Micheal Ward (born 18 November 1997) is a Jamaican-British actor and former model. His films include ''

Blue Story ''Blue Story'' is a 2019 British musical crime drama film written, directed, and narrated by Rapman (Andrew Onwubolu) through the medium of rap and starring Stephen Odubola and Micheal Ward, with Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Khali Best, Karla-Simone Sp ...

'' (2018) and '' The Old Guard'' (2020). On television, he appeared in ''

Top Boy ''Top Boy'' is a British television crime drama series, created and written by Ronan Bennett. The series is set in the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney and focuses on two drug dealers Dushane ( Ashley Walters) and ...

'' and '' The A List''. Ward was awarded the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

BAFTA Rising Star Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Rising Star Award, currently styled as the EE Rising Star Award for commercial reasons and previously known as the Orange Rising Star Award, is an award that acknowledges new talents in the ...

Early life

Micheal Ward was born in Spanish Town,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on 18 November 1997 to then 18-year-old mother Keisha. He has three sisters. His father was killed in a car crash when he was two years old. Ward then moved to Hackney, East London with his mother and sister at the age of four, with the help of his aunt and uncle who ran a Caribbean restaurant in

Chadwell Heath Chadwell Heath is an area in east London, England. It is situated on the boundary of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge, around west of Romford and east of Ilford, and north-east of Charing Cross. ...

. The family later moved to

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

. He attended

Chadwell Heath Academy Chadwell Heath Academy is a co-educational, independent of local authority school with academy status, located in Chadwell Heath in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. The school has approximately 1200 pupils on roll, including 300 in th ...

and then studied performing arts at

Epping Forest College New City College (NCC) is a large college of further education with campuses in East London and Essex. The college was formed in 2016 with the amalgamation of separate colleges, beginning with the merger between Tower Hamlets College and Hackney ...

after dropping out of sixth form. He worked delivering food for his aunt’s restaurant as a teenager and then later worked at a bookmakers shop.

Career

Ward began his career while he was at college when he signed with the talent agency. Through the agency, he landed roles in music videos for artists such as

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

and Tom Walker. At the age of seventeen, Ward won the Face of JD Sports modelling competition. He has since modelled a number of brands and was handpicked by

Virgil Abloh Virgil Abloh (; September 30, 1980 – November 28, 2021) was an American fashion designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection beginning in 2018, and was given increased creative responsibilitie ...

to model for

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...

's AW20 menswear campaign in August 2020. Ward made his film debut in ''

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

'' in 2016. He starred in the first series of the teen thriller '' The A List'' on BBC iPlayer in 2018 and reprised his role for its second series on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. Ward's breakout year came in 2019, when he starred as Jamie in

's revival and third series of ''

''. He also appeared in a leading role in the film ''

'' in the same year. The film received critical acclaim, and Ward won the

for his performance. Ward appeared in Steve McQueen’s '' Small Axe: Lovers Rock'' in 2020, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He was cast alongside

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with '' The Illuminatus!'' in 1977. There he ...

in the upcoming film ''The Beautiful Game''. Ward is to star alongside Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and

Tanya Moodie Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...

in Sam Mendes' 2022 film ''

Empire Of Light ''Empire of Light'' is a 2022 romantic drama film written and directed by Sam Mendes. The film stars Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Monica Dolan, Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, Toby Jones, and Colin Firth. ''Empire o ...

''. The film is due for release in the USA in December 2022, with the release in the UK slated for January 2023. In December 2022, he was cast in

Jeymes Samuel Jeymes Samuel (born July 27, 1979), also known by his stage name The Bullitts, is a British singer-songwriter, music producer and filmmaker. His debut album, ''They Die By Dawn & Other Short Stories...'', was issued in 2013. ''The Harder They Fa ...

's ''

The Book of Clarence ''The Book of Clarence'' is an upcoming American epic film written and directed by Jeymes Samuel and starring LaKeith Stanfield. The film is scheduled to be released on January 12, 2024, by Sony Pictures Releasing. Premise A man named Clarence l ...

''.

Personal life

Ward is an Arsenal fan. He went to school with the English professional footballer

Rhian Brewster Rhian Joel Brewster (born 1 April 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Sheffield United. In 2017, he was part of the England squad which won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India and was awarded the Golde ...

. Ward was named in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

30 under 30 list in 2020. Ward became a British citizen in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Micheal Ward

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Micheal 21st-century English actors Living people BAFTA Rising Star Award winners Black British male actors English people of Jamaican descent People from Romford People from Spanish Town 1997 births