Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's Gossip Girl as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series White Gold. He made his feature film debut in Children of Men (2006) and has since appeared in the films Breaking and Entering (2006), Son of Rambow (2007), S. Darko (2009), Chalet Girl (2011), J. Edgar (2011), Romeo & Juliet (2013), Bone in the Throat (2015), Freaks of Nature (2015), Billionaire Ransom (2016) and Me You Madness (2021).
Westwick shared an apartment with his Gossip Girl co-star Chace Crawford in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan from the beginning of the series in 2007 until July 2009, when Crawford moved out. Westwick is a Chelsea supporter.
In 2007, Westwick appeared in the film Son of Rambow and was cast as Chuck Bass in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl, based on the book series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. Westwick said of his casting: "There wasn't much work in the UK. I was only in LA for a month and I got this show. It's changed my life." For his portrayal of Chuck, he assumed an American accent, based on the character Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. As a result of the show's success, he was named one of 2008's Sexiest Men Alive by People, and appeared the following year on its "100 Most Beautiful" list with the whole cast of Gossip Girl. Westwick earned the 2008 and 2009 awards for Best TV Villain at the Teen Choice Awards, and was named Breakthrough Talent by GQ in 2010. Entertainment Weekly also named Westwick's character Chuck Bass number one in their "Best Dressed TV Characters of 2008" list (tied with Leighton Meester's character Blair Waldorf), as well as in their "Best Performances" list alongside co-star Meester.
In 2008, Westwick became the new face of K-Swiss. That same year, he appeared as Joey in the horror film 100 Feet. In 2009, Westwick played the role of Randy Holt in the sequel to Donnie Darko, directed by Chris Fisher, and guest-starred in the third season of the Showtime original series Californication, as Chris "Balt" Smith, a student who was fascinated with vampire literature. In May 2009, he was attached to play Heathcliff in the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. However, in January 2010, director Peter Webber left the project, which was then passed into the hands of Andrea Arnold. This directing change caused the roles to be recast.
In 2010, Westwick starred in the McHenry Brothers short film The Commuter, which was shot on a Nokia N8 smartphone. In January 2011, Westwick joined Clint Eastwood's film J. Edgar, a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial first director of the FBI. That same year, he appeared in the romantic comedy Chalet Girl. He co-narrated the audiobook version of City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare and also narrated Clare's second novel Clockwork Prince from The Infernal Devices series. In mid-2011, Westwick became an international celebrity endorser for Penshoppe, a local clothing brand in the Philippines.
He next co-starred in the film adaptation of Romeo & Juliet as the main antagonist and Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. The film was released on 11 October 2013. Westwick then portrayed the lead role in the film adaptation of Anthony Bourdain's novel Bone in the Throat, which premiered at South by Southwest on 14 March 2015. Westwick then co-starred in the horror comedy film Freaks of Nature, which was released on 30 October 2015. In March 2015, he joined the cast of ABC's short-lived crime drama series Wicked City as Kent Grainger, a sadistic Sunset Strip serial killer. The series was cancelled after airing three episodes, but was picked up by Hulu to air the remaining five episodes. Westwick was next seen in Jim Gillespie's Billionaire Ransom, released on 19 August 2016, and stars in the thriller The Crash, released on 13 January 2017.
Westwick played Vincent Swan in the BBC Two television comedy series White Gold (2017). The show has so far aired two seasons, for a total of twelve episodes.
Westwick starred in Me You Madness (2021), co-starring and directed by Louise Linton.
Westwick is also the vocalist of the band For You, who released their first single "Tailspin" on 15 January 2023.
In July 2018, the Los Angeles District Attorney announced that no action would be taken and Westwick would not be prosecuted or charged regarding any of the allegations. Prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to pursue charges and were unable to contact the third alleged claimant. Prosecutors also noted additional claims would not be pursued, due to being outside the statute of limitations. In November 2018, it was announced that Westwick had resumed filming for season 2 of White Gold, which was broadcast in 2019.
2006 | Children of Men | Alex | |
Breaking and Entering | Zoran | ||
2007 | Son of Rambow | Lawrence Carter | |
2008 | 100 Feet | Joey | |
2009 | S. Darko | Randy Holt | |
2010 | McHenry Brothers | Bellboy in Lift | Short film |
2011 | Chalet Girl | Jonny Madsen | |
J. Edgar | Agent Smith | ||
2013 | Romeo & Juliet | Tybalt | |
2014 | Last Flight | Charles Gillis | |
2015 | Bone in the Throat | Will Reeves | |
Freaks of Nature | Milan Pinache | ||
2016 | Billionaire Ransom | Billy Speck | |
2017 | The Crash | Ben Collins | |
2020 | Enemy Lines | Major Kaminiski | |
2021 | Me You Madness | Tyler Jones | |
2022 | Wolves of War | Jack Wallace | |
2023 | Deep Fear | Jackson | |
2024 | DarkGame | Ben |
2006 | Doctors | Holden Edwards | Episode: "Young Mothers Do Have 'Em" |
Casualty | Johnny Cullin | Episode: "Family Matters" | |
Afterlife | Darren | Episode: "Roadside Bouquets" | |
2007–2012 | Gossip Girl | Chuck Bass | Main character; 117 episodes |
2009 | Californication | Chris "Balt" Smith | Episode: "The Land of Rape and Honey" |
2015 | Wicked City | Kent Grainger | 8 episodes |
2017 | Family Guy | Football Player / Wedding Officiant (voice) | Episode: "The Finer Strings" |
Snatch | Sonny Castillo | 4 episodes | |
2017–2019 | White Gold | Vincent Swan | 12 episodes |
TBA | Sandokan |
2018 | "Give Me Your Hand" | Himself | Shannon K |
2008 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV Breakout Star – Male | Gossip Girl | |
Choice TV – Villain | ||||
2009 | ||||
Young Hollywood Awards | Young Hollywood Breakthrough – Male | |||
Breakthrough Performance – Male | Himself | |||
2010 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV – Villain | Gossip Girl | |
2011 | ||||
2012 | Choice TV Actor – Drama |
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