Thomas Doherty (actor)

Thomas Doherty
Doherty in 2019
Born
Thomas Anthony Doherty

21 April 1995
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Education Royal High School, Edinburgh
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active 2013–present

Thomas Anthony Doherty (born 21 April 1995) is a Scottish actor and singer from Edinburgh. He played Sean Matthews on the Disney Channel musical series The Lodge, Harry Hook in the Descendants film franchise, Max Wolfe in the HBO Max reboot of Gossip Girl, and Walter De Ville in the film The Invitation.

Early life

Doherty was born in Edinburgh on 21 April 1995, and grew up in the city. He has an older brother and younger sister, and his parents were both in the banking business. He attended Royal High School in Edinburgh.

After high school, Doherty entered The MGA Academy of Performing Arts in Edinburgh, where he studied musical theatre. He graduated in July 2015 and signed a contract with Olivia Bell Management in London.

Career

After his 2015 graduation, Doherty waited tables in Edinburgh at Tigerlilly restaurant. On his days off, Doherty split his time between auditioning for Disney Channel's The Lodge and working with the Edinburgh Fringe. He was offered the role of Sean Matthews in The Lodge, and had to undergo intensive training in mountain biking to prepare for the role. The Lodge was filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He stated that he was able to play the character as a Scot, but he toned down his accent in order to better accommodate the viewers in all 108 countries that The Lodge aired in. In December 2016, The Lodge was renewed for a second series which began production in February 2017.

In 2016, Doherty auditioned for Descendants 2 and was cast as Harry Hook, the son of villain Captain James Hook from Peter Pan. Descendants 2 was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, in 2016 and aired on Disney Channel on 21 July 2017. He reprised his role as Harry Hook in the third installment of the Disney Channel franchise, Descendants 3 which premiered in 2019. In August 2017, Doherty was named one of the 50 fittest boys in the world by Vogue magazine.

From 2019 to 2020, he appeared in the CW series Legacies as Sebastian.

In 2021, Doherty began starring in the HBO Max teen drama Gossip Girl. The following year, he starred alongside Nathalie Emmanuel in the supernatural horror film The Invitation.

Personal life

From 2016 to 2020, Doherty was in a relationship with his Descendants 2 co-star Dove Cameron. Since 2021 he has been in a relationship with Yasmin Wijnaldum.

Doherty credits his experience in Gossip Girl as "educational" as it "challenged [his] own preconceived notions and indoctrination of 'this is who you love, this is what you do, everything else is wrong.'" In an interview with Variety, Doherty declared that, while he has only been in heterosexual relationships, he has always seen sexuality as a spectrum and does not believe in labels.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Lord of the Dance Neil Tucker Short film
2018 High Strung: Free Dance Zander
2022 The Invitation Walter De Ville

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2013 Dracula Street Boy Episode: "Servant to Two Masters"
2016–2017 The Lodge Sean Matthews Main role
2017 Descendants 2 Harry Hook Television film
2018 Under the Sea: A Descendants Short Story Harry Hook Short film
2019 Catherine the Great Peter Zavadovsky 3 episodes
2019 Descendants 3 Harry Hook Television film
2019–2020 Legacies Sebastian 10 episodes
2020 High Fidelity Liam Shawcross 3 episodes
2021–2023 Gossip Girl Maximus "Max" Wolfe Main role

Audio

Year Title Role Notes
2022 The Inventor's Apprentice Horatio Godkin Main role