2011–2016: South Downs, The Imitation Game, Departure and early roles

Lawther's professional debut came at the age of 16, when he appeared as John Blakemore in Sir David Hare's South Downs at Chichester Festival Theatre. Lawther found out about an open audition for the play through his school, as the casting directors were scouting real students attending elite private schools in the South Downs for the play's public school setting. He travelled to London, where he beat hundreds of other young actors for the lead role. After a local trial run, the play then went to the West End, where he performed the role at the Harold Pinter Theatre in sold out runs whilst still studying for his A Levels.^[5] He received critical acclaim for his performance and, having previously viewed acting as only a hobby, he was encouraged to pursue a career in film and theatre. Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with a film agent.

Following his performance in South Downs, Lawther spent much of his early career playing wealthy English schoolboys. After several small television roles, he portrayed Benjamin Britten as a schoolboy in the docudrama by Tony Britten, Benjamin Britten: Peace and Conflict (2013), also featuring John Hurt as the narrator.^[15] Lawther received his breakthrough film role as a young Alan Turing during his time at Sherborne School in the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game (2014), with Benedict Cumberbatch portraying the older Turing.^{[5][16][17][18]} The role won him the London Film Critics' Circle Award for "Young British Performer of the Year".^[19] Subsequently, he appeared in a supporting role as a maths prodigy in the critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama film X+Y, alongside Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins. He also starred as a young castrato in Virtuoso, a pilot produced for HBO by Alan Ball, but the show was not picked up by the network. He returned to the theatre doing various small productions in London during this period, playing a sexually precocious young gay man in The Glass Supper, and the lead in the post-apocalyptic Crushed Shells and Mud.

In 2015, he starred alongside Juliet Stevenson in his first lead film role, playing Elliot in the British film, Departure, the debut film of director Andrew Steggall, filmed in a mixture of French and English.^[20]

2016–present: Black Mirror, The End of the F***ing World, and wider recognition

In 2016, Lawther played the main character Kenny in "Shut Up and Dance", an episode from series three of the British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror.^[21] While the episode overall received mixed reviews, and Lawther himself later expressed lukewarm feelings for the episode, he received universal acclaim and significant recognition for his performance. He also performed in the mockumentary film Carnage, directed by his frequent collaborator, comedian Simon Amstell.

In 2017, Lawther played Tibby Schlegel in Howards End, a BBC One adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel that starred Hayley Atwell, as well as the lead role of Billy Bloom in Trudie Styler's Freak Show, where he was supported by Bette Midler, Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Lorraine Toussaint and Larry Pine. Freak Show marked his first (and thus far only) appearance in an American film; Lawther has expressed a lack of interest in performing in more American films.

Later that same year, he also starred, alongside Jessica Barden, as James in the Peabody Award-winning television series The End of the F***ng World. The role also brought Lawther more acclaim from critics and further raised his profile in the entertainment industry. He would go on to reprise this role during the show's second and final season, which received a BAFTA Award for Best Drama. He also originated the role of Sam in the Stephen Daltry-directed play The Jungle, which focused on the refugee crisis in Calais, in both its London and New York productions. Lawther spent time in France meeting with refugees for this job, and ultimately found it to be one of his most challenging roles due to his character's right-wing views which were antithetical to his own.^[22] Subsequently, Lawther played the lead role of Amberson in Toby MacDonald's debut film Old Boys, as well as a supporting role in the horror film Ghost Stories.

In 2020, Lawther played the lead role in Régis Roinsard's thriller, Les Traducteurs (The Translators), his first non-English language film. As a result of fans of both Lawther and English singer-songwriter Declan McKenna frequently pointing out their resemblance, Lawther made an appearance in the music video for McKenna's song "The Key to Life on Earth". In 2021, Lawther appeared in Ridley Scott's The Last Duel, Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, and Lucile Hadzihalilovic's Earwig. He starred as Ariel in a French production of Shakespeare's The Tempest at Les Bouffes du Nord directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne^[23] and replaces Andrew Scott in the titular role of Hamlet when Robert Icke's adaptation is brought to New York City, after previously being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[24] He appeared in the Star Wars spin-off series Andor as rebel operative Karis Nemik.

Directing

In 2021, Lawther made his directorial debut with the music video for "Fountainhead" by Linus Fenton, starring Roman Griffin Davis and sponsored by CALM.^[25] In 2022, he wrote and directed the short film "For people in trouble", produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon and starring Emma D'Arcy and Archie Madekwe.^[26]

Activism

In 2020, Lawther co-signed an open letter to the government of the United Kingdom to ban conversion therapy for LGBT youth.^[30] In 2023, he co-signed an open letter alongside more than 1,000 artists in the British film industry calling on the arts and culture sector to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, amplify Palestinian voices, and protect artists who speak out in favor of Palestinians.^[31] He has also been involved in climate activism with Extinction Rebellion. He is a feminist and has critiqued the lack of diversity in the film industry.^[32] He became involved with causes supporting refugees following his work in The Jungle and supports the charity Choose Love.^[33]

Film

Television

Stage

Radio

Podcasts

Music videos