Will Sharpe


William Tomomori Fukuda Sharpe is a BAFTA award-winning Japanese-English actor, writer, and director.

Background

Sharpe was born in London, but lived in Tokyo until he was eight years old. After returning to the United Kingdom, he studied at Winchester College.
Sharpe read Classics at the University of Cambridge, where he was the president of the Footlights Revue. He graduated in 2008 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for their 2008/2009 season. Sharpe spent a year at the RSC and appeared in such plays as The Taming of the Shrew, The Merchant of Venice, and The Tragedy of Thomas Hobbes, in which he played a young Isaac Newton. He played the character of Yuki Reid in the BBC medical drama Casualty.
In 2009, he directed and co-wrote, along with his friend Tom Kingsley, the short film Cockroach. The pair's first feature-length film, Black Pond, starring Chris Langham, was shown at the Prince Charles Cinema in London from November 2011. Shortly after, he was co-nominated for a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for the film.
Sharpe created, wrote, and acted in the show Flowers, broadcast on Channel 4 in 2016 and 2018. He has stated that the show was influenced by Japanese comedy.
In 2020, Sharpe won a BAFTA Television Award for his supporting role as Rodney Yamaguchi in BBC drama Giri/Haji - a role The Independent called 'one of the most riotously funny turns since Richard E Grant stepped out as Withnail.'

Personal life

His brother is film music composer Arthur Sharpe, who has written music for The Darkest Universe, Black Pond, and Flowers.

Filmography