Brian Vernel
Scottish actor
Brian Vernel is a Scottish actor best known for his film role as Bala-Tik in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), as Odda the Younger in the TV series The Last Kingdom (2015), and Billy Wallace in British gangster series Gangs of London (2020-).
01Early life
A native of Glasgow, Vernel attended St Mungo's Academy in Gallowgate before training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama) after a one-year general arts foundation course at Glasgow University.
02Career
He played the role of Bala-Tik in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Vernel's character spoke in a Glaswegian accent.
Vernel played the main role of Billy Wallace, junkie brother of London drug cartel boss Sean Wallace, played by Joe Cole, and working alongside Michelle Fairley, who played his mother, in Gangs of London, between 2020-2022.
03Filmography
Movies
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Sound of Music - St Mungo’s Acdemy Adaptation | Captain Van Trapp |
| 2012 | Offender | Genghis |
| 2014 | Let Us Prey | Caesar Sargison |
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Bala-Tik |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Highlander 1 |
| 2017 | Papillon | Guittou |
| 2023 | Betrayal | John |
| 2026 | The Odyssey | Irus |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Field of Blood | Darren Naismith / Kevin McCorkhill | 3 Episodes |
| 2014 | Prey | Dale Lomax | 3 Episodes |
| 2014 | Grantchester | Tam | 3 Episodes |
| 2015 | The Casual Vacancy | Stuart 'Fats' Wall | Mini-series |
| 2015 | The Last Kingdom | Odda the Younger | 7 Episodes |
| 2016 | The Missing | Young Adam Gettrick | 1 Episode |
| 2017 | Doctor Who | Lucius | S10 Episode 10: "The Eaters of Light" |
| 2017 | The Tunnel | Anton Stokes | 5 Episodes |
| 2018 | Collateral | Mikey Gowans | 3 episodes |
| 2020-present | Gangs of London | Billy Wallace | 24 episodes |
| 2022 | Slow Horses | Curly | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | Shardlake | Brother Mortimus | 4 episodes |
04Stage
- The Seagull (2017) playing Konstantin at the Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)
- Barbarians (2015) playing Paul at the Young Vic
- Future Conditional (2015) at the Old Vic
- The Static (2012) playing Sparky at the Underbelly, Edinburgh - Nominated for Best Actor The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe
- Macbeth (2012) playing Macbeth at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Brian Vernel”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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