Tom Blyth
Blyth in 2022
Born	Tom Keir Blyth (1995-02-02) February 2, 1995 Birmingham, England
Alma mater	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2010–present
Parent	Gavin Blyth (father)

Tom Keir Blyth (born February 2, 1995) is an English actor. He took an interest in drama from a young age, studying acting at the Television Workshop in Nottingham^[1] and at the Juilliard School in New York City.^[2]

He had his first lead role in the film Scott and Sid (2018), and has since starred as Glen Byam Shaw in Benediction (2021) and Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). On television, he has played the title role in the MGM+ series Billy the Kid since 2022.

Early life

Blyth was born in Birmingham in 1995, to Charlotte and Gavin Blyth.^[3] Both of his parents are of English descent, along with his father and paternal grandfather both being involved in the media industry. Blyth has two younger siblings; Anya, his sister, and Carter, his half-brother from his father's second marriage.^[4] He spent his earliest years in Derbyshire, where his younger sister Anya was born. When his father was hired as a writer for the soap opera Emmerdale, the family moved to Tockwith in North Yorkshire. At age 11, Blyth’s parents separated. It was around this time that he began acting, and his mother began trying to enroll him in an acting class. Blyth has stated that he initially hated it and was uncooperative.^[5]

After the separation, his mother moved him and his sister to Woodthorpe, a Nottingham suburb, to be closer to her parents. Blyth was devastated at the move and says that began to develop a rebellious attitude towards his mother and other authority figures. When he was 12, he started work on a paper route and was determined to provide for himself. Blyth’s mother would drive him and his sister two hours to his father’s house in Leeds, where they would occasionally visit his writing studio. It was there that Blyth began to take an interest in storytelling, however his father made it clear that he detested nepotism and that he wouldn’t pull any strings on Blyth’s behalf.^[5]

In Nottingham, Blyth began attending Arnold Hill Academy and, later, Bilborough College. Blyth’s mother and a family friend managed to get him an audition at Nottingham’s Television Workshop. At age 15, Blyth was pulled out of school and told that his father had been taken to the hospital. Blyth’s father died of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.^[5]

Career

After returning to the workshop after the loss of his father, Blyth learned to channel his grief into his acting.^[5] He went on to join the National Youth Theatre,^[6] appearing in three theatrical productions: Twelfth Night, Hayfever, and A Clockwork Orange.^[2] In 2010, Blyth began his on-screen career with small supporting roles in Robin Hood and Pelican Blood. In the years after graduating from college, he acted in three short films, Fibs (2014), Fluffy (2015), and Wash Club (2016), all while working odd-jobs in Nottingham. Although he applied and was accepted to several British acting schools, he turned them down since they weren't exactly what he was searching for.^[5]

In 2016, after spending a summer volunteering for an on-the-move charity fundraiser, Blyth decided it was time to seriously pursue his lifelong dream of becoming an actor.^[7] At 21 years old, he auditioned at the Juilliard School in New York City, and was accepted as one of 9 applicants out of 2,000. He worked hard to pull in scholarships and sponsorships, from both the school itself and outside sources.^[5] During his time at Juilliard, Blyth acted in at least 14 productions, lending his dramatic abilities to roles such as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.^[2] He was tutored by his hero, Daniel Day-Lewis, who instilled in him an even stronger love and appreciation for drama.^[8]

In 2018, Blyth accepted his first on-screen starring role as Sid Sadowskyj, opposite Richard Mason in the autobiographical coming-of-age film Scott and Sid. That same year he appeared in Hazey Eyes' music video, Scars ft. Yoke Lore, as well as in the TV short film Rise. Upon graduating from Juilliard in 2020, Blyth was cast as Glen Byam Shaw in the Terence Davies'biographical drama film Benediction, which premiered the following year.^[9] In 2021, Blyth also began playing his most notable television role to date; the gun-slinging William Bonney of MGM+’s Billy the Kid.^[10] Such an undertaking required the English actor to learn how to ride, shoot, and talk like a "proper cowboy," spending months constructing a thick, Irish-American accent.^[8] The first season of the popular western series premiered in 2022; that year Blyth also had a guest role on the HBO series The Gilded Age as the lovesick young banker Archie Baldwin.

On May 16, 2022, it was announced that Blyth had secured the role of Coriolanus Snow, the main character in the The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, an adaptation of The Hunger Games prequel of the same name.^[11] The film was released in November 2023.^[12] After filming The Hunger Games, he returned as Billy the Kid for a second season. Blyth has future film roles lined up; such as the comedy Discussion Materials, adapted from Bill Keenan's memoir of the same name,^[13] and an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms.^[14]

Personal life

Blyth considers Brooklyn, New York, to be his home. "I’m on a quiet street with trees and feel at home here." the English actor has said.^[5]

Filmography

References

External links

• Tom Blyth at IMDb
• Tom Blyth at United Agents