Calum Kelmer

**Calum Laughlin-Kelmer** (Nee, **Kelmer**; Born *August 13th, 1996*) is a Dutch-Scottish Actor, Singer and Filmmaker. He first gained recognition for his supporting role and eventually starring role in the the BBC children's series *The Story of Tracy Beaker*. He eventually rose to stardom in 2015 when he undertook the role of Alpha the Eternity Warrior in the *Marvel Cinematic Universe*; he has appeared in the role 17 times including in his own trilogy and as the lead of Phase Four, Phase Five and Phase Six.

### Born

Luuk Kelmer
August 13th, 1996 (Age 39)

### Spouse(s)

Christy Laughlin-Kelmer (m. 2021; died 2024)
Emilia Clarke (m. 2028)

### Children

Aaron Kelmer (19 years old)
Martin Kelmer (16 years old)
Marnie Kelmer (16 years old)
Jaime Kelmer (6 years old)

His career began in 2007 when he undertook the role of Douglas Thompson in *The Story of Tracy Beaker*.

Kelmer had a highly public relationship with Christy Laughlin-Kelmer, whom he married in 2021 and had 3 children with. Following her passing in 2024, he eventually began a relationship with Leah DeMarco which ended in 2026, the two remain close friends to this day. Kelmer began dating his "Paris" and "Alpha: Rise of the Phoenix Force" co-star, Emilia Clarke, in 2026 before marrying her in 2028, they have one child together.

## Early Life and Family

Kelmer was born into a working class family who moved to Scotland shortly after his birth. He comes from a Scottish mother (Maria Riddler) and a Dutch Father (Louis Kelmer), he has one older brother, Igor Kelmer; who stars on the Glasweigan Reality Show, Weigie Shore as well as Ex on the Beach, two younger brothers (Alexi Kelmer and Dylan-James Kelmer) as well as a younger sister (Helena Kelmer). When he turned two years old and both Alexi and D.J. were born, the family moved back to Amsterdam, Holland where Calum grew up for the next seven years. Due to the inability to cope well in school, Kelmer's mother and father decided to remove him from education for a while, instead when they moved back to the U.K. the following year, he was offered the role of "Douglas Thomson" in CBBC's *The Story of Tracy Beaker*.

## Career

### 2007 - 2012: The BBC

Kelmer served as a supporting main character in seasons 1-3, before becoming one of the leads in season 4, assuming the role of lead completely for the first part of season 5 before sharing it again, then becoming the shows lead in season 6. He also served in a recurring role as Harry Carol on *Doctor Who* in between 2011-2012 appearing in 6 episodes.

### 2013 - 2016: Hollywood

In 2013, Kelmer's parents split, however, Kelmer confirmed they are on speaking terms and the family as a whole held together well and worked through it. That same year, Kelmer was cast as Victor West on the Nickelodeon Show Victorious which he co-lead with Christy Laughlin, who portrayed Tori Vega. Kelmer portrayed the character for 3 years across four seasons of the show. Amidst the second season he was cast in an even bigger role. Following the end of the shows run, Kelmer and Laughlin were confirmed to be in a relationship.

In 2014, it was announced he would portray Hunter Greene in *Catching Fire*, following the death of Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta Mellark, the film producers decided to deviate from the books and introduce Hunter, a former victor from district 12, and the new co-lead of the movie series. He returned for the role in *Mockingjay* and *A Girl at War*. He has also expressed interest in appearing in a prequel movie which would depict Hunter's games, although he has now confirmed that he would most likely not appear and instead would serve as a producer as he has grown past the point where he can portray a 15 year old boy.

In 2014 it was also announced he would be appearing in 2015's *Avengers: Age of Ultron* which he would be playing the character of Nova, however, this was scrapped and he was introduced as a character named Alpha.

In 2015, he was cast as Rhys Grimes in *The Walking Dead*, in an interview on *The Graham Norton Show*, it was revealed that it was the casting on TWD which lead to the cancellation of Victorious as Kelmer had to balance between filming two movies for a 2015 release as well as a two TV show releases and a Cinematic release for 2016. Kelmer's efforts were commended by critics stating he still brought his A-Game to all performances.

### 2017 - 2020: Music Career and Leading a Universe

In late 2016 Kelmer released his first music single,"Ladbroke Grove", a collaboration with his longtime friend Leah DeMarco, the song hit no.1 in three countries worldwide. Early 2017 brought his first solo song, "Wild Heart" which again topped charts in several countries. That same year, he appeared in the final Hunger Games movie *A Girl at War*, he also made another appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Alpha in *Spider-Man: Homecoming* which also starred Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr.

In 2018, Kelmer mostly focused on his private life although he came under fire for apparently being focused on too much in the Marvel Universe despite his role as a more background character. He released a collaboration with his best friend Gerard Larkin and his girlfriend, and former co-star, Christy Laughlin, named "Can't Hold Us". He also starred in Avengers: Infinity War which he served as a protagonist of.

2019 was the biggest year for Kelmer at the time, he appeared in the MCU twice, once in a cameo in *Captain Marvel* as well as starring in Avengers: Endgame, which became the most profitable movie in existance. Later in the year,

By 2020, Kelmer's silver screen career was flying. He was set to appear in "*Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*" as the lead, this was Tarantino's first film working with Kelmer and ninth overall. He also appeared in, and helped produce, the drama "*Modernwood*" by indie director, Daniel Stephen, who is a good friend of Kelmer. Gal Gadot and Jennifer Anniston starred alongside him. Rounding off the year, Kelmer appeared in "*Star Wars: Duel of the Fates*" starring alongside Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver.

## Personal Life

### Relationship with Christy Laughlin

Calum Kelmer and Christy Laughlin's relationship is considered to be one of the most followed relationships in Hollywood.

In 2015, he started dating his Victorious co-star, Christy Laughlin. They kept the relationship quiet for a year although by the end of the shows run, Laughlin fell pregnant with their first child, Arran Kelmer, and thus they moved more into the public eye. The two worked on many projects together including appearing in several movies together and making many collaborations in the music industry. In 2019, Kelmer announced they were expecting twins, who were named Martin and Marnie when they were born at the end of the year.

In 2020, the couple announced their engagement and that they were to be married by the following year. They were married on the 1st July 2021. In January 2022, Christy announced she had been diagnosed with Breast cancer and was being treated for it by the best help possible. In August 2023, she was cleared by the hospital and stopped her treatment. However, in January the following year, she was rushed to hospital following her being found unconscious in their home in Glasgow by Arran. She passed away the following morning, which was announced by Calum at 7:00am outside the Southern General Hospital. Kelmer was judging an episode of X-Factor that night and had to withdraw from the episode and all episodes following in that season, being replaced by his friend Ellie Curran.

Following Kelmer's announcement, many tributes were paid to Laughlin, including the flags outside Westminister and Holyrood parliament. Laughlin's body was buried a week later. For the following year, Kelmer withdrew from the public eye in order to spend time with his family to recover from what had happened.

### Controversy

#### Avengers: Infinity War Billing and Payment Criticism

In 2018, Kelmer came under fire from critics for receiving star treatment in the Marvel Universe including being paid more than his female Co-Stars, namely Scarlett Johanson, in Avengers: Infinity War. The criticism began when the Avengers: Infinity War Billing line was released stating that it starred; Josh Browlin, Robert Downey, Chris Hemsworth, Calum Kelmer and Chris Pratt. The criticism of Kelmer came from the fact he was still a relatively unknown actor in comparison to his co-stars in the movie yet he still received more credit and a higher pay for the movie despite this. It was later cleared up when the Movie was released as Kelmer's character played an intricate role and was revealed to be, alongside Johansson, the star of Avengers: Endgame, the movie which followed and therefore his character needed more fleshing out.

#### Johnny Depp/Amber Heard Case - Rose McGowan Defamation Case

In 2021, Calum Kelmer was called forward as a witness to testify during the Depp vs Heard case. Although sources claim Heard initially called upon him to testify on her behalf, he denied and instead sided with Depp.

During the court session, Kelmer came forward and gave substantial evidence to back up Depp's claims which also in turn proved two of Heard's claims false. He recounted never having seen Heard with any sort of bruising while working with her on Dystopia despite the fact she appeared for a press conference several days earlier with bruises. Kelmer stated he believed the bruises had been faked by his co-star and that she was responsible for all the acts of abuse which she had claimed Depp had performed upon her.

Kelmer came under fire for betraying Heard, especially from actresses such as Rose McGowan and his Avengers co-star Brie Larson, who claimed Kelmer was lying in court to protect Depp from the consequences of his actions. When Kelmer threatened legal action against them, Larson withdrew her statement and issued an apology but was subsequently forced to resign from his position as Captain Marvel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Kelmer proceeded to sue McGowan for her statement and she was found guilty of defamation, she was forced to pay a fine of $5,000,000 which Kelmer donated to several domestic abuse charities across the UK.

Once Heard was found guilty of her crimes against Depp including Abuse and Defamation among other things, Kelmer publicly presented options for her replacements in film, which he defended as simple support for his friend who had been through much worse.

## Filmography

### Future Projects

Calum has been in talks to star in a sequel/reboot of Friends for years, however, his commitments to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Walking Dead have left him unable to sign on.