Tom Francis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Francis Barber  29 June 1999 Colchester, England |
| Other names | Tom Barber |
| Alma mater | ArtsEd (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor and singer |
| Years active | 2020–present |
Thomas Francis Barber (born 29 June 1999) is an English actor and singer known for his roles on the West End and Broadway stages. For his performance as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. [1]
Francis was born in Colchester and grew up in Thorpe Morieux, Suffolk. [2] He joined the Youth Theatre at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and studied at the Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in West London from 2017 to 2020, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre. [3]
In 2020, Francis made his professional stage debut as Roger Davis in Rent at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester under the direction of Luke Sheppard. [4] [5] Francis would reunite with Sheppard for his following show & Juliet at London's Shaftesbury Theatre, taking over the role of Romeo in March 2022 and marking his West End debut. [6]
In 2021, Francis performed as Claude in concert performances of Hair at the London Palladium, replacing Jordan Luke Gage. [7]
For his performances as Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre, he won the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Francis also performed at the awards show. [8] He made his Broadway debut that fall when Sunset Boulevard transferred to the St. James Theatre. [9] [10] In both the Broadway and West End version, there is a six-minute sequence at the start of the second act in which Francis, performing as Joe, would exit the theatre to sing "Sunset Boulevard" while walking through Shubert Alley (in the West End, outside the Savoy Theatre), before returning to the theatre for the end of the song. [11] In November, he took a pause from the role due to a vocal cord injury. [12]
Francis is set to make his television debut as Clayton in the fifth and final season of the Netflix series You . [13] [14] He is set to make his film debut in Noah Baumbach's upcoming ensemble film Jay Kelly. [12]
| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–2021 | Rent | Roger Davis | Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester |
| 2021 | What's New Pussycat? | Ensemble u/s Tom Jones | Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 2022–2023 | & Juliet | Romeo Montague | Shaftesbury Theatre, West End |
| 2023–2024 | Sunset Boulevard | Joe Gillis | Savoy Theatre, West End |
| 2024–2025 | St. James Theater, Broadway | ||