Fionn Whitehead — things you didn't know about the Great Expectations star

Fionn Whitehead is one of the UK's hottest young talents, and at 25 already has achieved a career many could only dream of.

His breakthrough role came in 2016 when he cast in the ITV supernatural drama Him. This was swiftly followed by landing the lead role of soldier Tommy Jensen in Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed blockbuster Dunkirk, opposite pop superstar Harry Styles. He also won praise for his performance in the interactive episode of Black Mirror, Bandersnatch.

Now, Fionn is back on our screens in the BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations, playing the part of protagonist Pip. He's starring alongside Academy award-winning actress Olivia Colman, but Fionn is no stranger to working with Hollywood royalty.

Here are a few things you may not know about the London-born actor...

Fionn Whitehead was named after a hero in Irish mythology

Fionn Whitehead was born on 18 July 1997, in Richmond, London. The youngest of four children, he was named after Irish folk legend Fionn mac Cumhaill, a mythical hero who was said to have a magic thumb that bestowed him with great wisdom.

Fionn comes from a family of creatives. His paternal grandfather was one of the writers of Dennis the Menace in The Beano. His dad, Tim is a jazz saxophonist and his mum Linda taught English at a local community college. 

He has two older sisters, Maisie, who works as a performance artist, and Hattie, whose a singer. He also has a big brother called Sonny.

Fionn credits his parents with giving him the drive to succeed in his chosen career. "My parents never owned a house,” he revealed in a chat with iNews. “They rented from a charity that subsidized the rent. From a young age, I recognized I’d have to work my arse off."

He wanted to be a breakdancer

Growing up, Fionn aspired to be a professional rugby player, guitarist (he can play the guitar and drums) or breakdancer, but it was acting that won out.

At 13, he began drama classes at the Orange Tree Theatre, while studying at Orleans Park School. Fionn then attended Richmond College, where he entered the National Youth Theatre's summer course.

After finishing sixth form, Fionn auditioned for a number of drama schools and got rejected by every single one. However, he insists the disheartening experience did him a favor.

He told The Guardian: "It’s part of being an actor, getting rejections. I think that the quicker you learn how to deal with them, the more able you’ll be to take them next time they come.”

His big break came very quickly

Fionn didn’t have to spend much time as a struggling actor, even though his early CV might suggest otherwise. After being rejected from drama school, he took on odd jobs as a barista, childminder and even a boat driver on the River Thames.

Then after starring in the supernatural miniseries Him, a then 20-year-old Fionn was signed up by an agent who got him an audition for Christopher Nolan’s war movie, Dunkirk. He beat thousands of young hopefuls for the lead role of Tommy, and embarked on an intensive five-month shoot.

“It was a series of very lucky events in a strangely small space of time,” he told Dujour. Fionn described the experience of filming with real spitfires and 1,300 extras dressed as soldiers as ‘really incredible’, and formed a close bond with his co-star, Harry Styles.

“We were the middle of nowhere so you kind of have to let people in, otherwise you’ll go insane,” he shared.

He's had some very famous co-stars

Fionn has acted alongside some of the biggest stars of stage and screen, including Dame Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Dame Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Sir Kenneth Branagh.

And his fortune in being able to learn from the best in the business is certainly not lost on humble Fionn.

During a red carpet interview for the premiere of Brit flick The Duke he expressed: "It's amazing. I never expected to be where I am. I'm just trying to enjoy it, really, because it is crazy."

Mirren and Broadbent played Fionn's parents in the 2020 movie, and he described them both as 'lovely', adding: "They're so nice to everyone and unbelievably talented. Just a joy to work with."

He shies away from social media

Despite being a famous film star, Fionn likes to remain low-key and you're unlikely to find him on social media any time soon.

Although he has official Instagram and Twitter accounts — to prevent someone else from impersonating him — they are currently inactive and pretty much empty.

"I think that my absence on [it] is just a reflection of my own slightly awkward shyness,” Fionn explained in a chat with Dujour magazine.

“I’ve always been kind of a private guy and it would be nice to keep it that way.”

He likes playing the villain

In 2020, Fionn starred in the American thriller film, Don't Tell A Soul, most of which was shot under tight restrictions during the Covid pandemic.

Fionn portrayed the character of Matt, a bullying older brother who makes the lives of his siblings and mother a misery. But the actor admitted he rather enjoyed the chance to be a baddie.

“Villains are always just so much fun to play because you get to make choices that you just wouldn’t be able to make with other characters and go so much further," he told Yahoo! Movies.

“It’s always interesting to strip a character down to his core and sort of build it up and totally give in to the sort of evil nature of it. I got hooked and ended up playing a couple of villains after that, which was good fun."

He keeps his personal life very private

Very little is known about Fionn's love life, and he prefers to keep it that way. 

The actor has stated in previous interviews that fame is something that's never interested him, and he's always remained guarded about his private life.

“I just enjoy my privacy," he explained to The Guardian. "I think it’s important to have a life of your own, outside of work.”

Fionn Whitehead's fact file

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We work hard to ensure that all information is correct. Facts that change over time, such as age, will be correct, to the best of our knowledge, at the time of the last article update.