Johnny Flynn (musician)


John Patrick Vivian Flynn is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor.
Flynn is the lead singer and songwriter of the band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit. Flynn has starred as Dylan Witter in the Channel 4 and Netflix television sitcom Lovesick, and is signed to portray David Bowie in the upcoming film Stardust.

Early life and education

Flynn was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of Eric Flynn, a British actor and singer, and Caroline Forbes. From his father's first marriage he has two older half-brothers, actors Jerome Flynn and Daniel Flynn, and an older half-sister, Kerry Flynn, and from his father's second marriage, a younger sister, Lillie Flynn, who sings with the Sussex Wit. At the age of two he moved with his family to the UK.
Flynn won a music scholarship to Pilgrims School, an independent school in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, where he sang in the chapel choir and was required, due to his scholarship, to learn two instruments: the violin and trumpet. Later, he would teach himself guitar and win a second music scholarship to Bedales School, an independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield, also in Hampshire, before moving on to Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art to study acting.
Flynn has scars on his face from an attack by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier when he was a child in South Africa.

Career

Film and television

In 2005, Flynn was one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow.
Flynn had parts in the television series Murder in Suburbia, Holby City and Kingdom. He rose to fame in his starring role of Dolf Vega in the film Crusade in Jeans.
In 2011, Flynn's music was in the film A Bag of Hammers.
In 2013, Flynn was cast in Song One, a film starring Anne Hathaway. Flynn plays a musician by the name of James Forester, who becomes involved with Hathaway's character, following an accident involving her brother.
In 2014, Flynn played the lead role of Dylan in the British rom-com TV series Scrotal Recall which aired on Channel 4. After finding success on Netflix, the streaming network went on to commission a second series of 8 episodes, without Channel 4's involvement, which was made available globally on the streaming network in November 2016 under the new name Lovesick. The show's third series arrived on Netflix on 1 January 2018.
In 2015, he was one of the stars of the Comedy Central show Brotherhood. In it, he played one of two adult brothers who have to raise their younger brother when their mother unexpectedly dies.
In 2017, he played the younger Albert Einstein in National Geographic's show Genius.
Also in 2017, he played Pascal Renouf, a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders in director/writer Michael Pearce's debut dark thriller Beast, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the UK on 27 April 2018.
In 2018, Flynn played William Dobbin in the ITV and Amazon Studios television serial adaptation of Vanity Fair. He also played Felix Tholomyès in the BBC miniseries adaptation of Les Misérables.
In 2019, he was cast as David Bowie in an upcoming drama titled Stardust based on a screenplay by Christopher Bell and directed by Gabriel Range.
In 2020, he starred in Emma., Autumn de Wilde's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name, alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Nighy, and Josh O'Connor. He wrote the song played over the ending credits, "Queen Bee", which was released as a single alongside the film.
His upcoming projects include a heist musical starring Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie, titled The Score. He has also been cast as Dickie Greenleaf for Showtime's new TV series of Ripley, to star Andrew Scott. The films Operation Mincemeat and The Dig are also currently in production.

Stage

Flynn performed in Propeller's all-male Shakespeare troupe, playing Curtis and Viola in the 2007 season. He has also performed in several other plays including Richard Bean's play The Heretic at the Royal Court Theatre. Johnny Flynn was cast in the role of Lee in Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth's hit play, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for best supporting actor. In summer of 2012, Flynn appeared in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's productions of Richard III, as Lady Anne, opposite Jerusalem co-star Mark Rylance and then as Viola/Cesario in the Globe's production of Twelfth Night with Rylance as well. The productions transferred to the Apollo Theatre in the West End until February 2013. In March 2013 Flynn played the lead role in Bruce Norris' play The Low Road at the Royal Court. In September 2015 he played Mooney alongside David Morrissey and Reece Shearsmith also at the Royal Court in Martin McDonagh's new play Hangmen.

Awards and nominations

Flynn was longlisted in the Evening Standard Awards and the What's On Stage Awards for best Newcomer for his role in The Heretic in 2012. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for his role in Jerusalem the same year. He won a commendation in the 2012 Ian Charleson Awards for his role as Viola in Twelfth Night at the Globe Theatre.

Music

Flynn released several studio albums and plays folk-influenced songs of his own composition. He wrote the entire score including the theme song for the BBC Four television series Detectorists and made a cameo appearance performing the song in series one, episode 3. In 2015 he also composed the music for the Globe Theatre's production of As You Like It. He has composed music for several films, television series and theatre productions. In 2015 he also appeared on a compilation tribute album to Shirley Collins Shirley Inspired... After a three-year break, Flynn produced a new album entitled Sillion which was released on 24 March 2017.

Discography

Film

Television