Sam Strike
Born
Samuel Harry Strike

(1994-01-18) 18 January 1994 (age 30)
Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
OccupationActor
Years active2009–present
Known forEastEnders (2013–2014)
M.I. High (2013–2014)
Give Out Girls (2014)
Silent Witness (2016)
Leatherface (2017)
Nightflyers (2018)

Samuel Harry Strike (born 18 January 1994) is an English actor.

Life and career

Strike was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He starred in two revival series of CBBC's M.I. High as Dan Morgan from 2013–2014.[1] In 2014, Strike guest starred in episode two of comedy series Give Out Girls as 15-year-old named Luke, whom Marilyn dates.[2] Strike was voted the 11th hottest lad of 2014 in a fan vote ran by sugarscape.com.[3]

EastEnders (2013–2014)

In 2013, Strike was cast in his most famous role to date playing Johnny Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Strike's character was introduced as part of the Carter family. He is the son of Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) and Linda Carter (Kellie Bright). He made his first appearance on 26 December 2013.

His portrayal of Johnny was met with critical praise, specifically the scenes where Johnny came out to his father. Both Strike's and Dyer's sensitive performances during this scene were praised.[4] On this particular scene, Strike said, "With that scene where Johnny comes out to Mick, I was really nervous the night it aired, because you want it to look convincing but then you want to do justice by the people that have been there and done it. It was a real proving ground for me, because it was the first time I actually had to do any proper drama acting." In an online video on the official website, Strike said, "I've had letters and Danny's had letters saying that we'd helped people to come out, and it makes things worth it."[5]

On 14 November 2014, Strike announced that he would be leaving EastEnders and that he had already filmed his final scenes.[6] His character departed on 23 December 2014[7] but made a special appearance on 25 December episode.

After Strike's departure, EastEnders' executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins said that he has no plans to recast the character of Johnny and that the "door is wide open" for Strike to return. He also added that he would "hope that Sam would come back".[8] However, in February 2016 it was announced that the character would be recast to a new actor, with Ted Reilly taking over the role in April.[9]

Current projects (2015–present)

Strike was cast in crime drama film Bonded by Blood 2, which was released 2 January 2017.[10]

Strike starred in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre prequel Leatherface, alongside Stephen Dorff.[11] The film revolves around a teenage Leatherface, who escapes from a mental hospital with three other inmates. It was written by Seth M. Sherwood and directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo.[12] Filming began 18 May 2015 in Bulgaria[13] and ended on 19 June 2015. He also starred in Silent Witness in January 2016, and began filming for the Monster Party Movie in 2017. Strike found success on US television almost immediately, having guest roles in popular series Timeless and Mindhunter. He played the telepath Thale in the science fiction Netflix series Nightflyers , Misha in Chernobyl (miniseries) for HBO and Ryan Dougherty in the true crime movie The Dougherty Gang alongside Emory Cohen and India Eisley. In 2019, he was cast in the lead role of Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower for Amazon Studios, a pilot was shot, but the show was not picked up for a series. In the same year, Strike starred opposite Sophie Thatcher and Chosen Jacobs in the Quibi coming of age series When the Streetlights Go On as the motorcycle riding town outcast 'Casper Tatum'. It was announced in 2022 that Strike had been cast in a starring role in the film adaption of The Boys in the Boat from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by George Clooney. Strike also appeared as 'Todd' in Netflix's The Sandman.

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013–2014 M.I. High[14] Daniel "Dan" Morgan/ Billy Main cast: Series 6–7 (26 episodes)
2013–2014 EastEnders[15] Johnny Carter Series regular (122 episodes)
2015 The Dog Ate My Homework Panelist Series 2, episode 7
2014 Give Out Girls Luke Series 1, episode 2 "The Hot Boy"
2016 Silent Witness[16] David Hamilton Series 19, episode 1 and 2 "After the Fall: Part 1/Part 2"
Timeless[17] Clyde Barrow Episode: "The Last Ride of Bonnie & Clyde"
2017 Mindhunter Montie Rissell Episode 4
2018 Nightflyers Thale
2020 FBI: Most Wanted Ronnie Lee Bishop Series 1, episode 8 "Predators"
When the Streetlights Go On Casper Tatum Series regular
2022 The Sandman Todd Episode: "A Hope in Hell"

Film

Year Title Role
2010 Stitches (Student Film)[18] Protagonist
2017 Bonded by Blood 2 Dean Boshell
Leatherface Jedidiah Sawyer / Jackson / Leatherface
2018 Monster Party Casper
2019 The Wisdom Tooth Dash Greene
2021 The Dougherty Gang Ryan Dougherty
2022 Helvellyn Edge
2023 The Boys in the Boat

Theatre

Year Title Role
2009–2010 Jesus Christ Superstar[18] Judas

Online

Year Title Role Notes
2014 On Set With...Sam Strike[19] Himself Web mini-series

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2014 British Soap Award Spectacular Scene of the Year (Johnny comes out to Mick, with Danny Dyer) EastEnders Won
Attitude Award Media Recognition Award (Johnny comes out to Mick, with Danny Dyer) Won

References

  1. ^ Martin, William (27 December 2012). "Sam Strike ('MI High') interview". cultbox.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. ^ Eames, Tom (21 October 2014). "EastEnders' Sam Strike joins Diana Vickers in Give Out Girls". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. ^ "SUGARSCAPE'S HOTTEST LADS 2014: THE RESULTS". sugarscape.com. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (14 February 2014). "EastEnders' Sam Strike proud of Johnny Carter plot reaction". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  5. ^ "On set with... Sam Strike". BBC Online. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  6. ^ Strike, Sam [@SamStrike] (14 November 2014). "Thanks for all the love this year guys. Means the world. Decided to bow out. couldn't have done it without you all . thanks" (Tweet). Retrieved 17 September 2017 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (5 December 2014). "EastEnders: 4981: 2014-12-23". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  8. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (22 December 2014). "EastEnders boss: 'Door wide open for Sam Strike return'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  9. ^ Brown, David (6 February 2016). "EastEnders to recast the role of Johnny Carter". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  10. ^ "BONDED BY BLOOD 2 (2017)". directorgreghall.com. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  11. ^ "Have the "INSIDE" Duo Found Their "LEATHERFACE"?". Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  12. ^ Young Leatherface Found for Prequel?
  13. ^ "Leatherface". upcominghorrormovies.com. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  14. ^ Martin, William (16 August 2013). "'MI High' to return for Series 7 in 2014". cultbox.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  15. ^ "Johnny Carter". BBC. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  16. ^ Love, Ryan (14 April 2015). "Ex-EastEnders actor Sam Strike to guest star in new Silent Witness". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  17. ^ Li, Shirley (27 October 2016). "Timeless to feature Bonnie and Clyde, casts criminal couple". ew.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  18. ^ a b "Sam Strike – Mandy Actors". actors.mandy.com. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  19. ^ "On set with... Sam Strike". BBC. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.

External links

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