Alexander Vlahos (born 30 July 1988) is a Welsh actor, writer, and director best known for playing Philippe, Duke of Orléans, in the Canal+ television series Versailles. In 2012, Vlahos took the role of the adult Mordred, in the final series of the BBC One drama Merlin.
Alexander Vlahos | |
|---|---|
 Vlahos in 2013 | |
| Born | 30 July 1988 Tumble, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
| Alma mater | Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2008–present |
Early life
editVlahos was born in Tumble, Carmarthenshire,[1] before moving to Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan. He is the son of a Greek father and a Welsh mother, and speaks both Welsh and English.[2] He played ice hockey from ages eight to 18; for the Cardiff Devils, Great Britain and captained Wales.[3][4] His love for the sport derives from watching the Mighty Ducks as a young child and he remains a fan of the media franchise.[5] He trained in acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, graduating in 2009.[2][6][7]
Career
editHe first appeared in the BBC Wales drama Crash in 2009, portraying Dylan. The following year, he appeared in the daytime medical soap opera Doctors in a week-long storyline entitled "Master of the Universe," in which he played the lead role of Lewis Cutler. The episodes were then nominated for "Best Single Episode" and "Spectacular Scene of the Year" at the British Soap Awards in 2010.[8] Also in 2010, he appeared in both Pen Talar and The Indian Doctor, and the film Bright Lights.
In 2012, he earned the role of Private Keenan in Privates, a mini-television series about conscripts in the National Service set in the 1960s, for which he shaved his head.[2] He also played the part of Mordred in series five of Merlin, a role originally played by Asa Butterfield in the first two series.[2][9]
From 2012 to 2016, he played the role of Dorian Gray in Big Finish Productions' audio series The Confessions Of Dorian Gray.[10][11] He has also written one of the episodes, "The Mayfair Monster," released in October 2013,[12][13] and the audio play, HMS Surprise for the Bernice Summerfield box set New Frontiers, which was released in April 2013.[14]
From 6 December 2013, Vlahos appeared in Fortune's Fool at The Old Vic. Mike Poulton's adaptation of Turgenev's play was directed by Lucy Bailey, in a new production which starred Iain Glen and Richard McCabe.[15]
In July 2015, it was announced that he would be playing Bertie Potts in the mini audiobook series The Diary of River Song set in the Doctor Who universe, alongside Alex Kingston.[16]
Since 2015, he portrayed Louis XIV's brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, in the Franco-Canadian historical television series Versailles, about life at the French court, The first series premiered in November 2015. Series 2 was filmed in early 2016 and explores the lighter side to Philippe, the first time for Vlahos to portray a rather light-hearted character for an extended period of time.[13] On 14 September 2016, producer Claude Chelli confirmed that Versailles has been renewed for a third season, which began filming in April 2017.[17] In March 2018, Vlahos confirmed that the third season would also be Versailles' final one.[18]
In the 2016 docudrama Barbarians Rising, a global co-production for The History Channel, Vlahos played the Roman emperor Valentinian in one episode. He also portrayed the Romanian philosopher and mathematician Maurice Solovine in one episode of Genius, National Geographic Channel's first scripted series.[19]
From 11 February to 11 March 2017 in London, Vlahos starred La Ronde, directed by Max Gill, which was a modernised, gender-neutral version of the play by Arthur Schnitzler. A cast of four played the 10 characters randomly selected onstage every night by a roulette wheel.[19] In the 2017 Big Finish Productions audio drama Hamlet, Vlahos played the title character.[20]
In summer 2018, Vlahos played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and Catesby in Richard III at the Shakespeare's Rose Theatre in York,[21] before returning to the Park Theatre in London to portray Captain Hook and Mr Darling in a stage production of Peter Pan.
Vlahos played the artist, Charles Lockhart, in the PBS show Sanditon which aired in 2022–2023.[6][22]
He will be appearing in the Netflix movie, Irish Wish, in 2024.
Personal life
editIn 2023, he revealed that he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In February 2024, Vlahos revealed via Instagram that he and his wife had welcomed a son named River. [11]
Filmography
edit| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Lights | 2010 | Steff | Short film |
| Truth or Dare | 2012 | Luke | Also known in the United States as Truth or Die |
| Button Eyes[6] | 2013 | Boy | Short film |
| The Head Hunter [6] | 2016 | Herbert Mullin | |
| Irish Wish | 2024 | Paul Kennedy | |
| Firecracker | 2024 | Tom | |
| Cuori di Sale[23] |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crash | 2009–2010 | Dylan | |
| Doctors | 2010 | Lewis Cutler | Recurring role |
| All Shook Up! | 2010 | Dafydd Hibbard | |
| Pen Talar | 2010 | Iolo | 3 episodes |
| The Indian Doctor | 2010 | Tom Evans | Main role |
| The Tower | 2011 | Tom | Television film |
| Merlin | 2012 | Mordred | Recurring role |
| Privates | 2013 | Private Keenan | Recurring role |
| Versailles | 2015–2018 | Philippe I, Duke of Orléans | Main role |
| Barbarians Rising | 2016 | Valentinian III | 1 episode |
| Prisoner Zero[6] | 2016 | Zero | Voice |
| Genius | 2017 | Maurice Solovine | 1 episode |
| Death in Paradise | 2020 | Max Newman | 1 episode |
| Bang | 2020 | Dai | 3 episodes |
| Outlander | 2022-2023 | Allan Christie | Recurring role |
| Sanditon | 2022 | Charles Lockhart | Recurring role |
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lola | 2020 | Short film |
| Watchtower | 2021 | Short film |
| Here We Are | 2022 | Short Film |
| Bright World: So It Goes | 2022 | Music Video, Won Best Music Video at the International Film Festival of Wales[24] |
Audiobooks
edit| Title | Year | Producer | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallifrey | 2011 | Big Finish Productions | Season 4 | |
| The Confessions of Dorian Gray | 2012-2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 | Dorian Gray | Seasons 1-5 and specials | |
| Bernice Summerfield | 2012 | Gray | Box set 3 "Legion" | |
| 2013 | Writer of "HMS Surprise" from Box set 4 "New Frontiers" | |||
| The Diary of River Song | 2015 | Bertie Potts | Season 1 | |
| Doctor Who - The Lives of Captain Jack | 2017 | The Stranger | ||
| Hamlet | 2017 | Hamlet | ||
| These Old Shades | 2021 | Audible/Penguin | ||
| The War Master | 2022 | Big Finish Productions | Dorian Gray | Season 8 Escape From Reality, Episode 4 "The Master of Dorian Gray" |
Theatre
edit| Title | Year | Role | Director/Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortune's Fool | 2013 | Pavel Yeletsky | Lucy Bailey |
| Macbeth[25] | 2013 | Malcolm | Kenneth Branagh |
| La Ronde | 2017 | Various | Max Gill |
| Romeo and Juliet | 2018 | Romeo | Shakespeare's Rose Theatre |
| Richard III | 2018 | Catesby | Shakespeare's Rose Theatre |
| Peter Pan (play) | 2018 | Hook | Park Theatre |
References
edit- ^ BJsRealm (24 October 2012), Merlin S5 | S4CsHeno: Alex Vlahos about 'Merlin', 'Privates' and a new movie role [no S5 spoilers], retrieved 26 August 2016
- ^ a b c d Owens, Dave (21 October 2012). "Welsh actor Alexander Vlahos is casting a spell in Merlin". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Casts, Pocket. "Alex Vlahos - The Five Senses (Part 1) - The Moon Under Water". Pocket Casts. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ Walker-Arnott, Ellie (11 December 2012). "Alexander Vlahos webchat: "Merlin has changed my life"". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
- ^ "Actor/director Alexander Vlahos talks about the Mighty Ducks altering the course of his life, his hockey career, trying to get on Game Changers The Quack Attack Podcast". The Quack Attack Podcast. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Alexander Vlahos". IMDb.
- ^ "Twitter"
- ^ "The British Soap Awards 2010". ITV. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2012. [dead link]
- ^ Jeffery, Morgan (11 October 2012). "Alexander Vlahos 'Merlin' Q&A: 'Mordred might not be the villain'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "The Confessions Of Dorian Gray". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ^ a b Cook, Sam (20 May 2023). "Welsh actor Alexander Vlahos reveals that he has ADHD". WalesOnline.
- ^ "The Confessions of Dorian Gray - The Mayfair Monster". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ a b Oebel, Nicole (8 September 2016). "'Versailles' interview with Alexander Vlahos". myFanbase. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "New Frontiers - Bernice Summerfield: Box Sets". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ^ "Fortune's Fool". Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- ^ "Doctor Who: The Diary of River Song Details". Doctor Who TV. 28 July 2015.
- ^ Sitbon, Prescilia (14 September 2016). "C. CHELLI (CAPA Drama) : «Versailles saison 3 devrait entrer en tournage en avril 2017» - média+" (in French).
- ^ @vlavla (14 March 2018). "I'm just going to leave this here... #Versailles THE FINAL SEASON ♥️" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 January 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Oebel, Nicole (24 February 2017). "Alexander Vlahos Interview - From Versailles to La Ronde". myFanbase. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ Oebel, Nicole (14 December 2016). "'Hamlet' interview with Alexander Vlahos & Scott Handcock". myFanbase. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
- ^ Youngs, Ian (25 June 2018). "Shakespearean theatre pops up in York". BBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ Craig, David (22 July 2021). "Sanditon adds Alexander Vlahos, Ben Lloyd-Hughes and more to cast as season 2 begins filming". Radio Times.
- ^ Scarpa, Vittoria (15 June 2023). "Shooting to commence in Sicily on Hearts of Salt, toplined by Alexander Vlahos". cineuropa.org.
- ^ "IFFW 2022". Film Festival Guild. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Rooney, David (5 June 2014). "Theater Review: Kenneth Branagh in 'Macbeth'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
