Who is Leo Woodall? Meet the One Day star behind Dexter Mayhew
Everything you need to know.
Fans are already devouring Netflix's mammoth adaptation of One Day, which is made up of 14 parts and is based on David Nicholls's book of the same name.
Like the book and the film before it, the series follows the unlikely love story between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, who meet on the night of their graduation from Edinburgh University and become an important fixture in one another's lives.
Emma is played by This Is Going to Hurt star Ambika Mod, while Leo Woodall has taken on the role of Dex. Woodall has only had a handful on screen roles so far, but regardless, this still isn't the first time he's made a big impression on screen.
But who is Woodall and where might viewers have seen him before? Read on for everything you need to know.
Who is Leo Woodall?
Leo Woodall is an actor known primarily for his television roles.
Before Netflix's One Day, Woodall was best known for playing Jack in the second season of HBO/Sky comedy-drama The White Lotus.
He made his entrance in the fourth episode and caused quite a stir.
Read more:
- One Day's Leo Woodall had to ditch the gym for role after White Lotus
- One Day's Leo Woodall on adapting book for Netflix: "We knew it was a mountain to climb"
How old is Leo Woodall?
Leo Woodall is 27 years old.
What nationality is Leo Woodall?
Leo Woodall is British and was born in Hammersmith, West London, England, into a "fairly posh middle-class" family (via The Guardian).
Woodall told Vulture: "I'm from West London, but there are definitely a lot of people I know from Essex [like his White Lotus character]. My stepsister's from Essex, so it was fun to lean into that."
What has Leo Woodall previously starred in?
In The White Lotus's acclaimed second season, Woodall starred as cheeky chappy Essex lad Jack, who was holidaying in Sicily, Italy, at the eponymous luxury resort with Tom Hollander's Quentin – a dynamic that delivered one of the season's most talked-about moments.
Discussing how his cheeky character Jack was first described to him, Woodall told GQ: "Do you remember that episode of Friends when Joey’s written a script for Chandler and Ross to read, and he writes ‘a handsome man enters’. It was kind of like that, it was like ‘Handsome Jack walks up to the pool. Portia looks at handsome Jack’.
"There was a tagline in the breakdown of the character that was like, ‘Guy from Essex, is a magnetic person who causes some trouble in the hotel’. I wish I could paraphrase it better than that."
Discussing his character's more intimate scenes, Woodall noted to Vulture: "The whole job was about mentally preparing to go into the best show in the world, so everything that came with it took some mental preparation. My first day of filming was actually that sexy scene with Haley. That was the introduction to this job. Quite rock and roll!"
Prior to his turn in The White Lotus, Woodall previously appeared in an episode of Holby City, before also starring in the Apple TV+ film Cherry and the Universal series The Vampire Academy as Adrian Ivashkov.
He also appeared in a couple of episodes of the Prime Video action series Citadel.
What has Leo Woodall said about One Day?
"We both knew it was a mountain to climb," Woodall told RadioTimes.com of adapting One Day into a TV series. "But it's such a beautiful story, and we both auditioned four or five times, so by the time we'd started filming, we were so immersed in it already. So it was a lovely new challenge."
He also said that he had to ditch the gym following The White Lotus for this particular role.
"I remember thinking towards the end of the process, because in The White Lotus I was going to the gym a lot and I was kind of hefty, and I remember thinking that Dex can't be a big gym guy," he explained.
"I thought that was maybe going to be my sort of moment of not getting it. But thankfully, I just sort of stopped going to the gym [laughs]."
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Woodall also revealed that he "struggled at the beginning of One Day".
"I was struck by how much pressure I felt being a lead," he said. "I didn't know if I should behave like the captain of a sports team. And I struggled with not having any kind of moment to myself, like you can't tie your own shoelace or spit your own gum out.
"There was one day when I noticed I was being followed by a paparazzi photographer and I thought, 'I don't know how people deal with this on a daily basis.' I want to be as successful as I can be as an actor, but I don't think it would be that fun to be categorically famous."
Is Leo Woodall on Instagram?
Yes – Woodall is on Instagram and is available at the handle @leowoodall.
At present, he has over 149K followers.
Is Leo Woodall on X (formerly known as Twitter)?
No - he's not currently on X.
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Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
Lewis Knight is the Trends Editor for Radio Times, covering trending titles from TV, Film and more. He previously worked at The Mirror in TV, Film, and Showbiz coverage alongside work on SEO. Alongside his past work in advertising, he possesses a BSc in Psychology and an MA in Film Studies.
