Andrew Gower (actor)

Andrew Gower (born 8 November 1989) is an English actor. A staple in British television and theatre, he is best known for his recurring role as Cutler in '' Being Human'' and his turn as Prince Charles Stuart in ''Outlander''. Gower won the Spotlight Prize for Best Actor in 2010.

Life and career

Gower was born in Aintree, Merseyside, near Liverpool in North West England. His early schooling included Davenhill Primary School in Aintree and Great Sankey High School in Warrington, Cheshire."Liverpool Actor Andrew Gower in BBC Frankenstein Role."
''Liverpool Echo.'' 11 March 2011. Accessed 2011-08-13. It was during Year Nine of his studies that Gower began acting, appearing in school plays and musical productions. He enrolled in Barrow Hall College, Great Sankey High School's sixth form college, in 2007, while studying for his A levels, he joined a local amateur drama group. Gower, an Oxford School of Drama graduate, was awarded the prestigious Spotlight Prize for Best Actor in July 2010.

In March 2011, Gower made his debut in British television on the ITV's medical drama '' Monroe'', in the role of Dr Andrew Mullery, a heart surgeon in training. To research the role, Gower watched two coronary artery bypass surgeries while standing next to actual surgeons. Gower appeared in both series, reprising his role as the newly promoted General Registrar, under Head of Clinical Services Alistair Gillespie (Neil Pearson), in the second series.

That same year, Gower appeared in the television broadcast of the musical '' Frankenstein's Wedding... Live in Leeds,'' a modern adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic novel ''Frankenstein''. Instead of being pre-recorded as a traditional television musical, it was broadcast live, with an audience of 12,000 in attendance at Kirkstall Abbey, on BBC Three.

In 2012, Gower joined the cast of BBC Three's '' Being Human'', as vampire solicitor Nick Cutler, in series 4 of the hit television series. Filming for the series began in Barry, Wales in late July 2011 and was broadcast in 2012. Gower was the recipient of critical praise for his work on the series. This year also saw a guest role in series 4 of E4's science-fiction comedy ''Misfits'' and a run as Seiffert in Manfred Karge's surreal play ''The Conquest of the South Pole'' at the Arcola Theatre''.'' In his first radio performance, Gower played Lupin in the BBC Radio 4's comedy ''Diary of a Nobody,'' adapted by Andrew Lynch from George and Weedon Grossmith's Victorian novel.

Gower returned to episodic television in 2013. He appeared as Sherlock Holmes in series 6 of CBC's Victorian drama ''Murdoch Mysteries'' and would later reprise his role in series 7. After a cameo in Showtime's '' The Borgias,'' Gower appeared as Lord Strange in several episodes of the BBC's mini-series '' The White Queen.''

In 2014, Gower was featured in Jon Stewart's film directorial debut, ''Rosewater,'' as Jimmy the Avid Editor. That same year, he appeared in series 2 of the BBC's drama ''The Village'' as Gilbert Hankin and in series 2 of ITV's crime drama Endeavour as Nicholas Myers.

The next year (2015) Gower was cast in the role of Caligula in NBC's drama ''A.D. The Bible Continues'' and he played Mark, an ambitious young banker, in the Emmy awarded three-part BBC series ''Capital,'' based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name later that year.

In 2016, Gower made his West End debut as Winston Smith in a theatrical adaptation of George Orwell's ''1984,'' a dystopian look at life today, at the Playhouse Theatre in London. He also appeared as Prince Charles Stuart in series 2 and 3 of the Starz historical dramatic series ''Outlander'', based upon Diana Gabaldon's best-selling book series.

Returning to the dystopian roots he explored in ''1984'', Gower played Rob in series four of the award-winning Netflix drama ''Black Mirror.'' The episode, entitled "Crocodile", was helmed by Australian director John Hillcoat and centres on the idea of a device that can access personal memories.

It was announced in December 2017 that Gower will portray Ezra Spurnrose, the young heir of a wealthy family, in Amazon's eight-episode fantasy-noir drama ''Carnival Row''. The series from executive producers Travis Beacham and Rene Echevarria was released on Amazon Prime on 30 August 2019. Ahead of its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season by Amazon Prime in July 2019. Andrew Gower is set to reprise his role as Ezra Spurnrose.

Another upcoming project for Andrew Gower is ''Running Naked'', a full-feature-length film written and directed by Victor Buhler. In 2019, Gower also re-visited 19th century crime solving as he joined the cast of the upcoming period drama ''Miss Scarlet and The Duke'' which follows Eliza Scarlet (played by British actress Kate Phillips), the first female detective in the Victorian era.

In 2020, Gower finished his first short film ''Humpty Fu*king Dumpty'' as an executive producer, an in-depth look at Merseybeat musician Tommy Quickly (played by Gower), which was written and directed by Stephen Walters. The project was funded through Kickstarter, a widely used crowdfunding platform. The film was released on 8 May 2020 on the official website HumptyFilm.com.

Music career

In June 2005, Andrew Gower formed the Manchester-based rock band Emerson with his friends Michael Collins and James Webster. Gower acted as the band's lead vocalist, Collins as keyboard and Webster as guitar player. From the beginning they wrote their own songs inspired by their favourite artists. In 2006, Todd Ryan (drums) and Alasdair Ramsey (bass) joined the band. They played gigs in North West England, several times at The Cavern Club (the Liverpool club where The Beatles were discovered). When Gower left to attend the Oxford School of Drama the following year, he had to put his music career on hold, with every intention on getting the band back together at a later point. However, this never happened and Emerson eventually dissolved.

In 2015, Andrew Gower became involved in the music project The Gustaffsons who have recorded four of their songs (cover songs and original materials) and published them on SoundCloud. He's also worked on original songs for the short film ''Humpty Fu*king Dumpty'' together with Stephen Walters.

Gower is a self-described "obsessed" Beatles fan.

Filmography

Radio

Theatre

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gower, Andrew
1989 births
People from Warrington
English male television actors
Alumni of the Oxford School of Drama
Living people
People educated at Great Sankey High School
21st-century English male actors
English male film actors
English male stage actors
People from Aintree
Male actors from Merseyside