# Will Poulter

William Jack Poulter (born 28 January 1993) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in School of Comedy (2009) and then for his role as Eustace Scrubb in the adventure film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010) and his starring role in the comedy film We're the Millers (2013). He won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2014.
Poulter starred in the first and third film of the dystopian science fiction trilogy The Maze Runner (2014–2018), the period film The Revenant (2015), the drama film Detroit (2017), the interactive film Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), and the horror film Midsommar (2019). In 2021, he featured in the Hulu miniseries Dopesick, for which he received an Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2023, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and had a recurring role in FX's series The Bear, which earned him another Emmy Award nomination.

## Early life and education

William Jack Poulter was born on 28 January 1993 in Hammersmith, London, the son of Neil Poulter, a professor of preventive cardiovascular medicine at Imperial College London, and Caroline (née Barrah), a former nurse who was brought up in Kenya.
He was a pupil at Harrodian School, whose well-known acting graduates include George MacKay and Robert Pattinson. He struggled in school due to dyslexia and developmental coordination disorder, but found that he loved drama, which "gave [him] a sense of purpose".
Poulter began studying drama at the University of Bristol in 2012, before leaving after a year when he got offered a part in The Maze Runner.

## Career
### 2007–2012: Early work

Poulter played the role of Lee Carter in the 2007 film Son of Rambow, alongside his co-star Bill Milner. He performed with other young comedic actors in School of Comedy, which aired its pilot on Channel 4's Comedy Lab on 21 August 2008, before being commissioned for a full series in 2009.
In 2010 he played the role of Eustace Scrubb in the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was filmed in Queensland, Australia, and was accompanied by some members of his family. In 2010 he appeared in the BBC Three pilot The Fades, a 60-minute supernatural thriller written by Jack Thorne. The pilot was picked up as a six-part series in 2011, of which Poulter was not included.
In 2011 Poulter starred alongside Charlie Creed-Miles as Bill's son Dean, in the British independent film Wild Bill, directed by Dexter Fletcher. The cast included a host of British talent with Leo Gregory, Neil Maskell, Liz White, Iwan Rheon, Olivia Williams, Jaime Winstone, Andy Serkis, and Sean Pertwee, and scored a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. In 2012 Poulter began studying drama at the University of Bristol where he lived in Badock Hall. He dropped out after a year in order to pursue acting full-time.

### 2013–present: mainstream recognition and further work

In 2013 Poulter played Kenny in We're the Millers, starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. He also appeared as a caretaker in the music video for Rizzle Kicks' song "Skip to the Good Bit". Additionally, he unsuccessfully auditioned for the role of Augustus Waters in The Fault in Our Stars.
In 2014 he played Fordy in the crime film Plastic, directed by Julian Gilbey and starring Ed Speleers, Alfie Allen, Sebastian De Souza and Emma Rigby. The same year, he played Gally in the film adaptation of The Maze Runner, alongside Dylan O'Brien and Kaya Scodelario. Poulter went on to describe the film, and his role in it, as "a turning point" in his career.
In 2015 Poulter starred as Shane in the Irish indie film Glassland, directed by Gerard Barrett and co-starring Jack Reynor and Toni Collette.
In 2014 Poulter won the BAFTA Rising Star Award, voted for by the public. The same year, he also won the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with his co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Emma Roberts) for his performance in We're the Millers.
In 2014 Poulter was chosen as one of 23 upcoming actors to feature in July's issue of Vanity Fair, with all actors being named "Hollywood's Next Wave".
Poulter played Jim Bridger in the revenge-thriller The Revenant (2015), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. The film centres on an 1820s frontiersman on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling. In 2017 he played the racist police officer Philip Krauss in the film Detroit, about the 1967 Detroit riots. His performance was praised by Metro's Matt Prigge, who called him "terrifyingly confident".
Poulter was originally cast as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in the two supernatural horror films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), both based on Stephen King's 1986 epic supernatural horror novel of the same name. However, it was announced in June 2016 that Bill Skarsgård had been cast instead as Poulter became unavailable after the departure of its initial director Cary Fukunaga.
In 2018 Poulter reprised his role as Gally in Maze Runner: The Death Cure, the third and final instalment of the Maze Runner film series. Later that year, he starred in the film The Little Stranger, as Roderick "Roddy" Ayres, a facially disfigured, haunted war veteran; and as game developer Colin Ritman in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, a standalone interactive film of the Black Mirror television series. In 2019 he played the character of Mark in Ari Aster's horror film Midsommar. That year, he and Asim Chaudry presented Lee Mack with the Best Entertainment Performance award at the BAFTA TV awards for Would I Lie to You. In 2020 he participated in filming The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope, an interactive choice game created by Supermassive Games, in which he portrays Andrew, Anthony, and Abraham.
Poulter played the role of OxyContin sales representative Billy Cutler in Hulu's 2021 drama miniseries Dopesick. Poulter's performance was nominated for a 2022 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for this role.
In October 2021, Poulter was cast as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which released on 5 May 2023.

## Other activities

In September 2024, Poulter was named as an Ambassador of dementia charity Alzheimer's Research UK.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Son of Rambow | Lee Carter | |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Eustace Scrubb | |
| 2012 | Wild Bill | Dean | |
| 2013 | We're the Millers | Kenny Rossmore / Kenny Miller | |
| 2014 | Plastic | Fordy | |
| 2014 | The Maze Runner | Gally | |
| 2014 | Glassland | Shane | |
| 2015 | The Revenant | Jim Bridger | |
| 2016 | Kids in Love | Jack | |
| 2017 | War Machine | Sgt. Rick Ortega | |
| 2017 | Detroit | Philip Krauss | |
| 2018 | Maze Runner: The Death Cure | Gally | |
| 2018 | The Little Stranger | Roderick "Roddy" Ayres | |
| 2018 | Black Mirror: Bandersnatch | Colin Ritman | Stand alone interactive film from TV series Black Mirror |
| 2019 | Bainne | Irish farmer | Short film |
| 2019 | Midsommar | Mark | |
| 2021 | The Score | Troy | |
| 2023 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | Adam Warlock | |
| 2024 | On Swift Horses | Lee | |
| 2025 | Death of a Unicorn | Shepard Leopold | |
| 2025 | Warfare † | Erik | Post-production |
| TBA | I Love Boosters † | TBA | Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | Comedy: Shuffle | Find Your Folks Presenter | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Comedy Lab | Various | Episode: "Kids School of Comedy" |
| 2008 | Lead Balloon | Sweet Throwing Boy | Episode: "Nuts" |
| 2009–2010 | School of Comedy | Various characters | 8 episodes; also writer |
| 2010 | The Fades | Mac | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2021 | The Underground Railroad | Sam | Miniseries; 1 episode |
| 2021 | Dopesick | Billy Cutler | Miniseries; 8 episodes |
| 2022 | Why Didn't They Ask Evans? | Bobby Jones | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | The Bear | Luca | 3 episodes |
| 2025 | Black Mirror † | Colin Ritman | Series 7 |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2020 | The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope | Andrew, Anthony, and Abraham | Voice and motion capture |

### Radio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2022 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Firewall | Brody Teague | Voice |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2008 | Son of Rambow | British Independent Film Awards | Most Promising Newcomer | Nominated |
| 2009 | Son of Rambow | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Leading Young Performers (shared with Bill Milner) | Nominated |
| 2010 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Phoenix Film Critics Society | Best Performance by a Youth in a Leading or Supporting Role – Male | Nominated |
| 2011 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast (shared with Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes) | Nominated |
| 2011 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films | Best Performance by a Younger Actor | Nominated |
| 2011 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | London Film Critics' Circle | Young British Performer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2013 | Wild Bill | London Film Critics' Circle | Young British Performer of the Year | Nominated |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie Liplock (shared with Emma Roberts and Jennifer Aniston) | Nominated |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | MTV Movie Awards | Breakthrough Performance | Won |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | MTV Movie Awards | Best Kiss (shared with Emma Roberts and Jennifer Aniston) | Won |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | MTV Movie Awards | Best Musical Moment | Nominated |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | British Academy Film Awards | EE Rising Star Award | Won |
| 2014 | We're the Millers | Empire Awards | Best Male Newcomer | Nominated |
| 2015 | The Maze Runner | MTV Movie Awards | Best Fight (shared with Dylan O'Brien) | Won |
| 2022 | Dopesick | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Nominated |
| 2022 | Dopesick | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Nominated |
| 2022 | Dopesick | Online Film & Television Association | OFTA Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Limited Series | Nominated |
| 2024 | The Bear | Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Nominated |