Sebastian Theodore Kemble Croft (born 16 December 2001) is a British actor. He began his career as a child actor on stage before making his television debut as Young Ned Stark in ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the firs ...

'' (2016). He earned a

BAFTA Children's Award The British Academy Children's Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They have been awarded annually since 1996, before which time they were a part of the main British Acad ...

nomination for his role as Atti in '' Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans'' (2019). Croft's voice work includes the film '' Where Is Anne Frank'' (2021) and "Ice", an installment of the

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 ...

anthology '' Love, Death & Robots'' (2021). In 2022, he starred as Ben Hope in the Netflix series '' Heartstopper''.

Early life

Croft was born on 16 December 2001. He began taking acting classes at the

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admini ...

branch of

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

when he was 7 and at Michael Xavier's MX Masterclass, of which Croft is now a patron. He attended the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

for preparatory school and

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty p ...

for GCSEs. He completed

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in English, philosophy and film.

Career

Theatre

Croft made his first

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

stage appearance in 2010 in

Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was knighted in the 2020 New Years Honours List. That s ...

' production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before ...

'' ( Theatre Royal Drury Lane). In 2011 he was cast as Gavroche in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' ( Queen's Theatre). Croft was later hand picked by producer Cameron Mackintosh to return to ''Oliver!'' this time playing the title role in the UK touring company for eighteen months. In 2013 Croft played Tommy in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of '' Matilda'' ( Cambridge Theatre). His final musical performance as a juvenile was in the title role of the world premiere production of '' The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole'' ( Leicester Curve). Prominent musical theatre workshops include: ''

I Can't Sing ''I Can't Sing! The X Factor Musical'' was a musical comedy written by Harry Hill, and Steve Brown. Based on the TV series '' The X Factor'', the musical made its West End and world premiere in March 2014, at the London Palladium. Due to low ti ...

'', ''The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole'', '' Bumblescratch'', ''Danny Hero'' and ''The Braille Legacy''. Prominent one night concerts and performances include: '' Rags: The Musical'' ( Lyric Theatre) and ''A Charity Concert With Emeli Sande and Laura Wright''. In June 2016 Croft appeared in the West End Live presentation of ''Bumblescratch'' in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commem ...

. In 2014, Croft's vocals were featured in the

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I grew ...

's production of ''

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...

'' (

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by M ...

) with Tom Hiddleston. Croft workshopped the play ''Emil and The Detectives'' ( National Theatre) in the title role of Emil Tischbein. In 2016 Croft was cast in the role of Prince Arthur in

Sir Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...

's production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

King John King John may refer to: Rulers * John, King of England (1166–1216) * John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237) * John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314) * John I of France (15–20 November 1316) * John II of France (1319–1364) * John I o ...

'' (

Rose Theatre The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built, after The Theatre (1576), the Curtain (1577), and the theatre at Newington Butts (c. 1580?) – and the first of several playhouses to be situated in Ba ...

) for which Croft received high praise from the national press.

Film and television

In 2016 Croft appeared in the ITV and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

series '' Houdini and Doyle'' and the Sky Atlantic and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

series '' Penny Dreadful''. Croft rose to prominence portraying the role of a young Eddard Stark (portrayed by

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of '' Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ...

as an adult and Robert Aramayo as a young adult) in the sixth season of the HBO series ''

''. Croft made his feature film debut in 2017 as a Young David Logan in '' The Hippopotamus''. He appeared in the 2019 films ''Music, War and Love'' and '' Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans'' as Young Robert Pulaski and Atti respectively, the latter of which earned him a

nomination in the Young Performer category. Croft voiced Peter van Daan in the animated fantasy film '' Where Is Anne Frank'', which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. He lent his voice to Volume II of the

animated anthology '' Love, Death & Robots'' in the

Creative Arts Emmy Award The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, set ...

-winning episode "Ice". Croft and Ty Tennant were cast as the Dead Boy Detectives Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine respectively in season 3 of the

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lante ...

series ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has ...

''. In April 2021, it was announced Croft would play Ben Hope in the 2022

series '' Heartstopper'', an adaptation of the webcomic and graphic novel of the same name by

Alice Oseman Alice May Oseman (born 16 October 1994) is an English author of young adult fiction. She secured her first publishing deal at 17, and had her first novel ''Solitaire'' published in 2014. Her novels include ''Radio Silence'', ''I Was Born for Th ...

. Croft has an upcoming role in the young adult romantic comedy ''How to Date Billy Walsh'' for

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one ...

Personal life

Croft has

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. For the LGBT Pride Month in 2022, Croft

tweeted 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, an ...

that he "designed a t-shirt with two gay dinosaurs kissing, reminding everyone that Queer has always been here". All of the money from these sales was to go to Choose Love and Rainbow Railroad – two charities helping LGBT refugees – according to Croft.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Sebastian 2001 births 21st-century English male actors Actors with dyslexia English male child actors English male film actors English male musical theatre actors English male stage actors English male television actors LGBT rights activists Living people People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford People educated at The Dragon School Place of birth missing (living people)