# Luke Thompson (actor)

Luke Thompson (born 4 July 1988) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Benedict in the Netflix period drama Bridgerton (2020–) and has also appeared in the BBC One drama In the Club (2014–2016). He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in the play A Little Life in 2024.

## Early life and education

Thompson was born in Southampton and brought up in France from the age of two. His father was an engineer and his mother a teacher. He is one of three children. He attended the Lycée International François-Ier in Fontainebleau, a French school with an Anglophone section, from 1997 to 2005,where he became a native French speaker. He is also proficient in Italian.
Upon returning to England in 2006, Thompson spent a year with the Year Out Drama Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. He studied English and Drama at the University of Bristol and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, graduating in 2013.

## Career

Thompson's first professional theatre role was as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Globe Theatre, Thompson received nominations for an Evening Standard Theatre Award and an Ian Charleson Award. He would also appear in the Globe productions of Blue Stockings as Will Bennett, Julius Caesar as Mark Antony, and The Broken Heart as Ithocles. His other stage roles include James in Tiger Country at the Hampstead Theatre, Orestes in the Oresteia at the Almeida Theatre and Laertes in the 2017 production of Hamlet. Thompson took over the role of Edgar from Jonathan Bailey in the Ian McKellen-starrer King Lear in 2018 after Bailey passed on joining the West End transfer to do the musical Company instead.
From 2014 to 2016, Thompson played Simon in the BBC One drama In the Club. He narrated a new adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s novella The Shepherd for BBC Radio 3, broadcast on Christmas Eve, 2016. Thompson made his feature film debut with a small role as a warrant officer in Christopher Nolan's 2017 World War II film Dunkirk. He played Peter Hain in Misbehaviour, a film about Miss World 1970. In 2019, Thompson was cast as Benedict, the second eldest Bridgerton sibling, in the 2020 Shondaland-produced Netflix period drama Bridgerton, an adaptation of the novels by Julia Quinn.
Thompson played Willem in the English-language stage adaptation of A Little Life, which began at the Richmond Theatre in March 2023 before transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre and then the Savoy Theatre. For his performance, he won a WhatsOnStage Award and received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination. Thompson also appeared in the World War II miniseries Transatlantic, also on Netflix, as Hiram Bingham IV.
In January 2024, it was announced that Thompson would star in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Love's Labour's Lost as Berowne. The play ran between 11 April to 18 May in 2024 and was directed by Emily Burns.
On September 16, 2024 it was announced that Thompson would be one of two leads in Bridgerton season four, reprising his role as Benedict alongside Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek.
On January 22, 2025 it was announced that Thompson would join the production of Tim Crouch's cold-read play "An Oak Tree" at the Young Vic Theatre in London. The play is expected to run from May 6 to May 17 in 2025.

## Personal life

Thompson does not have social media and keeps the details of his personal life private, stating in 2023: "the more you give chunks of yourself out, the more you sort of colour how you're perceived. It's a personal thing... that's from my particular experience of what it's like to be an actor."

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Shakespeare's Globe: A Midsummer Night's Dream | Lysander | Live Recording |
| 2015 | Globe on Screen: Julius Caesar | Mark Antony | Live Recording |
| 2016 | The Complete Walk: Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | Short film |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Warrant Officer | |
| 2018 | King Lear | Edgar | National Theatre Live |
| 2019 | Making Noise Quietly | Oliver | |
| 2020 | Misbehaviour | Peter Hain | |
| 2023 | A Little Life | Willem | Live Recording |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | The Suspicions of Mr Whicher | Joshua Hallows | Episode: "The Ties That Bind" |
| 2014–2016 | In the Club | Simon | Main role |
| 2018 | Hamlet | Laertes | Television film |
| 2018 | Kiss Me First | Connor | 2 episodes |
| 2020–present | Bridgerton | Benedict Bridgerton | Main role |
| 2023 | Transatlantic | Hiram 'Harry' Bingham | 6 episodes |

### Stage

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Venue |
| 2013 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Lysander | Dominic Dromgoole | Globe Theatre |
| 2013 | Blue Stockings | Will Bennett | John Dove | Globe Theatre |
| 2014 | Julius Caesar | Mark Antony | Dominic Dromgoole | Globe Theatre |
| 2014 | Tiger Country | James | Nina Raine | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2015 | The Broken Heart | Ithocles | Caroline Steinbeis | Sam Wanamaker Playhouse |
| 2015 | Oresteia | Orestes | Robert Icke | Almeida Theatre |
| 2017 | Hamlet | Laertes | Robert Icke | Almeida Theatre |
| 2017 | Hamlet | Laertes | Robert Icke | Harold Pinter Theatre |
| 2019 | King Lear | Edgar | Jonathan Munby | Duke of York's Theatre |
| 2023 | A Little Life | Willem | Ivo van Hove | Harold Pinter Theatre |
| 2023 | A Little Life | Willem | Ivo van Hove | Richmond Theatre |
| 2023 | A Little Life | Willem | Ivo van Hove | Savoy Theatre |
| 2024 | Love's Labour's Lost | Berowne | Emily Burns | Royal Shakespeare Theatre |

### Audio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | The Shepherd | Narrator | BBC Radio 3 |
| 2016 | Everyone Brave Is Forgiven | Narrator | Audible |
| 2018 | The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories: The Vertical Ladder | Riz | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2018 | The Second Pan Book of Horror Stories: The Judge's House | Malcolmson | BBC Radio 4 |
| 2021 | The Brothers Karamazov | Narrator | Penguin Classics |
| 2021 | While Paris Slept | Jean Luc | Audible |
| 2023 | Seventeen: A Coming of Age Story | Narrator | Simon & Schuster Audio UK |
| 2024 | Hard by a Great Forest | Narrator | Audible |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2013 | Evening Standard Theatre Awards | Outstanding Newcomer | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Nominated |
| 2014 | Ian Charleson Awards | Ian Charleson Awards | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Nominated |
| 2021 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Bridgerton | Nominated |
| 2024 | WhatsOnStage Awards | Best Supporting Performer in a Play | A Little Life | Won |
| 2024 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | A Little Life | Nominated |
| 2024 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | Bridgerton | Pending |