Frank Dillane

Dillane was born in London, England. He spent part of his childhood in Brixton, before moving to Forest Row in East Sussex, where he grew up in a creative environment. His mother, Naomi Wirthner, is British and Afro-Jamaican. Wirthner manages a theatre company called The Barebones Project.[2] His father, Stephen Dillane, is an actor who has starred in numerous movies and TV series (e.g., Game of Thrones and The Tunnel),[3] and was awarded a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor on Television in 2009.

After passing his A-level examinations, Dillane was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art[4] (RADA) and graduated in 2013, with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting.[5]

Dillane has acted in film, on stage, and on television. He made his film debut at his father's side as an extra in Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) when he was six years of age. He became more widely known when he portrayed Tom Riddle (a teenage Lord Voldemort) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).[6]

Dillane played James Papadopoulos in the independent movie Papadopoulos & Sons (directed by Marcus Markou) in 2011.[7] After Dillane was cast, his father decided to rearrange his own filming schedule to play Harry Papadopoulos (James' dad). Stephen Dillane declared it was rare to have the opportunity "to work with your children after they left home".[8]

Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis and Frank Dillane speaking at the 2015 San Diego Comic Con International, for "Fear the Walking Dead", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California.

In July 2013, Dillane played in Candida at Theatre Royal, Bath, directed by Simon Godwin.[9] In 2014, Dillane played the role of Keyes in Viena and the Fantomes, directed by Gerardo Naranjo; Dakota Fanning also starred in the film.[10] Also in 2014, Dillane was cast in an adaptation of Peter Goldsworthy's best-selling novel Maestro, to be directed by Catherine Jarvis.[11]

Dillane starred as Nick Clark, a "shaggy-haired recovering addict",[12] in the horror drama series Fear the Walking Dead from its debut in 2015 until its fourth season.[13][14] The role was a breakout role for Dillane,[15][5] who was a fan favorite on the show.[16] In 2016, he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Younger Actor in a Television Series for his work on Fear the Walking Dead.[17][18]

Dillane played Owen Coffin in In the Heart of the Sea (2015).[19][20] This adventure-drama film directed by Ron Howard is based on Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction book of the same name about the sinking of the American whaling ship Essex in 1820, an event that inspired the novel Moby-Dick.[5]

Dillane portrayed Shugs in the Netflix series Sense8,[21] directed by the Wachowskis.[5]

Dillane appeared alongside Beanie Feldstein and Alfie Allen in How to Build a Girl (2019), directed by Coky Giedroyc.[22]

• Frank Dillane at IMDb