Joseph Matthew Alwyn (born 21 February 1991) is an English actor. Alwyn made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and has since played roles in films such as The Favourite (2018), Boy Erased (2018), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), and Harriet (2019). In 2022, he starred in the Hulu drama series Conversations with Friends and the period comedy film Catherine Called Birdy.
Joseph Matthew Alwyn was born on 21 February 1991 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Raised in North London, Alwyn is the son of a psychotherapist mother and a documentary filmmaker father. He is the great-grandson of composer William Alwyn.
Alwyn was privately educated at the City of London School. He briefly took guitar lessons, and was part of a school band called Anger Management. He later played football and rugby at school. Although an "introverted" child, Alwyn pursued a desire to become an actor. He auditioned for a small role in Love Actually, a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film, but did not get the role. He became a member of the National Youth Theatre in his late teens. While pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English literature and drama at the University of Bristol, he acted in two student productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He graduated in 2012. After applying for four drama schools, he was accepted by the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, where he completed a BA in acting. During the third year of the course, Alwyn signed with an agent who had come across Alwyn at a student showcase. Soon after, the agent informed Alwyn that a production company was looking to cast the title character of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), which would become Alwyn's debut in a feature film.
In 2019, Alwyn played a slave owner in Harriet, a biographical drama about Harriet Tubman. He appeared as Bob Cratchit in the dark fantasy television miniseries A Christmas Carol, based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella of the same name. In 2021, he had a minor role in drama film The Souvenir Part II, and played a 1960s industrialist in the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes' 2008 romantic novel, The Last Letter from Your Lover.
At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021, "Exile" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, while Folklore won the Album of the Year, marking Alwyn's first Grammy win. Credited as Bowery, Alwyn also co-wrote "Champagne Problems", "Coney Island" and the title track on Swift's second 2020 album, Evermore. In April 2022, Alwyn revealed to The Wall Street Journal that the name "William Bowery" was derived from the first name of his great grandfather William Alwyn, who was a music composer, and the last name in honour of the New York City neighbourhood Bowery, where he had spent "a lot of time" when he first arrived in the U.S. On Swift's tenth studio album, Midnights (2022), he is credited as co-writer of "Sweet Nothing", again as Bowery.
In 2022, Alwyn starred in the drama series Conversations with Friends—a Hulu adaptation of the 2017 novel of the same name by Irish author Sally Rooney. Alwyn's performance was met with mixed reviews; Variety critic Caroline Framke wrote that Alwyn lacked personality and chemistry with his co-stars. Alwyn was paired with Margaret Qualley in the romantic thriller film Stars at Noon, directed by French filmmaker Claire Denis, and played the titular character's uncle in Catherine Called Birdy, a medieval comedy film directed by Lena Dunham, based on the 1994 children's novel of the same name; both the films were met with generally positive reviews, with the former premiering at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and winning the Grand Prix.
In early 2015, Alwyn was cast in the lead role of Taiwanese director Ang Lee's 2016 war drama film, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, which is a film adaptation of the 2012 novel of the same name by American writer Ben Fountain. Lee stated that he selected Alwyn because of his "ability to communicate the book's paradox of war with just his facial expressions". Alwyn came to the United States for the first time after passing the film's auditions. He stated that he didn't "exactly fit" the casting requirements of the role, which were "a 19-year-old U.S. Army grunt"; Alwyn said he had long blond hair and was "a lot skinnier" when he auditioned. In reviews of the film, critics praised Alwyn's performance for its naturalism. Journalists went on to describe the film as his "breakout". He then played a supporting role in the 2017 mystery drama film The Sense of an Ending, directed by Indian filmmaker Ritesh Batra.