David Carlyle (born 1 June 1988) is a British actor from Scotland. Following a 10 year stage career, Carlyle starred in the multi-award winning 2021

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

Series It’s a Sin which led to his nomination as Best Supporting Actor in the 2022 British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) and

BAFTA Scotland BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televi ...

Audience Award for his performance as Gregory Finch, aka Gloria. Carlyle also appeared in Bodyguard (2018) and Lip Service (2010). In 2019 Carlyle starred in Anthony Neilson’s

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

The Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. In ...

, London. The two have a long working relationship and also worked together on productions of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland for The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh in 2016 and Caledonia for the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are i ...

in 2010. He performed in the award winning

To Kill A Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and the Barbican. Other notable credits include playing the lead role of The Mayor in the

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

nominated revival of

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pla ...

for Birmingham Rep Theatre, playing Tusenbach in Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters alongside

Paul McGann Paul John McGann (; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial ''The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy ''Withnail and I'' (1987), which was a ...

and

Holliday Grainger Holliday Clark Grainger (born 27 March 1988), also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series ''Roger and the Rottentrolls'', Luc ...

and the award winning The Monster in the Hall by David Greig for Glasgow’s historic

Citizen’s Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

(the cast were awarded Best Ensemble at the 2011 Stage Awards).

Early life

Carlyle attended Hamilton Grammar School and Hamilton Youth Theatre. His love of acting began at an early age and was nurtured at youth theatres and by keen teachers who encouraged him to attend drama school. As a child, he worked at the

Pavilion Theatre (Glasgow) The Pavilion Theatre is a theatre in Glasgow located on Renfield Street. History One of Glasgow's oldest theatres, the Pavilion Theatre of Varieties opened on 29 February 1904 as a Music hall. The building has remained relatively unchanged in ...

and King's Theatre (Glasgow) and worked in television from a young age in various STV Pilots. He trained at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipli ...

in Sidcup, graduating in 2010 with a BA (Hons) in Acting. Carlyle trained alongside

Hayley Squires Hayley Squires (born 16 April 1988) is an English actress and playwright, best known for her work in the Ken Loach film ''I, Daniel Blake''. Squires has also appeared in ''Call the Midwife'' (2012), '' Southcliffe'' (2013), ''Complicit'' (2013), ...

, the two remain best friends. Other notable alumni include

Gary Oldman Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Fi ...

Stephen Graham Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...

. Carlyle previously attended

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA) and graduated in 2006 with a Performing Arts Diploma in Acting

Personal life

Carlyle identifies as gay and cares passionately about combating prejudice towards the

LGBTQ+ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

community. In 2021 and 2022, he hosted the Proud Scotland Awards and also won the Artist/Entertainer Award in 2021. In Interviews Carlyle often talks about growing up gay in Scotland, like in his interview in 'Out with Suzi Ruffell' and his activity in the

community. Carlyle worked with

Virgin Radio Virgin Radio launched in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 2008, Virgin Radio UK was sold to TIML, a subsidiary of The Times of India group, and the name was changed to Absolute Radio; the Virgin Radio name was not included in the sale. In 2001, ...

to create a two-part documentary called Getting Out exploring

youth homelessness. He was interviewed by

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

about the show in June 2022.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Radio

Theatre

References

External links

* *David Carlyle Agency Representation & Voice Agency Representation *Performance Masterclass, supported by Channel 4,

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

and

*STV's Unmuted: It’s a Sin star David Carlyle’s life in lockdown {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlyle, David Living people Scottish male television actors 21st-century Scottish male actors 1988 births