-winner-at-outer-critics-circle-awards-348762|title='Curious Incident' Top Winner at Outer Critics Circle Awards|author=Clement, Olivia|work=Playbill|access-date=1 June 2015|date=11 May 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://playbill.com/news/article/drama-desk-award-winners-announced-hamilton-wins-seven-awards-350267|title=Drama Desk Award Winners Announced; Hamilton Wins Seven Awards|author=Gans, Andrew and Michael Gioia|work=Playbill|access-date=1 June 2015|date=31 May 2015|archive-date=23 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623073042/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/drama-desk-award-winners-announced-hamilton-wins-seven-awards-350267|url-status=dead}}
Early life and education
Sharp was born circa 1988/1989,{{Cite news|first=Leigh |last=Nordstrom |authorlink= |title='3 Body Problem' Actor Alex Sharp on Death Doulas, Making Handbags and a Return to Theater |newspaper=Women's Wear Daily|date=May 31, 2024 |url=https://wwd.com/eye/people/alex-sharp-3-body-problem-1236408504/|via=|archive-url=| archive-date=|quote=Sharp, who is 35, grew up in the U.K.}} and was raised travelling throughout Europe and the Southwest of the United States in a caravan, before moving to east Devon, England, age eight. He was educated by his mother, a teacher, and his father, who worked in real estate, until the family moved back to England.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/from-painting-houses-to-painting-the-town-how-alexander-sharp-was-plucked-f-328582|title=From Painting Houses to Painting the Town: How Alexander Sharp Was Plucked From Obscurity to Star on Broadway|last=Gioia|first=Michael|work=Playbill|date=4 September 2014|access-date=8 June 2015 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150108173814/https://www.playbill.com/news/article/from-painting-houses-to-painting-the-town-how-alexander-sharp-was-plucked-f-328582 |archive-date =8 Jan 2015 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/theater/la-et-cm-ca-curious-incident-20141005-story.html|title=Actor Alexander Sharp's curious beginning to a promising career|last=Keegan|first=Rebecca|date=4 October 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=8 June 2015}} He has a sister, Nicole, also highly successful in her own field.{{cite web|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Full-Text-of-Tony-Winners-Acceptance-Speeches-Updating-LIVE-20150607|title=Full Text of Tony Winners' Acceptance Speeches: Updating LIVE|work=Broadway World|date=7 June 2015|access-date=8 June 2015}} His mother homeschooled him with both "rigorous and unorthodox" lessons. Upon his return to east Devon, he was unable to adjust easily to a traditional school environment, and eventually left England aged 18.{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/07/the-brit-who-stormed-broadway.html|title=The Brit Who Stormed Broadway|last=Teeman|first=Tim|work=The Daily Beast|date=7 December 2014|access-date=8 June 2015}}
Sharp wanted to be an actor from an early age. According to the Irish Mirror, his acting debut was at age 4 when he appeared in A Touch of Frost for £10. According to The Daily Beast, at age 7, he made his acting debut as Piglet in Winnie-the-Pooh. He also did extensive regional theatre work at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter. Sharp studied Performing Arts at Yeovil College in Yeovil, Somerset and attended Beaminster Comprehensive School in Dorset.{{cite web|url=http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Tony-Award-winner-Alex-Sharp-issues-rallying-save/story-26670011-detail/story.html|title=Tony Award winner Alex Sharp issues rallying cry to save Yeovil College performing arts courses|access-date=11 May 2016|date=10 June 2015|work=Western Gazette|author=Sweet, W. G.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807090528/http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Tony-Award-winner-Alex-Sharp-issues-rallying-save/story-26670011-detail/story.html|archive-date=7 August 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=http://www.irishmirror.ie/showbiz/celebrity-news/holy-f-just-won-tony-5846292|title='Holy f*** I just won a Tony': Meet unknown Brit who beat Bradley Cooper to top spot |access-date=11 May 2016|date=8 June 2015|work=Irish Mirror|author=Pocklington, Rebecca}}
In 2008, Sharp went to North America and worked as a carpenter and handyman, and in call centres often, in Canada. At times, he travelled to Latin America to pursue physical activities.
When working on a house in Montreal, Sharp decided that he wanted to become an actor. He asked a friend what the best theatre schools were, and the friend told him Yale and Juilliard. Sharp decided on Juilliard due to its location in the middle of Manhattan, and he auditioned with a scene from Hamlet. Against school rules, he also performed a scene from a play that he had written, claiming that it was the work of a little-known English playwright. He was accepted to Juilliard and attended the Drama Division's Group 43. During his time at Juilliard, he wrote and directed a play that was an adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. He graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2014.{{cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/pub/alexander-sharp/74/408/315|title=Alexander Sharp|publisher=LinkedIn|access-date=8 June 2015}}
Career
After graduating from the Juilliard School in the summer of 2014, Sharp made his Broadway and acting debut in the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the autumn.{{cite web|url = http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/09/alexander_sharp_makes_his_broadway_debut_in_curious_incident.html|title = Alexander Sharp makes his Broadway debut in 'Curious Incident'|date = 14 September 2014|access-date = 8 June 2015|publisher = Nj.com}} For his role as the autistic teenager Christopher Boone, he was awarded the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award.{{cite web|url = http://www.playbill.com/news/article/curious-incident-top-winner-at-outer-critics-circle-awards-348762|title = 'Curious Incident' Top Winner at Outer Critics Circle Awards|author = Clement, Olivia|work = Playbill|access-date = 1 June 2015|date = 11 May 2015}}{{cite web|url = http://playbill.com/news/article/drama-desk-award-winners-announced-hamilton-wins-seven-awards-350267|title = Drama Desk Award Winners Announced; Hamilton Wins Seven Awards|author = Gans, Andrew and Michael Gioia|work = Playbill|access-date = 1 June 2015|date = 31 May 2015|archive-date = 23 June 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170623073042/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/drama-desk-award-winners-announced-hamilton-wins-seven-awards-350267|url-status = dead}} {{As of|August 2015}}, he is the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/fun-home-caps-a-triumphantly-diverse-tony-awards/395153/|title=Fun Home's Success Defines the 2015 Tony Awards|access-date=25 June 2015|date=8 June 2015|work=The Atlantic|author=Sims, David}} Sharp's final performance of Curious Incident was 13 September 2015.{{Cite web|title = Tyler Lea Will Replace Alex Sharp in Tony-Winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time on Broadway|url = http://www.broadway.com/buzz/181410/tyler-lea-will-replace-alex-sharp-in-tony-winning-the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time-on-broadway/|access-date = 27 September 2015|date=28 July 2015|author=Lloyd Webber, Imogen|publisher=Broadway.com}}{{Cite web|title =Tony Winner Alex Sharp on His 'Complicated' Feelings About Saying Goodbye to Curious Incident|url =http://www.broadway.com/buzz/182035/tony-winner-alex-sharp-on-his-complicated-feelings-about-saying-goodbye-to-curious-incident/|access-date = 30 September 2015|date=12 September 2015|publisher=Broadway.com}}{{Cite web|title =Matthew Broderick Cast in 'Sylvia'; Alex Sharp to Leave 'Curious Incident'|url =http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/matthew-broderick-cast-in-sylvia-alex-sharp-to-leave-curious-incident/|access-date = 30 September 2015|date=28 July 2015|work=The New York Times|author=Heller, Scott}}
In 2017, he starred in John Cameron Mitchell's How to Talk to Girls at Parties, alongside Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, and Ruth Wilson.{{Cite web|title = Odds & Ends: Alex Sharp Set to Star Opposite Nicole Kidman in John Cameron Mitchell Movie & More|url = http://www.broadway.com/buzz/182065/odds-ends-alex-sharp-set-to-star-opposite-nicole-kidman-in-john-cameron-mitchell-movie-more/|access-date = 27 September 2015|date=15 September 2015|author=Lloyd Webber, Imogen|publisher=Broadway.com}}
Also in 2017, Sharp starred alongside Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves in To the Bone, directed by Marti Noxon. To the Bone was released on Netflix on 14 July 2017. The semi-autobiographical movie garnered some controversy regarding its depiction of eating disorders, to which Sharp responded, "I think controversy is an interesting thing in that it usually goes hand in hand with starting conversations that surround taboo or under-discussed topics that need to be discussed and need to be less in the shadows. I would hope that [To the Bone] just creates an awareness and encourages people to talk about [eating disorders]".{{cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-Tony-Winner-Alex-Sharp-Talks-Upcoming-Netflix-Film-TO-THE-BONE-20170703|title=BWW Interview - Tony Winner Alex Sharp Talks Upcoming Netflix Film TO THE BONE|author=Robbins, Caryn|website=Broadwayworld.com |access-date = 21 November 2018|date=3 July 2017}}
Sharp co-starred as activist Rennie Davis in Aaron Sorkin's feature film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, in 2020, alongside Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He was also set to star as an unspecified lead part in HBO's untitled Game of Thrones{{Cite web|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/GAME-OF-THRONES-Prequel-Rounds-Out-Cast-and-SJ-Clarkson-Signs-On-to-Direct-Pilot-20190108|title=Alex Sharp and Denise Gough Join Cast of GAME OF THRONES Prequel|author=TV News Desk|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}} prequel alongside Naomi Watts. Sharp appears in one of the principal supporting roles in the 2022 Oliver Hermanus/Kazuo Ishiguro film Living, starring Bill Nighy.
Theatre credits
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Location !Category |
|---|
| style="text-align:center"| 2014–2015
| The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Christopher Boone |Broadway |
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| rowspan="2"| 2017
|Luke | |
| How to Talk to Girls at Parties
|Enn | |
| rowspan=2|2018
|Harley | |
| UFO
|Derek Echevaro | |
| rowspan=2|2019
|Yasha | |
| The Hustle
|Thomas Westerburg | |
| 2020
| |
| 2022
|Mr Wakeling | |
| 2023
| |
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 2020
|Preacher |Episode: "A Wicked Plot" |
| 2024
|Will Downing | |
Awards and nominations
In 2015, he broke Harvey Fierstein's record as the youngest winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} In addition to winning the Tony Award in 2015,{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/fun-home-curious-incident-kelli-ohara-helen-mirren-michael-cerveris-alex-sharp-top-69th-annual-tony-awards-350681 |title=Fun Home, Curious Incident, Kelli O'Hara, Helen Mirren, Michael Cerveris, Alex Sharp Top 69th Annual Tony Awards |author=Viagas, Robert |work=Playbill |access-date=10 June 2015 |date=7 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609202614/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/fun-home-curious-incident-kelli-ohara-helen-mirren-michael-cerveris-alex-sharp-top-69th-annual-tony-awards-350681 |archive-date=9 June 2015 }} he also won an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Play,{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/legit/news/outer-critic-circle-awards-2015-full-list-1201492113/|title=Outer Critic Circle Awards 2015 (FULL LIST): 'Curious Incident' Wins Big|work=Variety|date=11 May 2015|access-date=8 June 2015}} a Theatre World Award in recognition of his Broadway debut.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/71st-annual-theatre-world-award-announced-today-chita-rivera-earns-lifetime-achievement-honor-348285|title=71st Annual Theatre World Award Announced Today – Chita Rivera Earns Lifetime Achievement Honor|author=Viagas, Robert|work=Playbill|access-date=10 June 2015|date=5 May 2015}} and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. He also received a nomination for the distinguished performance award at the 2015 Drama League Awards.{{cite web|url=http://dramaleague.org/events/awards/nominees|title=The 81st Annual Drama League Awards|publisher=The Drama League|access-date=11 June 2015|date=21 April 2015}} In addition he was nominated for the 2015 Fred and Adele Astaire Awards Outstanding Male Dancer for his work in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.{{cite web |url=http://www.theatermania.com/broadway/news/2015-astaire-award-nominations-announced_72779.html|title=2015 Fred and Adele Astaire Award Nominations Announced|date=4 May 2015|publisher=Theater Mania}} He also won the 2014 Logo TV NewNowNext Awards for Best New Broadway Lead Actor.{{cite web |url=http://www.logotv.com/events/newnownext_awards/winners.jhtml|title=Winners|publisher=Logo|year=2015}}
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Work ! Award(s) ! Category ! Result |
|---|
| rowspan=6|2014
! Scope=row rowspan=6| The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | {{win}} |
| Drama League Awards
| Distinguished Performance Award | {{nominated}} |
| Fred and Adele Astaire Awards
| Outstanding Male Dancer | {{nominated}} |
| Outer Critics Circle Awards
| Outstanding Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | {{win}} |
| Theatre World Awards
| Outstanding Broadway Theatre Debut | {{win}} |
| Tony Awards
| {{win}} |
| 2020
|Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |{{win}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{IMDb name|id=5189784|name=Alex Sharp}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Alex Sharp
|list =
{{DramaDesk PlayActor}}
{{TonyAward PlayLeadActor}}
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Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:Male actors from London
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners