Will Sharpe

Sharpe was born in London, but lived in Tokyo until he was eight years old.[3] After returning to the United Kingdom, he studied at Winchester College.[3]

Sharpe read classics at the University of Cambridge, where he was the president of the Footlights Revue.[4][5] He graduated in 2008 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for their 2008/2009 season.[6] Sharpe spent a year at the RSC and appeared in such plays as The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, and The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, in which he played a young Isaac Newton.[7][8] He played the character of Yuki Reid in the BBC medical drama Casualty.[7]

In 2009, he directed and co-wrote, along with his friend Tom Kingsley, the short film Cockroach. The pair's first feature-length film, Black Pond, was shown at the Prince Charles Cinema in London from November 2011.[9] Shortly after, he was co-nominated for a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for the film.[3]

Sharpe is best known for writing, directing and starring-in dark comedy-drama Flowers, that premiered on Channel 4 in 2016.[6] Starring Olivia Colman, Julian Barratt, Daniel Rigby and Sophia Di Martino, Flowers is a black comedy that tackles mental health, and follows the four eccentric members of the Flowers family as they navigate their lives together, and their own inner-demons. The first series won a BAFTA Television Award for best scripted comedy, and the second series aired in 2018 to widespread critical acclaim.

In 2020, Sharpe won a BAFTA Television Award for his supporting role as Rodney Yamaguchi in BBC drama Giri/Haji—a role The Independent called 'one of the most riotously funny turns since Richard E Grant stepped out as Withnail.'[10][11]

He is represented by United Talent Agency.[12]

His brother is film music composer Arthur Sharpe, who has written music for The Darkest Universe, Black Pond, and Flowers.[13] Sharpe has described himself as "half-Japanese".[14]

• Will Sharpe at IMDb