Philip James Dunster (born 31 March 1992) is an English actor. He is known for in the Sky One drama '' Strike Back'' (2017–2018), the

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

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

series ''

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

'' (2018), the ITV comedy-drama ''

The Trouble with Maggie Cole ''The Trouble with Maggie Cole'' is a British comedy-drama television series directed by Ben Gregor, and written by Mark Brotherhood. The show's first episode premiered on British television network ITV on 4 March 2020. It stars Dawn French in t ...

'' (2020), the

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

sports series ''

Ted Lasso ''Ted Lasso'' is an American sports comedy-drama television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly. It is based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NB ...

'' (2020–), and the Amazon Prime thriller '' The Devil's Hour'' (2022).

Early life

Dunster was born in Northampton. He attended

Leighton Park School Leighton Park School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, where he served as Head Boy. He played rugby as a child, though he realised at the age of fifteen that he was too small after a failed tryout for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. He also considered following in the footsteps of his father and brother and joining the military. He went on to train at the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in Acting in 2014.

Career

In 2015, Dunster played Claudio in the Reading Theatre production of ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'', made his television debut in the

sitcom '' Catastrophe'', and played Dickie Baker in the low budget film ''

The Rise of the Krays ''The Rise of the Krays'' is a 2015 low-budget film about the Kray twins who terrorised London during the 1950s and 1960s. The film was funded by Terry Brown and David Sullivan and was in development before the production team learned of ''Lege ...

'', a role he would reprise in its sequel the following year '' The Fall of the Krays''. Dunster starred as Arthur in ''Pink Mist'' at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

and Bush Theatre in London, for which he received an affiliate Laurence Olivier Award nomination in 2016. That same year, he appeared in '' The Entertainer'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ' ...

and two episodes of the Sky One crime drama ''

Stan Lee's Lucky Man ''Stan Lee's Lucky Man'' is a British crime drama television series, produced by Carnival Films and POW! Entertainment for Sky 1, which follows the story of Murder Squad detective Harry Clayton (James Nesbitt), who is granted the power to con ...

''. From 2017 to 2018, Dunster was in the main cast of '' Strike Back'' as Lance Corporal Will Jensen for its sixth series, also known as '' Strike Back: Retribution'', also on Sky One. He had recurring roles in the

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HB ...

drama '' Save Me'' as BJ McGory and the third series of the

science fiction series ''

'' as Tristan. He also appeared in the films '' Megan Leavey'', ''

Murder on the Orient Express ''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...

'', and '' All Is True''. In 2019, he appeared in the

miniseries '' Catherine the Great'' as well as the films '' Judy'' and '' The Good Liar''. In 2020, Dunster began starring as Jamie Tartt in the

sports comedy ''

''. He also played Jamie Cole on the ITV comedy-drama ''

'' and appeared in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

three-parter '' Dracula''. He played Mike Stephens in the 2022 Amazon Prime thriller '' The Devil's Hour''.

Personal life

Dunster is a lifelong football fan, supporting AFC Wimbledon. He is currently in a relationship with filmmaker Eleanor "Ellie" Heydon.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Phil Dunster
at Spotlight * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunster, Phil Living people 1992 births 21st-century English male actors Actors from Northamptonshire Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors People educated at Leighton Park School People from Northampton