John Hunter Bell (born 20 October 1997) is a Scottish actor. He has played Bain in two instalments of '' The Hobbit'' film series, "Young Ian" Murray in the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

television series '' Outlander'', Angus in ''

Battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

'', Helius in ''

Wrath of the Titans ''Wrath of the Titans'' is a 2012 action fantasy film and a sequel to the 2010 film '' Clash of the Titans''. The film stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Ne ...

'' and Toby Coleman in ''

Tracy Beaker Returns ''Tracy Beaker Returns'' is a British television programme. Based upon the novels by Jacqueline Wilson, it is the sequel series to '' The Story of Tracy Beaker''. The series stars Dani Harmer reprising her role as protagonist Tracy Beaker. Th ...

''.

Career

Bell made his television debut as Creet in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'''s 2007 episode "

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

", after he won the role in a

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 ...

competition. Two years later he portrayed the lead role of Connor in award winning director Chris Roche's short film ''Transit''. That same year Bell would star as young orphan Tomas in his first feature length film ''

A Shine of Rainbows ''A Shine of Rainbows'', also known as ''Tomás and the Rainbows'', is a 2009 Irish-Canadian family drama film, directed and co-written by Vic Sarin as an adaptation of the novel ''A Shine of Rainbows'' by Lillian Beckwith. Plot During the 1960s ...

''. From 2009 to 2010 he portrayed Anthony Weaver in

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

's comedy series '' Life of Riley'' and from 2010 to 2011 he starred as Toby Coleman in the BAFTA winning children's television series, ''

''. In 2011 Bell appeared in BBC's made for TV movie ''

Hattie Hattie or Hatty is traditionally an English feminine nickname for the name Harriet, long used, however, independently."Hattie"

'' as Robin Le Mesurier. In July 2011 he was named, by the now defunct youth casting website Screenterrier, as one of the top 12 British rising stars. The next year he portrayed Helius in the fantasy film ''
Wrath of the Titans ''Wrath of the Titans'' is a 2012 action fantasy film and a sequel to the 2010 film '' Clash of the Titans''. The film stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, Ralph Fiennes, and Liam Ne ...
'' and Angus in the science fiction war film ''
Battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
''. He then appeared as Billy Bempsy in the
History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
's mini series '' Hatfields & McCoys''. 2013 saw Bell portray Bain, son of
Bard the Bowman Bard the Bowman is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit''. A man of Lake-town and a descendant of the ancient Lords of Dale, Bard manages to kill Smaug the dragon, after which he becomes king of Dale. Tolkien created the character spec ...
, in
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's epic adventure fantasy films '' The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug''. He would revive the role in 2014's '' The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies'', the final instalment of Jackson's interpretation of
J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
's novel
The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ...
. Between the two films, he would portray Jamie Carr in a 2013 episode of ITV's long running series ''
Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...
''. Bell also portrayed Niki in Evergreen Production's 2015 post WWII drama ''The Man in the Box'', though the film has yet to be released. Bell portrays Ian Murray in
Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
's time travel series '' Outlander''. His character first appeared in episode six of season three entitled "A. Malcolm". In early 2022 Bell headlined the revival of
Obie The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...
winner
David Drake David A. Drake (September 24, 1945 – December 10, 2023) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran, he worked as a lawyer before becoming a writer in the military science fiction genre. Biography ...
's Off-Broadway one-man show ''
The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me ''The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me'' is a semi-autobiographical, one-man show, written by Obie-winning actor and playwright David Drake. Broken up into a series of stories, Drake abstractly documents a gay man's journey of self-discovery, while al ...
''. The play, set amidst the AIDS epidemic in America, is set to run through February 2022 at London's
New Wimbledon Theatre The New Wimbledon Theatre is situated on the Broadway, Wimbledon, London, in the London Borough of Merton. It is a Listed building, Grade II listed Edwardian era, Edwardian theatre built by the theatre lover and entrepreneur, J. B. Mulholland, w ...
.

Personal life
Bell is gay. As a child actor, he worked alongside celebrated gay male actors, which helped him feel accepted in the industry.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Audio drama

References

External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, John 1997 births 21st-century Scottish male actors Living people Male actors from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish male child actors Scottish male film actors Scottish male television actors Scottish male voice actors Scottish gay actors 21st-century Scottish LGBTQ people