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Olly Alexander
OllyAlexander
Character
Character

Fenton

Season appearances

1

Profile
Birthplace

Yorkshire, England

Date of birth

15 July 1990

Links
IMDb profile

Olly Alexander is the actor who portrays the character Fenton on Penny Dreadful. Olly Alexander is an English actor, script writer and lead singer of the band Years & Years. The band released debut single "Traps" via Kitsuné in September 2013.

Life & Career[]

Alexander's acting career began in theatre plays and films such as Summerhill and Bright Star, which was nominated for an Oscar. He has also starred in films including Tormented starring Alex Pettyfer, Enter the Void, and his most applauded performance was in the film Great Expectations as Herbert Pocket. Alexander contributed to the script and music for the indie film The Dish & the Spoon which was released in early 2011.

Alexander was born Oliver Alexander Thornton in England. His mother, Vicki Thornton, was one of the founders of the Coleford Music Festival. In a YouTube video uploaded from NylonMagazineTV Olly Alexander said he dropped out of school. From March to June 2013 Olly starred as Peter Pan in the West End play Peter and Alice acting alongside Ben Whishaw and Judi Dench. Olly also had a supporting role in the final series of Skins playing character Cassie's stalker in the two-part episode "Skins Pure", which aired July 2013.

Alexander plays one of the main characters in the 2014 musical feature film God Help the Girl, where he also sings and plays guitar. The film was written and directed by Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer of the group Belle and Sebastian, as part of the God Help the Girl project.

His band, Years & Years formed in 2010 with Olly joining the band as lead vocalist after guitarist Mikey heard him singing in the shower and reckoned he had "a good voice". Olly's voice has been commented on by journalists for its unique tone with their music being described as "Nina Simone...crooning a melodic lullaby to the folktronic lovechild of Beach House and Terry Riley".

Their debut single proper "Traps" achieved support from Radio 1 and Radio 6, as well as many online publications such as The Guardian and The Fader. "Traps" also features on Kitsuné Maison's 15th compilation.

The band released their second single "Real" on Kitsuné and iTunes in February 2014 and the music video featured an appearance from Olly's Peter and Alice co-star, Ben Whishaw, and former Misfits actor, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. They are playing a few select shows in the UK as well as festival Les Inrocks in Paris, supporting Swim Deep.

Alexander is also set to appear in The Riot Club, the film adaptation of Laura Wade's stage play Posh alongside British actors Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth. Alexander portrayed since 2014 the recurring role of the vampire Fenton, in the British-American horror series Penny Dreadful.

References[]

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