Jay Lycurgo
Born (1998-02-06) 6 February 1998 (age 26)[1]
Alma materArtsEd
Years active2019–present

Jay Lycurgo (born 6 February 1998) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Tim Drake in Titans (2021–2023), Nathan Byrne in the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (2022), and as a gang member in The Batman (2022). [2][3]

Early life

Lycurgo grew up in Croydon, the youngest of four children. He is of Jamaican, Sierra Leonean, and British heritage.[4] His father is former professional footballer David Johnson.[5] Lycurgo was partly inspired to act through watching productions at the local Fairfield Halls.[1] After not getting into the BRIT School, his teacher suggested drama school. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in 2019.

Career

Upon graduating from ArtsEd, Lycurgo made his television debut in an episode of the BBC One medical drama Doctors as well as his professional stage debut as David Beckoff in the 2019 Turbine Theatre production of the Torch Song Trilogy. This was followed by appearances in the miniseries I May Destroy You, Jimmy McGovern's television film Anthony,[6] and the science fiction series War of the Worlds. He had small roles in films Listen and The Batman.[7][8]

In 2021, Lycurgo began playing Tim Drake, a recurring role in the third season of the DC Universe series Titans. Lycurgo has stated he was proud to play a superhero of mixed race as there were not many examples of this when he was growing up.[9] He reprised his role as a regular in season 4.[10] The following year, he played Paul in the BBC Three sitcom Cheaters.

Also in 2022, Lycurgo stars in as Nathan Byrne in Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself, an adaptation of the young adult fantasy novel Half Bad by Sally Green. Auditioning was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic over video while he was in Toronto. He has stated he related to the cheekiness and quick witted nature of his character Nathan.[11] He has to physically prepare for the action and fighting scenes in the series,[12] which he has described as "Misfits meets This is England",[4] "Twilight meets Skins", and as an "X-rated Harry Potter".[13] He said he got into the headspace of playing a teenager despite being 24 years-old himself because “I feel like I’m just very childlike still, you know. I have a huge imagination…I think it’s a real shame that as we get older we feel like we have to stop being that kid in a playground. You know? I don’t think that needs to be the case. I feel like we should be able to still imagine things and be playful and creative. When you’re acting it’s just that sometimes you have to get the permission from the right people to be like, “No really go for it! Go there.” And then to yourself you just have to really believe that you’re in these places. When it comes to being a teenager again, I think I’m just quite fortunate to still be very immature.”[14] As well as the playfulness and immaturity in the character, Lycurgo told Newsweek how his characterization of Nathan was driven by an inherent loneliness saying "He is just a really lonely and isolated, quiet person, because he's always been in fight-and-flight [mode] and he doesn't trust anyone."[15]

In 2023, he started filming Ben Wheatley comedy-horror series Generation Z.[16]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2019 Man Down Dayton Short film
2020 Father of the Bride Christian Short film
Listen Young Man
Brothers Jase Short film
2022 The Batman Train Gang Young Member
TBA Eternal Return Post-production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2019 Doctors Kyle O'Keefe Episode: "Last Stop"
2020 I May Destroy You Marcus Episode: "The Alliance"
Anthony Marcus Television film
2021 War of the Worlds Will 1 episode
2021–2023 Titans Tim Drake/Robin Main role (season 4) Recurring role (season 3)
2022 Cheaters Paul 7 episodes
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself Nathan Byrne Main role
TBA Generation Z In-production[17]

Stage

Year Title Role Notes
2019 Torch Song Trilogy David Beckoff Turbine Theatre, London

References

  1. ^ a b Pometsey, Olive (28 October 2022). "The Bastard Son's Jay Lycurgo is collecting major roles like action figures". The Face. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ Otterson, Joe (28 January 2021). "'Titans' Season 3 Casts Jay Lycurgo as Tim Drake". Variety. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. ^ Yossman, KJ (21 October 2022). "Jay Lycurgo Gets Interrogated by Karen Connell in New Clip From Netflix's 'Half Bad: The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b Damshenas, Sam (28 October 2022). "The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself: Jay Lycurgo and Emilien Vekemans talk queer romance". Gay Times. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  5. ^ Ryan, Maeve (28 October 2022). "Jay Lycurgo on dancing with the devil". Square Mile. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  6. ^ Morris, Lauren (23 July 2020). "Meet the cast of Anthony, the BBC's Anthony Walker drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  7. ^ "10 Things You Didn't Know about Jay Lycurgo". TVovermind.com. 3 February 2021.
  8. ^ Seymour, Claire (2019). "Torch Song". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  9. ^ Sirikul, Laura (16 September 2021). "'Titans' Star Jay Lycurgo on Representing and That Major Moment For Tim Drake". Nerds of Color. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Meet the actor playing Tim Drake in Titans season 3". Entertainment Weekly.
  11. ^ "JAY LYCURGO". Wonderland. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  12. ^ McGlynn, Anthony (27 October 2022). "Jay Lycurgo: "The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself left a few scars"". The Digital Fix. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  13. ^ Fletcher, Alex (1 November 2022). "The Bastard Son and The Devil Himself: Jay Lycurgo and Isobel Jesper Jones exclusive interview about dark Netflix teen drama". BT. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  14. ^ Saretsky, Kendall (25 October 2022). "interview - jay lycurgo". Schön!. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  15. ^ "'The Bastard Son and The Devil Himself' Character and Power Guide". Newsweek.
  16. ^ Cormack, Morgan (18 October 2023). "Sue Johnston, Robert Lindsay and more join Generation Z cast". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  17. ^ Kanter, Jake (18 October 2023). "'Generation Z' First Look: Ben Wheatley's Zombie Series Unveils Cast Including Robert Lindsay". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

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