Billy Howle

Howle was born in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. His mother Allison was a school teacher and his father Tim was a music professor and composer.^[2] He was born the second of four boys, with three brothers, Sam (older), George and Alfie (younger).

Because of his father's profession, the family moved 12 times when Howle was a child, before settling in Scarborough. It was there that he became involved in the local music scene. At 18, he left home to study drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before embarking on his career.^[3]

In 2014, Howle made his debut as James Warwick on the E4 television series Glue. He co-starred in the 2017 film The Sense of an Ending (as the younger version of Jim Broadbent's lead character) and the miniseries The Witness for the Prosecution in the pivotal role of the defendant in a murder case, Leonard Vole.^[4]

Howle appeared in the war film Dunkirk,^[5] and starred alongside Saoirse Ronan in the film, On Chesil Beach, an adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel. He appears in the film adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and in the Netflix film Outlaw King.

Howle was the face of Prada S/S16, shot by Craig McDean.^[6]

In 2019, Howle starred alongside Richard Gere and Helen McCrory in the BBC drama series MotherFatherSon, which was written by Tom Rob Smith and he and Jodie Comer made cameo appearances in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as Rey's parents Dathan and Miramir.

In 2021, he starred in the BBC series The Serpent^[7] as Herman Knippenberg, and on BritBox's The Beast Must Die as Nigel.

In February 2022, Howle starred in Chloe as Elliott, appearing in all six episodes.^[8] He also appeared in Under the Banner of Heaven as Allen Lafferty who struggled his faith after his wife Brenda's (Daisy Edger-Jones) murder.^[9] In the latter part of 2022, Howle played the title role in John Haidar's production of Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was performed at the Bristol Old Vic.^[10][11]

In 2024, Howle portrayed a 1970s boxer in Kid Snow,^[12][2] and starred in the Netflix limited series The Perfect Couple as Benji Winbury, the son of the rich family.^[13][14] The long-delayed Sweet Dreams will set to start filming in October 2024.^[15] He started stage production of Look Back in Anger.^[16] in 2025, he will star in Turret.^[17][18]

Howle is actively involved in Pro-Palestine causes and advocated for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.^[19] In September 2025, he signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."^[20]