| John Bell | |
| Birth Date: | 1997 10, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom[1] |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 2007–present |
John Hunter Bell (born 20 October 1997) is a Scottish actor. He has played Bain in two instalments of The Hobbit film series, "Young Ian" Murray in the Starz television series Outlander, Angus in Battleship, Helius in Wrath of the Titans and Toby Coleman in Tracy Beaker Returns.
Bell made his television debut as Creet in Doctor Who
In 2011 Bell appeared in BBC's made for TV movie Hattie as Robin Le Mesurier.[9] In July 2011 he was named, by the now defunct youth casting website Screenterrier, as one of the top 12 British rising stars.[10] The next year he portrayed Helius in the fantasy film Wrath of the Titans[11] and Angus in the science fiction war film Battleship.[12] He then appeared as Billy Bempsy in the History Channel's mini series Hatfields & McCoys. 2013 saw Bell portray Bain, son of Bard the Bowman, in Peter Jackson's epic adventure fantasy films .[13] He would revive the role in 2014's , the final instalment of Jackson's interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit.[14] Between the two films, he would portray Jamie Carr in a 2013 episode of ITV's long running series Midsomer Murders.[15] Bell also portrayed Niki in Evergreen Production's 2015 post WWII drama The Man in the Box, though the film has yet to be released.[16]
Bell portrays Ian Murray in Starz's time travel series Outlander. His character first appeared in episode six of season three entitled "A. Malcolm".[17] [18]
In early 2022 Bell headlined the revival of Obie winner David Drake's Off-Broadway one-man show The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me.[19] [20] The play, set amidst the AIDS epidemic in America, is set to run through February 2022 at London's New Wimbledon Theatre.[21]
Bell is gay. As a child actor, he worked alongside celebrated gay male actors, which helped him feel accepted in the industry.[22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Transit | Connor | Short film | |
| A Shine of Rainbows | Tomas | |||
| 2012 | Wrath of the Titans | |||
| Battleship | Angus | |||
| 2013 | Bain | |||
| 2014 | Tracks | Ed | Short film | |
| Bain | ||||
| 2015 | Billy the Kid | Billy | Short film | |
| The Man in the Box | Niki | In post production | ||
| 2017 | T2 Trainspotting | Young Spud |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Doctor Who | Creet | Episode: "Utopia" | |
| 2009–2010 | Life of Riley | Anthony Weaver | 7 episodes | |
| 2010–2011 | Tracy Beaker Returns | 25 episodes | ||
| 2011 | Hattie | Robin Le Mesurier | Television film | |
| 2012 | Hatfields & McCoys | Billy Dempsey | 3 episodes | |
| 2013 | Midsomer Murders | Jamie Carr | Episode: "The Sicilian Defence" | |
| 2017 | Into the Badlands | Gabriel | 5 episodes | |
| 2017–present | Outlander | Ian Murray | Series regular, 20 episodes |