Sebastian Denis de Souza (born 19 April 1993)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England and Wales, 1916–2005'' B100D is an English actor. He is best known for playing Matty Levan in the E4 teen drama series '' Skins''. He has since starred in the period television series '' The Borgias'' from 2012 to 2013, '' Medici: Masters of Florence'' (2018), and '' The Great'' (2020).

Early life

De Souza is the second of the two sons of Elinor Kelly and Chris de Souza, an opera producer of Goan Indian descent. He was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Oxfordshire, and has an older brother named Tristan. He grew up in Boxford, Berkshire, and was a boarder at Brockhurst and Marlston House School developing a fascination with theatre, music, and writing. At the age of 11 he decided to dramatise '' The Willows at Christmas'', William Horwood's adaptation of ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'', and performed it in the barn with his classmates. In 2006, when he was 13, he starred in the short film ''Hangman'', premiered at the

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

. It was a story of witchcraft in the mould of '' Macbeth'', that he co-wrote with the Prep School's Film Club. He went on to

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...

, where in 2006 he won a music award as a pianist, clarinettist and singer. He later completed

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

in English, History and Philosophy. He also attended acting workshops at the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...

, near Newbury. At the North Wall Arts Centre, he performed lead roles in school productions of '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' playing Puck, '' Great Expectations'' as Pip, C. P. Taylor's ''

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

'' as Maurice, and '' Henry V'' as

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

, which earned him a drama prize in 2010. In the same year he became a member of the National Youth Theatre.

Career

After a brief appearance in

Nick Ross Nicholas David Ross (born 7 August 1947) is a British radio and television presenter. During the 1980s and 1990s he was one of the most ubiquitous of British broadcasters but is best known for hosting the BBC TV programme ''Crimewatch'', whi ...

's documentary series ''

The Truth About Crime ''The Truth About Crime'' is a British television documentary series inspired and presented by Nick Ross in association with the film-maker Roger Graef, executive producer Sam Collyns and series producer Alice Perman. It was first broadcast on BBC ...

'', de Souza got his break on television at the age of 17, when he was cast as Matty Levan in the fifth and sixth instalment of cult drama '' Skins''. In 2012, he joined the cast of historical drama '' The Borgias'', created by

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian ...

for the American TV network Showtime and filmed at Korda Studios, near

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. His character, Alfonso d'Aragona, first appeared in The Confession and closed his run at the end of the third and final season. While in Hungary, he was filmmaker with photographer Benjamin Lebus for ''Evelyne's World'', a concept short film about the

allegory of the Cave The Allegory of the Cave, or Plato's Cave, is an allegory presented by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work ''Republic'' (514a–520a) to compare "the effect of education ( παιδεία) and the lack of it on our nature". It is written as ...

starring Evelyne Brochu. De Souza's first big screen role is in

Julian Gilbey Julian Gilbey is a British film director, editor and screenwriter. He is known for his work on horror films, also appearing in these as the actor, and performing many other roles on many of those movies. Biography Gilbey began his movie caree ...

's thriller ''

Plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

''. Production took place in early 2013 on location in Miami and London. As a screenplay writer, he made his cinematic debut in '' Kids in Love'', a film produced by

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

with de Souza also taking a title role. In 2014, he was cast as the male lead in a new Freeform show called '' Recovery Road'', which was broadcast for a single season in 2016. In addition to his acting career, de Souza is a singer and musician. In 2011 he's featured as a guest vocalist for ''Cubiq'' in their ''Say'' EP released by Hidden Label. The tune, related to current electro club music, has been remixed by Matanza and Timmy P in an alternative version that fits the traditional house template. In 2016, the '' Recovery Road'' cast including Sebastian performed for the spring finale a musical ensemble version of ''Lean On Me'' by

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

. De Souza also works in the field of producing. In 2013 he co-founded with actor

Will Poulter William Jack Poulter (born 28 January 1993) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his role as Eustace Scrubb in the fantasy adventure film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' (2010). He received critical ...

the TV and film

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...

''Good Soil''. The following year he created his own

brand management In marketing, brand management begins with an analysis on how a brand is currently perceived in the market, proceeds to planning how the brand should be perceived if it is to achieve its objectives and continues with ensuring that the brand is pe ...

called ''de Souza'' aimed at helping young storytellers, producers or filmmakers develop their scripts. In March 2021 de Souza's first novel, ''Kid: A History of The Future'', was published by Offliner Press, a publisher established and owned by de Souza himself.

Personal life

With his family, de Souza annually runs drama courses for 9 to 16 year olds at a home-based Centre for Music Drama and Art. In 2013 he has been made a patron of The Globe Theatre Education Fund, which runs drama projects for schools around the country, mostly

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

an. Through a practical experience provided by orchestras he can sing in the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

range and play different instruments.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Music videos

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Souza, Sebastian 1993 births English male film actors English male television actors English male stage actors English screenwriters English male screenwriters 21st-century English male actors English film producers People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford National Youth Theatre members English male Shakespearean actors English people of Portuguese descent British people of Portuguese descent British people of Goan descent People from West Berkshire District Actors from Oxford Living people