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Ed Westwick
Ed Westwick July 2010 cropped.jpg
Westwick in 2009 on Gossip Girl's season 3
Born
Edward Jack Peter Westwick

(1987-06-27) 27 June 1987 (age 36)
Occupation Actor, musician
Years active 2006–present

Edward Jack Peter Westwick (born 27 June 1987) is an English actor and musician best known for his role as Chuck Bass on The CW's Gossip Girl as well as Vincent Swan in the TV series White Gold. He made his feature film debut in Children of Men (2006) and has since appeared in the films Breaking and Entering (2006), Son of Rambow (2007), S. Darko (2009), Chalet Girl (2011), J. Edgar (2011), Romeo & Juliet (2013), Bone in the Throat (2015), Freaks of Nature (2015), Billionaire Ransom (2016), and Me You Madness (2021).

Early life

Westwick was born in Hammersmith, London, and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. He was born the youngest of 3 boys for Carole (née Blenkiron), an educational psychologist, and Peter Westwick, a university lecturer. He has two older brothers. He began music lessons and attended a Saturday morning drama school from the age of six. Westwick was educated at The Barclay School and North Hertfordshire College, where he took A-levels in business, law, and communication. He later trained at the National Youth Theatre in London.

Career

Acting

Westwick made his film debut in Breaking and Entering (2006), following an open audition casting call sent to the National Youth Theatre. He went on to guest star in the British television series Doctors as Holden, Casualty as Johnny Cullin, and Afterlife as Darren. He also had a minor role in the film Children of Men (2006).

In 2007, Westwick appeared in the film Son of Rambow and was cast as Chuck Bass in The CW's teen drama series Gossip Girl, based on the book series of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. Westwick said of his casting, "There wasn't much work in the UK. I was only in LA for a month and I got this show. It's changed my life." For his portrayal of Chuck, he assumed an American accent, based on the character Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. ..... Westwick earned the 2008 and 2009 awards for Best TV Villain at the Teen Choice Awards, and was named Breakthrough Talent by GQ in 2010. Entertainment Weekly also named Westwick's character Chuck Bass number one in their "Best Dressed TV Characters of 2008" list (tied with Leighton Meester's character Blair Waldorf), as well as in their "Best Performances" list alongside co-star Meester.

Ed Westwick July 2010 d
Westwick on the set of Gossip Girl in 2010

In 2008, Westwick became the new face of K-Swiss. That same year, he appeared as Joey in the horror film 100 Feet. In 2009, Westwick played the role of Randy Holt in the sequel to Donnie Darko, directed by Chris Fisher, and guest-starred in the third season of the Showtime original series Californication, as Chris "Balt" Smith, a student who was fascinated with vampire literature. In May 2009, he was attached to play Heathcliff in the film adaptation of Wuthering Heights. However, in January 2010, director Peter Webber left the project, which was then passed into the hands of Andrea Arnold. This directing change caused the roles to be recast.

In 2010, Westwick starred in the McHenry Brothers short film The Commuter, which was shot on a Nokia N8 smartphone. In January 2011, Westwick joined Clint Eastwood's film J. Edgar, a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial first director of the FBI. That same year, he appeared in the romantic comedy Chalet Girl. He co-narrated the audio book version of City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare and also narrated Clare's second novel Clockwork Prince from The Infernal Devices series. In mid-2011, Westwick became an international celebrity endorser for Penshoppe, a local clothing brand in the Philippines.

He next co-starred in the film adaptation of Romeo & Juliet as the main antagonist and Juliet's cousin, Tybalt. The film was released on 11 October 2013. Westwick then portrayed the lead role in the film adaptation of Anthony Bourdain's novel Bone in the Throat, which premiered at South by Southwest on 14 March 2015. Westwick then co-starred in the horror comedy film Freaks of Nature, which was released on 30 October 2015. ..... The series was cancelled after airing three episodes, but was picked up by Hulu to air the remaining five episodes. Westwick was next seen in Jim Gillespie's Billionaire Ransom, released on 19 August 2016, and stars in the thriller The Crash, released on 13 January 2017.

Westwick played Vincent Swan in the BBC Two television comedy series White Gold (2017). The show has so far aired two seasons for a total of 12 episodes.

Westwick starred in Me You Madness (2021), co-starring and directed by Louise Linton.

Music

Westwick was a member of the British band The Filthy Youth. The punk band, formed in 2006, was inspired by the Rolling Stones, The Doors and Kings of Leon. The songs "Come Flash All You Ladies" and "Orange" were both featured in an episode of Gossip Girl. The band consisted of fellow countrymen Benjamin Lewis Allingham (guitar), Jimmy Wright (guitar), Tom Bastiani (bass), and John Vooght (drummer).

Westwick is also the vocalist of the band For You, who released their first single "Tailspin" on 15 January 2023.

Personal life

Westwick shared an apartment with his Gossip Girl co-star Chace Crawford in the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan from the beginning of the series in 2007 until July 2009, when Crawford moved out.

Ed is dating long term girlfriend actress Amy Jackson

Westwick supports the football club Chelsea F.C.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Children of Men Alex
Breaking and Entering Zoran
2007 Son of Rambow Lawrence Carter
2008 100 Feet Joey
2009 S. Darko Randy Holt
2010 The Commuter Bellboy in Lift Short film
2011 Chalet Girl Jonny Madsen
J. Edgar Agent Smith
2013 Romeo & Juliet Tybalt
2014 Last Flight Charles Gillis
2015 Bone in the Throat Will Reeves
Freaks of Nature Milan Pinache
2016 Billionaire Ransom Billy Speck
2017 The Crash Ben Collins
2020 Enemy Lines Major Kaminiski
2021 Me You Madness Tyler Jones
2022 Wolves of War Jack Wallace
2023 Deep Fear Jackson

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2006 Doctors Holden Edwards Episode: "Young Mothers Do Have 'Em"
Casualty Johnny Cullin Episode: "Family Matters"
Afterlife Darren Episode: "Roadside Bouquets"
2007–2012 Gossip Girl Charles "Chuck" Bass Main character; 117 episodes
2009 Californication Chris "Balt" Smith Episode: "The Land of ... and Honey"
2015 Wicked City Kent Grainger 8 episodes
2017 Family Guy Football Player / Wedding Officiant (voice) Episode: "The Finer Strings"
Snatch Sonny Castillo 4 episodes
2017–2019 White Gold Vincent Swan 12 episodes

Music videos

Year Title Role Artist
2018 "Give Me Your Hand" Himself Shannon K

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
2008 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Breakout Star – Male Gossip Girl Nominated
Choice TV – Villain Won
2009 Won
Young Hollywood Awards Young Hollywood Breakthrough – Male Won
Breakthrough Performance – Male Himself Won
2010 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV – Villain Gossip Girl Nominated
2011 Nominated
2012 Choice TV Actor – Drama Nominated

See also

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