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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Michael Ward? A ward-robe star.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Micheal Ward
Ward at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Born (1997-11-18) November 18, 1997 (age 28)[1]
Spanish Town, Jamaica
Citizenship
  • Jamaica
  • United Kingdom
Occupations
  • Actor
  • model
Years active2016–present
AwardsBritish Academy Film Award (2020)

Micheal Ward (born 18 November 1997) is a British actor and model.[2][3][1] He was awarded the 2020 BAFTA Rising Star Award.[4][5] He acted in the Sam Mendes drama Empire of Light (2022) for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.[6] He has also acted in the films Blue Story (2018), The Old Guard (2020), and Eddington (2025).[7]

On television, Ward acted in the BBC teen thriller series The A List (2018) and the Netflix crime drama series Top Boy (2019–2022).[8][9] He also acted in the BBC anthology film series Small Axe (2020) earning a nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.[10]

Early life

[edit]

Micheal Ward was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica[11] to then 18-year-old mother Keisha.[12][13] He has three sisters.[14] His father was killed in a car crash when Micheal was two years old.[15]

Ward then moved to Hackney, east London, with his mother and sister at the age of four, with the help of his aunt and uncle who ran a Caribbean restaurant in Chadwell Heath.[15] The family later moved to Romford.[16] He attended Chadwell Heath Academy and then studied performing arts at Epping Forest College after dropping out of sixth form.[8][17] He worked delivering food for his aunt’s restaurant as a teenager and then later worked at a bookmakers shop.[18][19]

Career

[edit]

2016–2018: Modelling and early roles

[edit]
Ward in 2019

Ward began his career while he was at college when he signed with the talent agency.[17] Through the agency, he landed roles in music videos for artists such as Lily Allen and Tom Walker.[20] At the age of seventeen, Ward won the Face of JD Sports modelling competition.[21] He has since modelled a number of brands and was handpicked by Virgil Abloh to model for Louis Vuitton's AW20 menswear campaign in August 2020.[22] Ward made his film debut in Brotherhood in 2016.[23] He starred in the first series of the teen thriller The A List on BBC iPlayer in 2018[24] and reprised his role for its second series on Netflix.

2019–2022: Top Boy and other work

[edit]

Ward's breakout year came in 2019, when he starred as Jamie in Netflix's revival and third series of Top Boy.[25] He also appeared in a leading role in the film Blue Story in the same year.[26] The film received critical acclaim, and Ward won the BAFTA Rising Star Award for his performance.[27] Ward appeared in Steve McQueen's Small Axe: Lovers Rock in 2020, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.[28][10]

Ward starred alongside Olivia Colman, Colin Firth and Tanya Moodie in Sam Mendes' 2022 film Empire of Light.[29][30] The film was released in the USA in December 2022, with the release in the UK in January 2023. In January 2023 it was announced that Ward was included on the longlist in the best supporting actor category for the 76th British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards.[31] In December 2022, he was cast in Jeymes Samuel's The Book of Clarence.[32]

2023–present

[edit]

He appeared alongside Bill Nighy in the 2024 film The Beautiful Game.[33] In 2025 he acted in the Ari Aster directed satirical western Eddington.[34]

Personal life

[edit]

Ward is an Arsenal fan.[35] He went to school with English professional footballer Rhian Brewster.[36] Ward was named in Forbes' 30 under 30 list in 2020.[37] Ward became a British citizen in 2015.[12]

Allegations and unanimous acquittal (2023–2026)

[edit]

On 25 July 2025, the Metropolitan Police announced that the Crown Prosecution Service had authorised charges against Ward following allegations initially made in January 2023. He was charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The offences were alleged to have been committed in January 2023 against one woman.[38][39]

The complainant alleged that there was blood on her leggings and underwear. However police forensic examination of all the relevant clothing found no trace of blood.[40][41][42] It was revealed that she had hidden phone messages from the police and that it was not until 18 months after her original police interview she admitted having deleted parts of her messages with Ward.[40][43][44][45][46]

Top Boy co-star Jasmine Jobson provided character evidence in support of Ward, describing him as being “lovely, polite, and outgoing” and “intelligent and hardworking, and popular”, she added that “The allegations are in stark contrast to the gentle and kind-hearted man I know.” and that she had never felt uncomfortable around him.[42][47]

On 10 July 2026, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, the jury unanimously found him not guilty of all 5 charges.[48][49]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2016 Brotherhood The Supporting Artists
2019 Blue Story Marco
2020 The Old Guard Lykon
Good Thanks, You? Lewis Short film
2022 Beauty Cain
Empire of Light Stephen
2023 The Book of Clarence Judas Iscariot
2024 Bob Marley: One Love The Shooter Uncredited
The Beautiful Game Vinny
2025 Eddington Michael

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2018, 2021 The A List Brendan Main role (series 1)
Guest role (series 2)
2019–2022 Top Boy Jamie Main role (series 3-4)
2020 Small Axe: Lovers Rock Franklyn Anthology series

Music videos

[edit]
Song Year Artist Notes
"Blessings" 2017 Tom Walker
"Trigger Bang" 2018 Lily Allen feat. Giggs
"Black" 2019 Dave

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Organisations Year Category Work Result Ref.
BAFTA Awards 2019 Rising Star Award Himself Won [50]
2021 Best Supporting Actor Small Axe Nominated [51]
2022 Best Actor in a Supporting Role Empire of Light Nominated [6]
National Film Awards UK 2020 Best Newcomer Blue Story Nominated [52]
Outstanding Performance Nominated
NME Awards 2020 Best Film Actor Won [53]
RTS Programme Awards 2020 Actor (Male) Top Boy Nominated [54]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Micheal Ward charged with rape and sexual assault by the Met Police". Metropolitan Police. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ Wolfson, Sam (17 November 2019). "Micheal Ward: 'Everywhere I go it's good vibes'". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. ↑ Leigh, Danny (16 March 2020). ""I Need to Be in This": Rising Star Micheal Ward on Starring in Steve McQueen's New Series". Vogue. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  4. ↑ "Baftas 2020: Micheal Ward accepts selfie challenge". BBC News.
  5. ↑ Mel Evans (2 February 2020). "Top Boy's Michael Ward fans over Al Pacino and Robert De Niro after Baftas win". Metro. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Baftas 2023: The nominees and winners in full". BBC News. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "The Old Guard 2 on Netflix: Release date, cast and everything you need to know". Digital Spy. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  8. 1 2 Alexi Duggins (21 November 2019). "Micheal Ward on gritty postcode war drama 'Blue Story': "We're not glorifying anything – we're just showing how it is"". NME. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  9. ↑ Alex Ritman (13 September 2020). "'Top Boy' Newcomer Micheal Ward on Landing the Top Role in the Drake-Revived Crime Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  10. 1 2 "BAFTA TV 2021: The Winners and Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards". www.bafta.org. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  11. ↑ Clemenson, Matthew. "Romford actor Micheal Ward nominated for Rising Star Bafta award after starring roles in Top Boy and Blue Story". Romford Recorder. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020.
  12. 1 2 Reel Talk with actor Michael Ward, retrieved 22 March 2022
  13. ↑ "Micheal Ward's mum reveals A-list supporters after tears at the Baftas". 3 February 2020.
  14. ↑ ""I Need to Be in This": Rising Star Micheal Ward on Starring in Steve McQueen's New Series". Vogue. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  15. 1 2 Dean, Jonathan. "Lovers Rock star Micheal Ward on how black culture is portrayed on screen". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  16. ↑ Jackson, Kevin (13 January 2020). "Rising Star". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  17. 1 2 Joseph, Chanté (14 March 2022). "Micheal Ward on returning to Top Boy and rubbing shoulders with Quentin Tarantino". British GQ. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  18. ↑ Burgum, Becky (29 January 2020). "Top Boy's Micheal Ward Opens Up About Texting Drake And Fangirling On Set". ELLE. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  19. ↑ ""I Need to Be in This": Rising Star Micheal Ward on Starring in Steve McQueen's New Series". Vogue. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Burgum, Becky (29 January 2020). "Top Boy's Micheal Ward Opens Up About Texting Drake And Fangirling On Set". ELLE. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  21. ↑ McRae, Phoebe (3 February 2020). "Micheal Ward Started His Career as a Model". POPSUGAR Celebrity UK. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "Michael Ward Looks Sharp in Louis Vuitton's FW20 Menswear Campaign". Wonderland. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  23. ↑ Bell, Delano George (20 June 2020). "Jamaican-Born Actor, Micheal Ward, Stars in Cannes-Selected Film "Lover's Rock"". Jamaicans.com. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  24. ↑ Sophie. "The Top 10 Actors and Characters of The A List (Ranked Cast in 2021) | Series with Sophie". serieswithsophie.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  25. ↑ "Top Boy's back: Kano, Ashley Walters and Micheal Ward spill the new series' secrets". Time Out Worldwide. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  26. ↑ Johnston, Kathleen (2 December 2019). "Inside the controversy around this year's most vital film, Blue Story". British GQ. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  27. ↑ Ritman, Alex (5 February 2020). "BAFTA Rising Star Winner Micheal Ward on the "Best Weekend" of His Life (and Waking Up in His Bow Tie)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  28. ↑ Adejobi, Alicia (22 November 2020). "Small Axe Lovers Rock: Micheal Ward on importance of Black love". Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  29. ↑ Kroll, Justin (27 July 2021). "Sam Mendes Sets 'Small Axe: Lovers Rock's Micheal Ward To Star Opposite Olivia Colman in Searchlight's 'Empire Of Light'". Deadline. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  30. ↑ Heath, Paul (14 November 2022). "Sam Mendes' film Empire of Light Gets a Full Trailer". The Hollywood News. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  31. ↑ "Longlists, 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards". BAFTA.org. 6 January 2023.
  32. ↑ Kit, Borys (5 December 2022). "Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, RJ Cyler, Anna Diop Join Jeymes Samuel's Book of Clarence (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  33. ↑ Grater, Tom (3 August 2021). "Micheal Ward & Bill Nighy Starring In Soccer Pic 'The Beautiful Game' For Netflix & Blueprint". Deadline. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  34. ↑ "Eddington". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  35. ↑ "Micheal Ward: 'Everywhere I go it's good vibes'". the Guardian. 17 November 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  36. ↑ "Head to Head: Micheal Ward x Rhian Brewster Interview | GAFFER". gaffer.online. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  37. ↑ "30 Under 30 Europe 2020: Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  38. ↑ Badshah, Nadeem (25 July 2025). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with rape and sexual assault". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  39. ↑ Youngs, Ian (25 July 2025). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward charged with rape. He will appear in court on 25th August 2025". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  40. 1 2 Place, Tom (10 July 2026). "Top Boy star Micheal Ward found not guilty of rape after London trial". The Standard. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  41. ↑ William, Helen (10 July 2026). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward cleared of rape". The Irish News. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  42. 1 2 Abdi, Sundus (10 July 2026). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward cleared of rape and sexual assault charges". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  43. ↑ Williams, Helen (10 July 2026). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward cleared of rape". The Independent. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  44. ↑ Hall, Sam (30 June 2026). "Top Boy star Micheal Ward told woman 'if I tell you to do it, you do it' as he raped her in car, court hears". The Standard. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  45. ↑ "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward was 'overpowering' as he raped woman in car, court told". Sky News. 10 July 2026. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  46. ↑ Telegraph Reporters (10 July 2026). "Top Boy actor cleared of raping woman in back of Mercedes". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  47. ↑ William, Helen (11 July 2026). "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward speaks of compassion after being cleared of rape". The Standard. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  48. ↑ Ntim, Zac (10 July 2026). "Micheal Ward Found Not Guilty Of Rape & Sexual Assault". Deadline. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  49. ↑ "Top Boy actor Micheal Ward not guilty of rape after sex with woman in car". BBC News. 10 July 2026. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
  50. ↑ "Micheal Ward- Winner's Acceptance Speech, EE Rising Star Award, EE British Academy Film Awards in 2020". www.bafta.org. 2 February 2020. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  51. ↑ "Television - 2020". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  52. ↑ Coleman, Lucy (January 2020). "National Film Academy reveals 2020 National Film Awards UK nominations". Chelsea Monthly. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  53. ↑ "'Blue Story' wins Best Film and Micheal Ward wins Best Film Actor at NME Awards 2020". NME. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  54. ↑ "Winners of the RTS Programme Awards 2020 announced". RTS. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
[edit]
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