Gerran Lyn Howell (born 25 February 1991) is a Welsh actor, director and writer of short films, best known for playing "Vladimir Dracula" in ''

Young Dracula ''Young Dracula'' is a British children's horror drama comedy television series which aired on CBBC, loosely based on '' Young Dracula'', a 2002 children's book by Michael Lawrence. It is also based on the epistolary novel ''Dracula'', writte ...

'', a

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

television series that initially aired in 2006.

Early life

Howell was born in Barry, Wales. He attended Barry Comprehensive School (an all-boys secondary school with a mixed sixth form). He trained at ATSLI improvisation workshop in Cardiff at a young age, and later went on to train at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

in London. He initially appeared in a short cinema advert warning about the dangers of swimming in Welsh Reservoirs, and in a short film by Ellis Watts.

Career

''Young Dracula''

The show revolves around 13-year-old Vlad and his family, who happen to be

vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

, as they try to live in a small, rural Welsh town after they moved there from

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the ...

. The first two series were broadcast in 2006–2008. The third and fourth series were broadcast in 2011–2012 in which Gerran plays a 17-year-old Vlad, four years on, now with full vampire powers which he must learn to control. The fifth and concluding series was shown in early 2014. Gerran, and co-star from ''Young Dracula'', Letty Butler were a part of the Bake a Difference Appeal on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Te ...

'' and he filmed some behind the scenes footage of ''Young Dracula''. He also appeared on '' Inside Out North West'' during a short behind the scenes at ''Young Dracula'' sketch. Gerran was also interviewed by Letty Butler about the show and he also did a short tutorial in character as Vlad on how to spot a vampire. In January 2012, Gerran's character 'Vlad' in ''Young Dracula'' was voted in the

SFX SFX may refer to: Entertainment * Special effects (usually visual), illusions used in film, television, and entertainment * Sound effects, sounds that are artificially created or enhanced * ''SFX'' (magazine), a British magazine covering the top ...

vampire poll, ranking at number 17 in the top 50 vampires.

Other work

Gerran has also appeared in a few short films and television shows, appearing as "Niall Andrews" and "Rory Brothwick" in '' Casualty'' (2006 & 2012). As well as ''Some Girls'' episode 2 as "Ryan". In 2011, he appeared as "Ernesto" in an episode of the CBBC drama ''

The Sparticle Mystery ''The Sparticle Mystery'' is a British science fiction television series written and created by Alison Hume and produced by Sparticles Productions for CBBC. The series follows a group of ten children within modern Britain, where an experiment ...

'' and returned in series 2 (which was aired in February 2013). He has also returned for series 3 of ''The Sparticle Mystery'' (which aired January 2014). Gerran also guest starred in ''Casualty'' in January 2012, as a new character alongside actor Billy Boyd. He appeared on CBBC's '' Hacker Time'' and '' 12 Again'', with ''Young Dracula'' co-star

Clare Thomas Clare Lucy Prosser (née Thomas; born 2 April 1989) is a British actress who has appeared in several British films and television series. Some of her highest profile roles have been Aggie, one of the title character's classmates in the film ''M ...

, during 2012. In addition to his work on-screen, he has also recorded

voice-overs Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

for radio adverts and video games. In 2019, Howell appeared in the miniseries ''

Catch-22 ''Catch-22'' is a satirical war novel by American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953; the novel was first published in 1961. Often cited as one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century, it uses a distinctive non-c ...

'' as Kid Sampson. Gerran appeared as a private Parry in the 2019 film

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary For ...

. In 2022, Howell starred in ''Freedom's Path'' as William, a Union soldier who befriends a runaway slave, played by RJ Cyler.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Gerran 1991 births Living people Welsh male television actors People from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan People educated at Barry Comprehensive School Welsh people of English descent Welsh male video game actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 21st-century Welsh male actors