Ed Speleers

Edward John Speleers (born 7 April 1988) is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title role in the 2006 film Eragon, Jimmy Kent in the TV series Downton Abbey, and antagonist Stephen Bonnet in the TV series Outlander. He has also appeared as Rhys Montrose in the fourth season of You (2023) and Jack Crusher in the third season of Star Trek: Picard (2023).

Speleers was born at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, West Sussex, England. He is of Belgian descent. His parents divorced when he was three, with his mother residing in Spain and his father in London. He has two older half brothers. While still in school, Speleers performed in school productions such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III. 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.

Speleers' first professional role in 2006 was the lead in 20th Century Fox's screen version of Christopher Paolini's book Eragon. His next role, in 2008, was Jimmy Penwarden on the British prime time series Echo Beach. 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.

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. The next year, Speleers played Jason Grint in the fantasy-adventure television film Witchville, and starred in Aimee Powell's short film Deathless. In 2011, Speleers appeared in Julian Gilbey's action thriller film A Lonely Place to Die and Marion Pilowski's short film The Ride.

In 2012 Speleers starred as Jamie in Andy De Emmony's comedy horror film Love Bite, alongside Jessica Szohr and Timothy Spall. He appeared as the hunter Actaeon in the short promotional film Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 by Credit Suisse for an exhibition in the National Gallery. He was cast in the film A Dead Man in Deptford, based upon Anthony Burgess' novel of the same name, but the film was never completed. That same year, Speleers was cast in the recurring role of Jimmy Kent in the award-winning ITV series Downton Abbey.

The short film Turncoat (2013), from Dark Matter productions, featured Speleers as Nathan Reese. He then starred as Sam in the 2014 thriller Plastic, which was written and directed by Julian Gilbey for Gateway Films. 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.

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. 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. 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. Also that year, he portrayed Greg in director Omer Fast's psychological thriller Remainder.

In 2016 he played the role of Slean in ITV's epic fantasy drama television series, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. He had a supporting role in Disney's fantasy adventure sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass from director James Bobin. The following year he appeared in Andy Serkis' directorial debut, the biopic Breathe, which starred Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy. The film is about paraplegic Robin Cavendish, who is recognised as having helped pioneer the development of wheelchairs equipped with mechanical lungs.