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Alexander Ferns (born 13 October 1968) is a Scottish actor and television personality. His role inEastEnders asTrevor Morgan from 2000 to 2002 was described as "Britain's most-hatedsoap villain". He also played the role of Rick Harper in theBBC Scotland soap operaRiver City between 2017 and 2018. For his performance as coal miner Andrei Glukhov in the 2019 miniseriesChernobyl he received aBAFTA Scotland Award.

Alex Ferns is the oldest of three children of his family, who left Scotland forSouth Africa, when Ferns was eleven years old.^[1] The family took up residence inSecunda, where Ferns' father worked as an electrician during the construction of a power plant.^[1] After he finished school, he joined theSouth African Defence Force and fought inAngola between 1987 and 1989.^[1] Afterward he studied drama at theUniversity of Cape Town.^[2] In the mid 1990s, he moved back to the United Kingdom and started his career in acting.

Ferns made an appearance inThe Ghost and the Darkness (1996) before various television roles, includingTrevor Morgan in the BBC soap operaEastEnders from 2000 to 2002, for which he won theBritish Soap Award for Best Newcomer.^[3] In 2005, Ferns played Lieutenant Gordon in the highly acclaimedtrilingual filmJoyeux Noël, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at theOscars,Golden Globe Awards and theBAFTAs.

In 2003, Ferns appeared asDraco Malfoy in aHarry Potter sketch forComic Relief. In 2004, he played Commander Martin Brooke, the lead role, in the short-livedITV seriesMaking Waves. In the same year he appeared inMan Dancin', aFestival Film & TV production, which won a number of awards on the festival circuit, including Outstanding Original Screenplay at theSacramento Film Festival. He has also appeared onCoronation Street.^{[citation needed]} He has also appeared in the 2006 filmShadow Man, as Schmitt, also starringSteven Seagal.

His theatrical work includes the role of the "tapeworm" (a hallucination) inI.D., a play aboutDimitri Tsafendas and his assassination of South African Prime MinisterHendrik Verwoerd, the 2008 national tour ofAgatha Christie's murder mysteryAnd Then There Were None, andLittle Shop of Horrors as the Dentist. In 2011, he took the role of Scottish gangster Jimmy Boyle in the play about his life,The Hardman, during a Scottish tour to positive reviews.^[4]

He also made a brief appearance in aSmirnoff Vodka advert in 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Ferns took part in television seriesCelebrity Coach Trip, partnered with friendRicky Groves.^[5] He starred as Luther in the 2011 London revival and subsequent UK tour ofSouth Pacific.

In 2013, he starred as Lee inTrue West at Glasgow'sCitizen's Theatre. In 2014, he starred in24: Live Another Day. In 2016, Ferns starred in ITV'sVera series 6 episode 4 ("The Sea Glass") as Michael Quinn. He also appeared in the BBC'sWallander series 4 episode 1 ("The White Lioness") as Axel Hedeman.

He portrayed the leader of Tula coal miners Andrei Glukhov in theHBO 2019miniseriesChernobyl. For this performance, he received aBAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television.^[6]

Ferns appeared inNetflix'sThe Irregulars (2021) as Vic Collins. He portrayed Gotham Police Commissioner Pete Savage in the superhero filmThe Batman (2022). Also in 2022, he appeared in theDisney+ seriesAndor as Sergeant Linus Mosk.

In 2024, Ferns appeared as Aaron Moy in the BBC One thriller seriesNightsleeper.^[7][8]

• Alex Ferns atIMDb

• 1968 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Scottish male actors
• 20th-century South African male actors
• 21st-century Scottish male actors
• 21st-century South African male actors
• British Soap Award for Best Newcomer winners
• People from Lennoxtown
• Scottish Buddhists
• Scottish male film actors
• Scottish male soap opera actors
• Scottish male television actors
• Scottish television personalities
• South African Buddhists
• South African male film actors
• South African male soap opera actors
• South African male television actors
• South African people of Scottish descent
• South African television personalities
• University of Cape Town alumni
• Male actors from East Dunbartonshire
• South African actors
• South African male actors

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