Sam Lewis Underwood (born 4 August 1987)[1][2] is an English actor who portrayed the twins Luke and Mark Gray in the Fox thriller drama The Following,[3] Jake Otto in the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead (2017), and Adam Carrington in The CW series Dynasty (2019–2022).

Sam Underwood
Underwood at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Sam Lewis Underwood

(1987-08-04) 4 August 1987 (age 37)
NationalityBritish
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present
Spouse
(m. 2016; div. 2023)

Early life and education

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Underwood was born in Woking, Surrey[4] and attended the Winston Churchill School. He trained at the Karen Clarke Theatre Group (now Summerscales Performing Arts), was taught by vocal coach Phil Wisdom and attended Songtime Theatre Arts.[5]

He moved to the United States in October 2006 where he studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. He graduated in February 2008.[6][7]

He co-founded the Fundamental Theater Project in New York with Nicola Murphy in April 2010.[8]

Career

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While appearing as Marchbanks in George Bernard Shaw's Candida at the Irish Repertory Theatre, New York, in April 2010,[9] Underwood was asked to play the part of Alan Strang in a production of Equus at the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall of East Hampton, co-starring alongside Alec Baldwin.[6][10]

In 2013, Underwood was cast in the eighth season of television series Dexter in the recurring role of Zach Hamilton, Dexter Morgan's "protégé".[3] He subsequently joined the third season of Homeland as Leo Carras.[3]

Beginning in February 2014, Underwood took on the dual roles of twins Mark and Luke Gray in the second season of the Fox murder mystery The Following. But after the death of Luke, he was left playing Mark - who had split identities - in its third and final season.[3]

As of 2017, Underwood joined the cast of the hit AMC thriller series Fear the Walking Dead in its third season as Jake Otto, the enigmatic son of the colony leader.

In 2019, Underwood was cast as Adam Carrington in The CW television series Dynasty, a reboot of the 1980s series of the same name.

Personal life

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Underwood married actress Valorie Curry on May 13, 2016.[11] They divorced in April 2023.[citation needed]

On October 7, 2023, Underwood was arrested on felony domestic battery charges after he allegedly got into a physical altercation with an unidentified woman. He was released after approximately 10 hours in custody.[12]

Filmography

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Television

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Year(s) Title Role(s) Description
2013 Zero Hour Martin Krupp Season 1
2013 Dexter Zach Hamilton Season 8
2013 Homeland Leo Carras Season 3
2014–2015 The Following Luke and Mark Gray Main cast (seasons 2–3)
2017 Fear the Walking Dead Jake Otto Main role (season 3); 12 episodes
2018 Madam Secretary Andrew Hill Season 4, episode 19: “Thin Ice”
2019–2022 Dynasty Adam Carrington Guest star (Episode: "Parisian Legend Has It...")
Series regular (season 2–5)
2023 The Rookie: Feds Roman Griffith Season 1, episode 21: "Bloodline"

Film

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Year Title Role Description
2013 The Last Keepers Oliver Sands Feature film (debut)
2017 Hello Again Leocadia
2021 The Drummer Darien Cooper

Theatre

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Year(s) Title Role Director(s) Location
2010 Candida Marchbanks Tony Walton Irish Repertory Theatre
2010 Equus Alan Strang Tony Walton John Drew Theater at Guild Hall of East Hampton
2010 Veritas Lumbard Ryan J. Davis HERE Arts Center
2011 Hamlet Hamlet theSpace on the Mile, Edinburgh Festival
2012 The Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian Gray Quin Gordon The Pershing Square Signature Center

References

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  1. ^ My 21st Birthday weekend (blog) dated 7 August 2008, retrieved 15 October 2013. This date is also repeated in official British birth registration records.
  2. ^ "Happy Birthday, Sam Underwood!". Darkly Dexter. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Jeffery, Morgan (7 August 2013). "'The Following' season two adds 'Dexter's Sam Underwood". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  4. ^ Richardson, Jay (21 April 2011). "Beam me up, Edinburgh festival ... Alec Baldwin takes on virtual Hamlet". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  5. ^ Duffell, Beth (18 October 2013). "Homeland role as young Woking actor heads for big time". getSurrey. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b Panarello, Joseph (16 August 2010). "BWW Interviews: VERITAS' Sam Underwood". Broadway World. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Alumnus Sam Underwood on The Following!". The American Musical and Dramatic Academy Blog. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  8. ^ Muldoon, Molly (12 June 2013). "In Focus: Nicola Murphy, native of Dublin, brings her many talents to New York City". Irish Central. New York. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  9. ^ Jones, Kenneth; Gans, Andrew (7 March 2010). "Errico, Murray, O'Reilly and Underwood Star in Irish Rep's Candida, Opening March 7 in NYC". Playbill. New York. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Van Dyck, Larson et al. Join Baldwin & Underwood in EQUUS, 6/8 - 7/13". Broadway World. New York. 28 May 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  11. ^ Scharf, Lindzi (13 September 2016). "TIFF 2016: Valorie Curry Breaks Out in 'American Pastoral' and 'Blair Witch Project'". WWD. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  12. ^ Kang, Esther (16 October 2023). "Fear the Walking Dead Star Sam Underwood Arrested After Alleged Domestic Battery Incident". People. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
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