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Alexander Ferns (born 13 October 1968) is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role in EastEnders as Trevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hated soap villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper in the BBC Scotland soap opera River City between 2017 and 2018. For his performance as coal miner Andrei Glukhov in the 2019 miniseries Chernobyl he received a BAFTA Scotland Award.
Alex Ferns | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexander Ferns 13 October 1968 Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Education | University of Cape Town |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Television | EastEnders River City |
| Spouse |
Jennifer Woodburne (m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life and education
editAlex Ferns is the oldest of three children of his family, who left Scotland for South Africa, when Ferns was eleven years old.[1] The family took up residence in Secunda, where Ferns' father worked as an electrician during the construction of a power plant.[1] After he finished school, he joined the South African Defence Force and fought in Angola between 1987 and 1989.[1] Afterward he studied drama at the University of Cape Town.[2] In the mid 1990s, he moved back to the United Kingdom and started his career in acting.
Career
editFerns made an appearance in The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) before various television roles, including Trevor Morgan in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2000 to 2002, for which he won the British Soap Award for Best Newcomer.[3] In 2005, Ferns played Lieutenant Gordon in the highly acclaimed trilingual film Joyeux Noël, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, Golden Globe Awards and the BAFTAs.
In 2003, Ferns appeared as Draco Malfoy in a Harry Potter sketch for Comic Relief. In 2004, he played Commander Martin Brooke, the lead role, in the short-lived ITV series Making Waves. In the same year he appeared in Man Dancin', a Festival Film & TV production, which won a number of awards on the festival circuit, including Outstanding Original Screenplay at the Sacramento Film Festival. He has also appeared on Coronation Street.[citation needed] He has also appeared in the 2006 film Shadow Man, as Schmitt, also starring Steven Seagal.
His theatrical work includes the role of the "tapeworm" (a hallucination) in I.D., a play about Dimitri Tsafendas and his assassination of South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the 2008 national tour of Agatha Christie's murder mystery And Then There Were None, and Little Shop of Horrors as the Dentist. In 2011, he took the role of Scottish gangster Jimmy Boyle in the play about his life, The Hardman, during a Scottish tour to positive reviews.[4]
He also made a brief appearance in a Smirnoff Vodka advert in 2009.[citation needed]
Ferns took part in television series Celebrity Coach Trip, partnered with friend Ricky Groves.[5] He starred as Luther in the 2011 London revival and subsequent UK tour of South Pacific.
In 2013, he starred as Lee in True West at Glasgow's Citizen's Theatre. In 2014, he starred in 24: Live Another Day. In 2016, Ferns starred in ITV's Vera series 6 episode 4 ("The Sea Glass") as Michael Quinn. He also appeared in the BBC's Wallander series 4 episode 1 ("The White Lioness") as Axel Hedeman.
He portrayed the leader of Tula coal miners Andrei Glukhov in the HBO 2019 miniseries Chernobyl. For this performance, he received a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television.[6]
Ferns appeared in Netflix's The Irregulars (2021) as Vic Collins. He portrayed Gotham Police Commissioner Pete Savage in the superhero film The Batman (2022). Also in 2022, he appeared in the Disney+ series Andor as Sergeant Linus Mosk.
In 2024, Ferns appeared as Aaron Moy in the BBC One thriller series Nightsleeper.[7][8]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Ghost and the Darkness | Stockton | |
| 2003 | Man Dancin' | Jimmy Kerrigan | |
| 2005 | Joyeux Noël | Lieutenant Gordon | |
| 2009 | Farewell | Scottish Agent | |
| 2014 | True West | Lee | |
| 2015 | Caring for the Recently Deceased | Solicitor | Short |
| Legend | McLean | ||
| 2016 | Hot Property | J.P. De Cock | |
| The Legend of Tarzan | Force Publique Officer | ||
| 2017 | Baby Mine | Mike | Short |
| Romans | Jo | Released as Retaliation in the U.S. | |
| 2020 | Knuckledust | Major Vaughn | |
| 2021 | Wrath of Man | John (Sticky John) | |
| 2022 | The Batman | Commissioner Pete Savage | |
| 2024 | Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | Mikael |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Generations | TV series | |
| 1996 | Rhodes | John Grimmer | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| 1997 | Tarzan: The Epic Adventures | Jimmy Dorgo | 1 episode |
| Black Velvet Band | Major Watson | TV film | |
| 1998 | The Bill | Johno | 1 episode |
| 1999 | Psychos | Policeman | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| Taggart | Lenny Kerr | 1 episode | |
| 2000 | Britannic | Stoker Evans | TV film |
| Holby City | Stuart | 1 episode | |
| Doctors | Dan Thomas | 1 episode | |
| 2000–2002 | EastEnders | Trevor Morgan | 119 episodes |
| 2001 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Mad Alex | 1 episode |
| 2001–2002 | De 9 dagen van de gier | Brian | TV series |
| 2004 | Making Waves | Commander Martin Brooke | Main role, 6 episodes |
| 2006 | Dream Team 80's | Al Mackay | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | Mark Antony | Miniseries, 1 episode | |
| 2007 | M.I. High | General Scarp | 1 episode |
| Casualty | Tom Dart | 1 episode | |
| 2014 | The Widower | DCI Neil Thompson | Miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 24: Live Another Day | Radko | Miniseries, 1 episode | |
| The Passing Bells | David Edwards | Miniseries, 3 episodes | |
| 2015 | The Coroner | Nolan Prince | 1 episode |
| Wallander | Axel Hedeman | 1 episode | |
| 2016 | Vera | Michael Quinn | 1 episode |
| Wolfblood | Alistair | Recurring role, 6 episodes | |
| 2017 | Taboo | Hall | 1 episode |
| 2017–2018 | River City | Rick Harper | Recurring role, 9 episodes |
| 2019 | Chernobyl | Andrei Glukhov | Miniseries, 1 episode |
| 2020 | Barkskins | Gay Bill | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | The Irregulars | Vic Collins | 4 episodes |
| Danny Boy | Gavin Wood | TV film | |
| 2022 | Andor | Sergeant Linus Mosk | 5 episodes |
| The Devil's Hour | DS Nick Holness | Miniseries, 5 episodes | |
| 2023 | Six Four | Gordon Byrne | 3 episodes |
| 2024 | Nightsleeper | Aaron Moy | 6 episodes |
References
edit- ^ a b c Susan Swarbrick: EastEnders' Alex Ferns on leaving River City and his Lennoxtown thriller. In: heraldscotland.com, 13 January 2018.
- ^ Alex Ferns. In: apm.co.za, access date 22 July 2022.
- ^ Welsh, James. "British Soap Awards 2002: Nominations". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ Fisher, Mark (4 April 2011). "The Hard Man – review". The Guardian.
- ^ Alex Fletcher (16 September 2010). "Celebrity 'Coach Trip' lineup revealed". Digital Spy.
- ^ Scotland: Actor – Television in 2019. In: awards.bafta.org, access date 22 July 2022.
- ^ Craig, David (13 September 2024). "Meet the cast of Nightsleeper". Radio Times. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Hepburn, David (15 September 2024). "Nightsleeper television review: The most exciting thing to ever happen on a train from Glasgow to Motherwell". The Scotsman. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
External links
edit- Alex Ferns at IMDb