David Jonsson (born 4 September 1993) is a British actor and writer. He began his career in the West End. He is known for his performance in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

and

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television series ''

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'' (2020–2022), as well as his roles in the films '' Rye Lane'' (2023) and '' Alien: Romulus'' (2024). In 2022, Jonsson appeared on the ''

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'' list of Londoners to watch and was one of British ''GQ'''s Men of the Year Honourees. He was named a 2023 Bright Young Thing by ''

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'' and a ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' Star of Tomorrow. In

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

, he won the

BAFTA Rising Star Award The EE British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is a film award that acknowledges new talents ...

Early life

Jonsson grew up in

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

, an area of the East London Docklands. His father was an IT engineer at

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

and his mother worked for the Metropolitan Police. Jonsson is the youngest of four, with an older brother and two older sisters. He describes his background as Creole, with family from Africa (Nigeria and Sierra Leone), the Caribbean and Sweden. After getting in trouble at and dismissed from school, Jonsson transferred to a school in Hammersmith. He told his mother he wanted to be an actor. After completing his

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

, Jonsson spent two years in New York. Upon returning to London at the age of 18, he joined the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

and won a scholarship to study at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA), graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in Acting in 2016.

Career

Upon graduating from RADA, Jonsson was cast in his professional stage debut as William Davison in the play '' Mary Stuart'' at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

. The production transferred to

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by ...

in early 2017, marking Jonsson's West End debut. That same year, he appeared on the West End again, this time in '' Don Juan in Soho'' alongside

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c. 1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the arch ...

. In 2018, Jonsson made his television debut in two episodes of the ITV detective drama '' Endeavour''. He wrote, directed, and starred in a short film titled ''Gen Y''. The following year, he played the recurring character Isaac Turner in the second series of the Fox UK espionage thriller ''

Deep State Deep state is a term used for (real or imagined) potential, unauthorized and often secret networks of power operating independently of a State (polity), state's political leadership in pursuit of their own agendas and goals. Although the term ori ...

''. Jonsson starred as Augustus "Gus" Sackey in the first two series of the

and

investment banking drama ''

'' from 2020 to 2022. To prepare for the role, he visited the character's alma maters

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

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to familiarise himself with such a different background from his own. In 2021, Jonsson won a Black British Theatre Award for his performance in ''and breathe...'' at the Almeida, and presented the

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episode of ''Great Lives'' for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Jonsson made his feature film debut opposite Vivian Oparah in the romantic comedy '' Rye Lane'', which opened at the

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to critical acclaim. He also played the lead character Luke Fitzwilliam in the BBC's 2023 adaptation 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 ...

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. Jonsson is developing his first television script ''Hype'' with

Clerkenwell Films Clerkenwell Films Limited is a British film and television production company. Formed in 1998 by producer Murray Ferguson and actor John Hannah, the company has created television shows for both UK and international broadcasters and streaming p ...

. In addition, he has upcoming roles in the films ''God's Spy'', ''Benn/Eubank'', ''

Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheranism, Lutheran pastor, Neo-orthodoxy, neo-orthodox theologian and anti-Nazism, Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writin ...

'', as well as the

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series ''The Road Trip''.

Acting credits

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

*
David Jonsson
at Spotlight {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, David Living people 1990s births Actors from the London Borough of Newham Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Black British male actors BAFTA Rising Star Award winners English people of Nigerian descent English people of Sierra Leonean descent English people of Swedish descent English people of West Indian descent Male actors from London National Youth Theatre members People from Canning Town