Callum Turner

Callum Robilliard Turner (born 15 February 1990) is a British actor. After beginning a career as a fashion model, he began working in film and television. Turner has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and named as a Breakthrough Brit by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

He had lead roles in the drama film Queen and Country (2014) and the mystery miniseries Glue (2014), and played Theseus, the brother of Newt Scamander, in the fantasy films Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).

Turner's performance in the mystery series The Capture (2019) earned him a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He has since starred as Joe Rantz in the biographical film The Boys in the Boat (2023) and as John "Bucky" Egan in the miniseries Masters of the Air (2024).

Early life
Turner was born on 15 February 1990 in Hammersmith and grew up in Chelsea, London. He was raised on a council estate by his single mother, who was a club promoter at the time. On his upbringing, Turner said: "The thing I always find interesting in my childhood was, yeah, I was growing up on an estate, single mum, working-class, but then I also had all these colourful characters around. It wasn’t about navigating two worlds. There were three, four, five more." After leaving school early to play football semi-professionally, he became a model and also worked in retail before acting.

His middle name is after his mother's friend, poet David Robilliard, who died two years before Turner was born. In an interview at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Turner said his mother instilled in him a love of film and inspired him to become an actor.

Career
Turner started his career in 2010, modelling for companies such as Next and Reebok, and in his first acting role for the short student film Think of England for the University of Hertfordshire Film and Television programme.

Turner starred as Tony in Zero, a 2011 film directed by David Barrouk and produced by Michael Riley. In 2012, he starred alongside Waterloo Road star Ben-Ryan Davies in the short film Human Beings, directed by Jonathan Entwistle. He appeared in the French group The Shoes' 2012 music video "Time to Dance" with Jake Gyllenhaal. In 2012, Turner was in the ITV series Leaving, alongside Helen McCrory. Turner's performance was met with mostly positive reviews. In December 2012, Turner starred with Andrew Scott and Martin Clunes in another ITV Drama, The Town, portraying Ashley, a troubled teen. In early 2013, Turner made a guest appearance in Showtime's historical-fiction drama television series, The Borgias as Calvino. He also starred in short film Alleycats as Eze, directed by Ian Bonhôte, and had a small role as Phillip in the second series of BBC One's Ripper Street.

In June 2012, Turner was cast in the lead role of John Boorman's film Queen and Country. Turner stated that Boorman revealed secret and personal events from his life, to help Turner to portray his character as best as he could. The film made its debut as part of the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. In E4's whodunit series Glue in 2014, Turner portrayed Eli, a traveller, whose brother is murdered. In 2014, he was among those named Breakthrough Brits by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Turner portrayed Alistair in Paul McGuigan's 2015 horror film Victor Frankenstein. He starred as Danny in the 2016 film Tramps, which premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2017, he portrayed Evan in Mobile Homes. The film was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. He portrayed Theseus Scamander in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022. In 2018, Turner also directed and co-wrote short film Shift the Plane with friend and co-writer Danny King. He had a lead role as Shaun Emery in the 2019 BBC One mini-series The Capture and was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance.

In 2020, Turner portrayed Frank Churchill in the comedy-drama film Emma. In 2021, he portrayed Anthony O'Hare in the romantic drama The Last Letter from Your Lover, alongside Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones. In 2023, Turner portrayed Joe Rantz in The Boys in the Boat, directed by George Clooney. In 2024, he portrayed John "Bucky" Egan in the miniseries Masters of the Air.

In April 2024, it was announced that Turner was cast as Case in the Apple TV+ series adaptation of William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.

Personal life
Turner is a lifelong fan of Chelsea F.C. From 2015 to 2019, he was in a relationship with the British actress Vanessa Kirby. Since January 2024, he has been in a relationship with singer Dua Lipa.