Ryan Kopel

Kopel was born in 1997 to Scott and Jacqueline Kopel in Kirriemuir, Scotland. He is the grandson of footballer Frank Kopel. Kopel grew up enjoying theatre, performing with his local youth theatre group at the Kirriemuir Town Hall. At the age of 13, he decided to train to pursue a career in stage and screen acting, attending the vocational Dance School of Scotland, in Glasgow. Kopel then moved to London to study at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, where he graduated in 2018 with a BA in Musical Theatre.^[3]

In 2018, Kopel won the 'Young Scottish Musical Theatre Performer of the Year' award.^[3][4]

Kopel started his career on stage in 2018, performing as at the King's Head Theatre as Jerry Johnson in And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens..., a play by American playwright Tennessee Williams that discusses LGBT+ themes.^[5] In 2019, Kopel starred as the titular character in a production of The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit alongside Paul Greenwood.^[6][7][8] In the same year, he performed at the Edinburgh International Festival in the concert version of West Side Story.

Kopel made his West End debut in 2018 in the Young Vic, where he performed in The Inheritance, a seven-hour long play about the AIDS crisis directed by Stephen Daldry.^[9] Kopel continued on the West End, joining the ensemble cast of The Book of Mormon in 2020.^[10] In the same year, Kopel performed in the radio-play BLUFF, written and produced by Matt Cavendish and Ed Zanders.^[11]

Kopel made his television debut in 2021 on the British medical drama Casualty, where he guest starred at Frank Polt. He then appeared in the 2022 British mini-series Wedding Season. Kopel returned to theatre in 2022 in Disney's musical Newsies, where he took on the role of Davey.^[12][13]

In 2024, Kopel performed as Lucas in the West End musical comedy The Addams Family.^[14][15] Kopel then appeared in HBO's House of the Dragon as Ser Aeron Bracken.^[16]

Kopel was announced to play the lead role of Evan Hansen in the UK touring production of Dear Evan Hansen, which opened for previews on 9 September 2024 at the Nottingham Playhouse.^[17] The production officially premiered on 17 September to reviews praising Kopel's performance, including from The Times and The Guardian.^[18][19][20] The tour extended its run in the UK until July 2025.

In September 2025, Kopel appeared alongside Dear Evan Hansen co-star Alice Fearn as a special guest in the live concert celebrating the Golden Days musical theatre EP release.^[21] In November 2025, he then performed at the Breaking Character concert at the London The Other Palace studio theatre alongside Vivian Panka, who also performed in Dear Evan Hansen.^[22][23]

In 2026, Kopel was cast in the role of Charlie in the concert performance of the In Pieces musical, which will run on the 30th and 31st of March at The Other Palace Theatre.^[24]