Alexander Ferns (born 13 October 1968) is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' as Trevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hated

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper in the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

soap opera '' River City'' between 2017 and 2018. For his performance as coal miner Andrei Glukhov in the 2019 miniseries '' Chernobyl'' he received a BAFTA Scotland Award.

Early life and education

Alex Ferns is the oldest of three children of his family, who left Scotland for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, when Ferns was eleven years old.Susan Swarbrick:
EastEnders' Alex Ferns on leaving River City and his Lennoxtown thriller
'. In: heraldscotland.com, 13 January 2018. The family took up residence in Secunda, where Ferns' father worked as an electrician during the construction of a power plant. After he finished school, he joined the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

and fought in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

between 1987 and 1989. Afterward he studied drama at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

.
Alex Ferns
'. In: apm.co.za, access date 22 July 2022. In the mid 1990s, he moved back to the United Kingdom and started his career in acting.

Career

Ferns made an appearance in ''

The Ghost and the Darkness ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' is a 1996 American historical adventure film directed by Stephen Hopkins and starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The screenplay, written by William Goldman, is a fictionalized account of the Tsavo man-eater ...

'' (1996) before various television roles, including Trevor Morgan in the BBC soap opera ''

'' from 2000 to 2002, for which he won the

British Soap Award for Best Newcomer The British Soap Award for Best Newcomer is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. The award is voted for by a panel. ''EastEnders'' is the most awarded soap in the category, with nine wins. ''Emmerdale'' is the only current so ...

. In 2005, Ferns played Lieutenant Gordon in the highly acclaimed trilingual film '' Joyeux Noël'', which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

and the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

s. In 2003, Ferns appeared as

Draco Malfoy Draco Lucius Malfoy is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. K. Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series. He is a student in Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter's year belonging in the Slytherin house. He is frequently accompanied by ...

in a ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' sketch for ''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

''. In 2004, he played Commander Martin Brooke, the lead role, in the short-lived ITV series ''Making Waves''. In the same year he appeared in '' Man Dancin''', a Festival Film & TV production, which won a number of awards on the festival circuit, including Outstanding Original Screenplay at the Sacramento Film Festival. He has also appeared on ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''. He has also appeared in the 2006 film '' Shadow Man'', as Schmitt, also starring

Steven Seagal Steven Frederic Seagal ( ; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-Dan (rank), dan Black belt (martial arts), black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instru ...

. His theatrical work includes the role of the "tapeworm" (a hallucination) in '' I.D.'', a play about Dimitri Tsafendas and his assassination of South African Prime Minister

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

, the 2008 national tour of

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's murder mystery ''

And Then There Were None ''And Then There Were None'' is a mystery fiction, mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 N ...

'', and ''Little Shop of Horrors'' as the Dentist. In 2011, he took the role of Scottish gangster Jimmy Boyle in the play about his life, ''The Hardman'', during a Scottish tour to positive reviews. He also made a brief appearance in a Smirnoff Vodka advert in 2009. Ferns took part in television series '' Celebrity Coach Trip'', partnered with friend Ricky Groves. He starred as Luther in the 2011 London revival and subsequent UK tour of '' South Pacific''. In 2013, he starred as Lee in '' True West'' at Glasgow's Citizen's Theatre. In 2014, he starred in '' 24: Live Another Day''. In 2016, Ferns starred in ITV's ''

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

'' series 6 episode 4 ("The Sea Glass") as Michael Quinn. He also appeared in the BBC's ''

Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander, a fictional Swedish police inspector in novels by Henning Mankell :*Wallander (film series), ''Wallander'' (film series), Swedish-language television films of the Wallander stories starring ...

'' series 4 episode 1 ("The White Lioness") as Axel Hedeman. He portrayed the leader of Tula coal miners Andrei Glukhov in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

2019

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

'' Chernobyl''. For this performance, he received a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television. Ferns appeared in

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's '' The Irregulars'' (2021) as Vic Collins. He portrayed Gotham Police Commissioner Pete Savage in the superhero film '' The Batman'' (2022). Also in 2022, he appeared in the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' Andor'' as Sergeant Linus Mosk. In 2024, Ferns appeared as Aaron Moy in the BBC One thriller series '' Nightsleeper''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferns, Alex 1968 births Living people 20th-century Scottish male actors 20th-century South African male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors 21st-century South African male actors British Soap Award for Best Newcomer winners People from Lennoxtown Scottish Buddhists Scottish male film actors Scottish male soap opera actors Scottish male television actors Scottish television personalities South African Buddhists South African male film actors South African male soap opera actors South African male television actors South African people of Scottish descent South African television personalities University of Cape Town alumni Male actors from East Dunbartonshire South African actors