Thomas James Longley
Encyclopedia
Thomas James Longley is a British actor
and model
. Hailing from the historical English city
of Canterbury
, he grew up performing in plays throughout the Kent
and London
fringe scenes
. In 2004, he achieved some prominence after garnering critical acclaim from The Times
for his performance as the Archangel Gabriel in a revival of The Mystery Plays
at Canterbury Cathedral
.
Longley continued with occasional theatre work, including originating the role of Ben Leyton in the London tour of Kindred Spirits – The Musical, before being offered a place at the National Youth Theatre
in London in 2008. After graduating, he went on to gain wider notice appearing in the independent British films Sparrow
(2010) and Island
(2011). In 2011, he became one of the new faces of Reiss fashion house
.
, Kent
. The son of former Canterbury City F.C.
chairman Keith and reflexologist Jill Longley, he grew up playing piano and attending drama classes. As a young writing student of Catherine Aird
, Longley spent his youth training to write fiction. However, his interest in drama ultimately led him to both writing and acting in fringe theatre.
He continued in stage productions before being offered a place at the National Youth Theatre
in London. While at drama school, he was trained by Amy Leach
and Victoria Gould
, and studied alongside actress Aruhan Galieva
. In 2009, Longley graduated from the National Youth Theatre, and began to seek professional acting work.
In 2004, he was cast out of hundreds to feature as the Archangel Gabriel opposite Edward Woodward
and Joseph McManners
in a revival of The Mystery Plays
at Canterbury Cathedral
. For his performance, Longley achieved critical acclaim from The Times
. For a short while, he was also associated with the Dickens Players
, performing in works such as Hard Times
and Macbeth
. He also gained work appearing in a few stage plays, most notably as Benedick in a teen revival of Much Ado About Nothing
and also as Ben Leyton in Kindred Spirits: The Musical written and produced by Dream Productions.
, but ultimately lost out to Frank Dillane.
In March 2010, Longley was offered a lead role in Shaun Troke
's horror Sparrow
, which was filmed on location in Poland
in July. It premiered in Katowice in October and is set to be released on DVD in late 2011. In February 2011, Longley was attached to appear as the lead character in the found footage
film HAYZE. In March, production slowed down and he ultimately left the project. In August 2011, it was reported that Longley would appear in the apocalyptic thriller Island
.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
. Hailing from the historical English city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, he grew up performing in plays throughout the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
fringe scenes
Fringe theatre
Fringe theatre is theatre that is not of the mainstream. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which name comes from Robert Kemp, who described the unofficial companies performing at the same time as the second Edinburgh International Festival as a ‘fringe’, writing: ‘Round the fringe...
. In 2004, he achieved some prominence after garnering critical acclaim from The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
for his performance as the Archangel Gabriel in a revival of The Mystery Plays
The Mysteries
The Mysteries is a version of the medieval English mystery plays presented at London's National Theatre in 1977. The cycle of three plays tells the story of the Bible from the creation to the last judgement....
at Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
.
Longley continued with occasional theatre work, including originating the role of Ben Leyton in the London tour of Kindred Spirits – The Musical, before being offered a place at the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
in London in 2008. After graduating, he went on to gain wider notice appearing in the independent British films Sparrow
Sparrow (2010 film)
Sparrow is a 2010 Polish-British slasher horror film, directed by Shaun Troke, written by Matthew Mosley and Justin Di Febo, and produced by independent filmmaker Wojciech Stuchlik. The film stars Jack W. Carter, Alexis Jayne Defoe, Eric Kolelas, Sarah Linda, Thomas James Longley and Faye...
(2010) and Island
Island (film)
Island is an upcoming British disaster-thriller film, directed by Rehan Malik and produced by Leon Hady. Documenting the breakdown of a society of teenagers while they are trapped inside a school, the film is comparable in style to Williams Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies...
(2011). In 2011, he became one of the new faces of Reiss fashion house
Reiss (brand)
Reiss is a UK-based fashion brand owned and run by founder, David Reiss. The brand produces men's and women's clothing. It has 65 stores, located primarily in the UK, but with stores in the USA, Ireland, UAE, China and Malaysia. One store is located in Multrees Walk in Edinburgh, another in Marina...
.
Early life
Longley was born 22 April 1989 in CanterburyCanterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. The son of former Canterbury City F.C.
Canterbury City F.C.
Canterbury City F.C. are a football club currently based in Herne Bay near Canterbury, England. Reformed in 2007, they are the first football club formed as a Community interest company. For the 2011–12 season they will compete in the Kent League Premier Division...
chairman Keith and reflexologist Jill Longley, he grew up playing piano and attending drama classes. As a young writing student of Catherine Aird
Catherine Aird
Catherine Aird is the pseudonym of novelist Kinn Hamilton McIntosh. She is the author of more than twenty crime fiction novels and several collections of short stories...
, Longley spent his youth training to write fiction. However, his interest in drama ultimately led him to both writing and acting in fringe theatre.
He continued in stage productions before being offered a place at the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
in London. While at drama school, he was trained by Amy Leach
Amy Leach
Amy Leach is a British theatre director.- Background :Hailing from the north of England, Leach trained at the University of Durham and the Royal National Theatre, reading both Drama and Theatre Direction...
and Victoria Gould
Victoria Gould
Victoria Gould is a British actress, best known for playing the character of journalist Polly Becker on the BBC television soap opera EastEnders from 1997 to 1998....
, and studied alongside actress Aruhan Galieva
Aruhan Galieva
Aruhan Galieva is a British singer and actress of mixed Anglo-Kazakh heritage and is best known for her work as a solo soprano on Karl Jenkins' 'Tlep' under Sony BMG and her work on the follow-up album 'Shakarim' which was premiered at the Royal Festival Hall.Galieva is also the daughter of Kazakh...
. In 2009, Longley graduated from the National Youth Theatre, and began to seek professional acting work.
Early work
Prior to joining the National Youth Theatre, Longley had received critical acclim for his work in in fringe theatre.In 2004, he was cast out of hundreds to feature as the Archangel Gabriel opposite Edward Woodward
Edward Woodward
Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...
and Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners
Joseph McManners is an English actor and singer. He lives on a non-working farm in Petham near Canterbury and recently left Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys for Tonbridge School after being awarded a drama and academic scholarship.-Singing career:McManners decided to become a singer after he...
in a revival of The Mystery Plays
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
at Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
. For his performance, Longley achieved critical acclaim from The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. For a short while, he was also associated with the Dickens Players
Broadstairs Dickens Players
The Broadstairs Dickens Players are an amateur dramatics theatre group local to Broadstairs in Kent, UK. The company was formed in 1937 by a cousin of the actress Margaret Rutherford. They are noted for performing the works of Charles Dickens dramatised and directed by Philip Shaw. They also...
, performing in works such as Hard Times
Hard Times
Hard Times - For These Times is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times....
and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. He also gained work appearing in a few stage plays, most notably as Benedick in a teen revival of Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
and also as Ben Leyton in Kindred Spirits: The Musical written and produced by Dream Productions.
Film
After graduating from the National Youth Theatre, Longley was considered for a role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film directed by David Yates and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman and David Barron...
, but ultimately lost out to Frank Dillane.
In March 2010, Longley was offered a lead role in Shaun Troke
Shaun Troke
Shaun Troke is a British director and former actor. He first came to attention in the late nineties after appearing as Pippin in The Adam and Joe Show...
's horror Sparrow
Sparrow (2010 film)
Sparrow is a 2010 Polish-British slasher horror film, directed by Shaun Troke, written by Matthew Mosley and Justin Di Febo, and produced by independent filmmaker Wojciech Stuchlik. The film stars Jack W. Carter, Alexis Jayne Defoe, Eric Kolelas, Sarah Linda, Thomas James Longley and Faye...
, which was filmed on location in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in July. It premiered in Katowice in October and is set to be released on DVD in late 2011. In February 2011, Longley was attached to appear as the lead character in the found footage
Found footage (genre)
Found footage is a genre of filmmaking, especially horror, in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as discovered film or video recordings, often left behind by missing or dead protagonists. The events onscreen are seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved,...
film HAYZE. In March, production slowed down and he ultimately left the project. In August 2011, it was reported that Longley would appear in the apocalyptic thriller Island
Island (film)
Island is an upcoming British disaster-thriller film, directed by Rehan Malik and produced by Leon Hady. Documenting the breakdown of a society of teenagers while they are trapped inside a school, the film is comparable in style to Williams Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies...
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Sparrow Sparrow (2010 film) Sparrow is a 2010 Polish-British slasher horror film, directed by Shaun Troke, written by Matthew Mosley and Justin Di Febo, and produced by independent filmmaker Wojciech Stuchlik. The film stars Jack W. Carter, Alexis Jayne Defoe, Eric Kolelas, Sarah Linda, Thomas James Longley and Faye... |
Matt | limited release |
| 2011 | Island Island (film) Island is an upcoming British disaster-thriller film, directed by Rehan Malik and produced by Leon Hady. Documenting the breakdown of a society of teenagers while they are trapped inside a school, the film is comparable in style to Williams Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies... |
Craig |
External links
- Thomas James Longley at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...