Speleers was born at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex, England. He is of Belgian descent.[2][3] His parents divorced when he was three,[4] with his mother residing in Spain and his father in London.[5] He has two older half brothers.[4] While still in school, Speleers performed in school productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III.[6][7] In addition to acting, Speleers wrote a play, entitled Retribution, that was performed at Eastbourne College, in Sussex, where he attended. Speleers completed his education in 2006.[5]
Career
2006–2011
Speleers' first professional role in 2006 was the lead in 20th Century Fox's screen version of Christopher Paolini's book Eragon.[7] His next role, in 2008, was Jimmy Penwarden on the British prime time series Echo Beach.[8] He also appeared in the comedy Moving Wallpaper and an episode of Moving Wallpaper: The Mole, which many saw as a parody of Echo Beach.[9]
In 2009 Speleers took on the role of Robin Cecil Byng in the Japanese television miniseries Jiro Shirasu: Man of Honor, which highlighted the intermediary between American and Japanese negotiators at the conclusion of World War II.[10] The next year, Speleers played Jason Grint in the fantasy-adventuretelevision filmWitchville, and starred in Aimee Powell's short film Deathless.[11][12] In 2011, Speleers appeared in Julian Gilbey's action thriller film A Lonely Place to Die and Marion Pilowski's short film The Ride.[13][14]
The short film Turncoat (2013), from Dark Matter productions, featured Speleers as Nathan Reese.[24][25] He then starred as Sam in the 2014 thriller Plastic, which was written and directed by Julian Gilbey for Gateway Films.[26][27] On 12 March 2014, it was reported that Speleers was among five actors being considered for a lead role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but was cut during the casting process.[28][29][30]
In 2015 Speleers had a small role in the BBC's historical drama mini-series Wolf Hall as Edward Seymour, brother of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour.[31][32] He also played a leading role in the direct-to-DVD werewolf horror film Howl, as a young train conductor overseeing the final London train.[33] That same year, Speleers guest starred in the BBC One miniseries Partners in Crime, an adaptation of two of Agatha Christie's novels, which focused on crime-solving couple Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Speleers appeared in three episodes based on the story N or M?, in the role of Carl Denim.[34] Also that year, he portrayed Greg in director Omer Fast's psychological thriller Remainder.[35][36]
In 2017 Speleers was a producer on Barnaby Blackburn's short film Wale.[40][41] The film, which centers on contemporary racial prejudices in Britain, was nominated for a British Academy Film Award in 2018 in the Short Film category.[42] In late 2017, Speleers was confirmed to appear in seasons four and five of Starz's time-travel drama series Outlander as Irish smuggler and pirate Stephen Bonnet.[43][44][45]
In 2018 Speleers starred in the dark comedy-horror film Zoo, which centers on a couple in crisis and attempting to reconcile during a zombie pandemic.[39][46] He went on to feature in Lars von Trier's psychological thriller The House That Jack Built, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.[47] On 20 August 2018, Speleers made his stage premiere in the play Rain Man, portraying the lead role of Charlie Babbitt.[48] The play, based upon the film of the same name, was directed by Jonathan O'Boyle and toured various theatres throughout the United Kingdom.[49][50][51]
Romantic comedy For Love or Money featured Speleers as Johnny, opposite Robert Kazinsky and Samantha Barks, in 2019.[52][53][54] In the same year, he produced Dad Was, the second short film with director Barnaby Blackburn, which was released in 2020.[55]
In 2023 Speleers appeared in the fourth season of You as the main antagonist Rhys Montrose. He also appeared as Jack Crusher, a main character and a secret son of the protagonist, in the final season of Star Trek: Picard.[58] His performance earned a Saturn Award nomination as a Best Supporting Actor in a Network or Cable Television Series.[59] This was his third Saturn Award nomination overall.
In 2025 BBC announced Speleers will appear as a guest star in the 2nd series of Black Ops.[65] He will star as Thomas Cressman in the ITV drama series The Lady.[66] His next performance will be in Wind of Change as the Scorpions member Matthias Jabs.[67]
Personal life
Speleers lives in Bristol, England. He is married to Asia Macey, with whom he has two children.[68] He is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.[69]
