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Joseph Matthew Alwyn (born 21 February 1991) is an English actor. Alwyn made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and has since played roles in films such as The Favourite (2018), Boy Erased (2018), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Harriet (2019), Catherine Called Birdy (2022), and The Brutalist (2024), as well as the BBC and Hulu drama series Conversations with Friends (2022).
Born in Kent and raised in north London, Alwyn developed an interest in acting during his teenage years. He acted in student productions at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and obtained BA degrees in English literature and drama, and acting, from the University of Bristol (2012), and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2015), respectively.
Alwyn worked with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift on ten of her songs released from 2020 to 2022, including "Exile" and "Betty" from Swift's eighth studio album, Folklore, which won the Album of the Year at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. He won a Trophée Chopard at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and appeared on the 2022 Time 100 Next list of rising stars.
Alwyn was privately educated at the City of London School. He briefly took guitar lessons, and was part of a school band called Anger Management. He later played football and rugby at school. Although an "introverted" child, Alt URL Alwyn knew he wanted to be an actor. He auditioned for a small role in Love Actually, but was not cast. In his late teens, he joined the National Youth Theatre. While studying for a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English literature and drama at the University of Bristol, he acted in two student productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. After graduating in 2012, he applied to four drama schools, and was accepted by the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he completed a BA degree in acting. In his third year there, Alwyn signed with an agent who had seen him in a student showcase, and who then helped him get cast in the role of the title character in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016): his debut in a feature film.
Alwyn appeared in a number of 2018 films. He played a supporting role as the British nobleman Samuel Masham in the Historical drama black comedy film The Favourite, directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. The film garnered 10 nominations at the 91st Academy Awards. Lauren McCarthy of W magazine praised Alwyn's physical humour and silly acting style in the film, in contrast to his "boy-next-door-meets-movie-star-hearthrob looks". He played a supporting role in Chris Weitz's historical drama Operation Finale, and a minor role in Joel Edgerton's Boy Erased—a biographical drama film based on by American LGBT+ activist Garrard Conley. Alwyn then appeared as English statesman Robert Dudley in the historical drama Mary Queen of Scots. Alwyn won the Trophée Chopard alongside Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2019, Alwyn played a slave owner in Harriet, a biographical drama about Harriet Tubman. He appeared as Bob Cratchit in the dark fantasy television miniseries A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella of the same name. In 2021, he had a minor role in drama film The Souvenir Part II, and played a 1960s industrialist in the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes' 2008 romantic novel, The Last Letter from Your Lover.
In 2022, Alwyn starred in the drama series Conversations with Friends—a Hulu adaptation of the 2017 novel of the same name by Irish author Sally Rooney. Alwyn was paired with Margaret Qualley in the romantic thriller film Stars at Noon, directed by French filmmaker Claire Denis, and played the titular character's uncle in Catherine Called Birdy, a medieval comedy film directed by Lena Dunham, based on the 1994 children's novel of the same name; both the films were met with generally positive reviews, with the former premiering at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and winning the Grand Prix.
In late 2022, Eimear McBride wrote and directed A Very Short Film About Longing. The film was screened at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival. It starred Alwyn, Natalia Kostrzewa and Lashay Anderson and was soundtracked by Tindersticks. In 2024, Alwyn played a supporting role in Kinds of Kindness, an anthology film directed by Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. He also co-starred as Harry Lee Van Buren in Brady Corbet’s epic The Brutalist, earning acclaim for his portrayal of the entitled son.
In 2025, he is set to make his stage debut in The Lady from the Sea in London, marking his first appearance in a theatrical production.
At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, Folklore won the Album of the Year, earning Alwyn his first Grammy Awards for his producing credit on the record. Credited as Bowery, Alwyn also co-wrote "Champagne Problems", "Coney Island" and the title track on Swift's second 2020 album, Evermore. In April 2022, Alwyn revealed to The Wall Street Journal that the name "William Bowery" was derived from the first name of his great-grandfather William Alwyn, who was a music composer, and the last name in honour of the New York City neighbourhood Bowery, where he had spent "a lot of time" when he first arrived in the U.S. On Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), he is credited as co-writer of "Sweet Nothing", again as Bowery.
Alwyn keeps his personal life private, which he described as a "knee-jerk response to the culture we live in". GQ labelled Alwyn a "notoriously low-key actor".
In response to the April 2025 Supreme Court ruling on the definition of woman in the Equality Act and subsequent EHRC guidance, Alwyn was one of over 400 film and television professionals to sign an open letter pledging "solidarity with the trans, non-binary and intersex communities" and condemning both actions.
| +Key | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| The Favourite | Samuel Masham | ||
| Boy Erased | Henry Wallace | ||
| Mary Queen of Scots | Robert Dudley | ||
| The Last Letter from Your Lover | Laurence Stirling | ||
| Catherine Called Birdy | George | ||
| The Brutalist | Harry Lee Van Buren | ||
| Hamlet | Laertes | ||
| + !Year !Title !Role !Ref. | |||
| 2025 | The Lady from the Sea | Heath |
| + !Year !Album !Song !class="unsortable" | Credit !Ref. | ||
| "My Tears Ricochet" | Co-producer | ||
| "August" | |||
| "This Is Me Trying" | |||
| "Illicit Affairs" | |||
| "Betty" | Co-writer; co-producer | ||
| "Champagne Problems" | Co-writer | ||
| "Coney Island" | |||
| "Evermore" | |||
| +List of awards and nominations received by Alwyn | |||
| 2022 | "Exile" | ||
| The Favourite | |||
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