Draft:Tom Francis

Thomas Francis Barber (born 4 July 1999) is an English actor. For his performance as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Early life
Francis was born in Colchester and grew up in Thorpe Morieux, Suffolk. He joined the Youth Theatre at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds. He studied at the Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in West London from 2017 to 2020, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre.

Career
After graduating from ArtsEd, Francis made his professional stage debut as Roger Davis in Rent at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester under the direction of Luke Sheppard. Francis would reunite with Sheppard for his following show & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre, taking over the role of Romeo from Jordan Luke Gage in March 2022.

Francis recently portrayed Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, for which he won the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Francis also performed at the awards show. He is set to make his Broadway theatre debut this fall when Sunset Boulevard transfers to the St. James Theatre. Francis is set to make his television debut as Clayton in the fifth and final season of the Netflix series You.