Keiynan Lonsdale

Keiynan Lonsdale
Lonsdale in 2012
Born (1991-12-19) December 19, 1991
Sydney, Australia
Nationality Australia
Occupation
Years active 2007–present

Keiynan Lonsdale (born December 19, 1991) is an Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. He is known for his television roles as dance student Oliver Lloyd on the ABC series Dance Academy (2012–2013) and Wally West / Kid Flash on The CW series The Flash (2015-2018) and Legends of Tomorrow (2017-2018); and for film roles in The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), The Finest Hours (2016), and Love, Simon (2018). He has also worked as an MTV VJ, and released original music recordings.

Early life

Lonsdale was born in Sydney, Australia, to a Nigerian father of the Edo people, and an Australian mother who is of Irish and Danish descent.[1][2] He is the youngest of six children on his mother's side, with three brothers and two sisters, and one of seven from his father's side; in total he has 11 siblings.[3]

Career

Lonsdale got his first acting job in 2007, with a bit dancing part in the film Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance. The following year, he appeared in an episode of the Australian television medical drama All Saints.

Lonsdale became a recurring member of the cast of the Australian teen drama series Dance Academy in the 2012 second season; his character Oliver Lloyd became a regular in the third and final season.

He was a VJ on MTV for two and a half years.[4] He released a single on iTunes titled "One and Only" in 2014. He then played a supporting role as Uriah Pedrad in The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015), the second film in the series.[5] He briefly reprised the role in The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016). In 2016, his single "Higher" was included on Connor Franta's curated album Common Culture, volume 5.[6] He next appeared in the historical drama The Finest Hours (2016) as Eldon Hanon, the youngest sailor involved in a rescue at sea.

In 2015, he auditioned for the role of Jefferson "Jax" Jackson—a recurring character introduced in the second season of the CW's The Flash—but this role was given to Franz Drameh.[7] Instead, Lonsdale was cast as Wally West, the previously unknown son of the hero's foster father, who became a regular supporting character as Kid Flash.[8] In 2017, his character left The Flash and debuted on Legends of Tomorrow.[9] That year, Lonsdale also appeared in an episode of Supergirl.[10]

In 2018, Lonsdale starred as Bram in the film Love, Simon, based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, by Becky Albertalli, about a teenage boy who struggles to come out; Lonsdale has said that the role helped him come to terms with his own sexuality.[11] Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics,[12] and was dubbed historically significant, as it is the first film ever released by a major studio to focus on a gay teenage romance.[13][14]

Lonsdale has also released musical recordings, including "Higher" in 2015 and "Good Life" in 2017 and “Kiss The Boy” in 2018 and "Preach" in 2018.

Personal life

Lonsdale came out as being attracted to people regardless of gender on social media in 2017. Although many news outlets initially reported that he was pansexual, Lonsdale prefers not to label his sexuality.[15][16]

Discography

Extended plays

Title Album details
Higher Vol. 1[17]

Music videos

Year Title Album Director
2015 "Higher" Higher Vol. 1 Elliot Knight
2017 "Good Life" N/A Paul de Lumen
2018 "Preach" N/A

Songs

Title Year Album
"Lay It on Me"

(with Kasbo)

 2017 Places We Don't Know
"Good Life" N/A
"Kiss the Boy" 2018
"Preach"

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance Miss Elizabeth's Dance Troupe
2015 The Divergent Series: Insurgent Uriah Pedrad
2016 The Finest Hours Eldon Hanon
2016 The Divergent Series: Allegiant Uriah Pedrad
2017 Dance Academy: The Movie Oliver Lloyd
2017 Like.Share.Follow. Garrett
2018 Love, Simon Bram Greenfeld
TBD Weetzie Bat Duck
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008 All Saints Corey Episode: "Sons and Lovers"
2012–13 Dance Academy Oliver Lloyd 26 episodes
2015–2018 The Flash Wally West / Kid Flash Series regular (Season 2–4)
2017–2018[9] Legends of Tomorrow Series Regular (Season 3);[18] Special Guest Star (2 episodes)
2017 Supergirl Episode: "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1"

Awards and Nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2018 MTV Movie & TV Awards Best Kiss (shared with Nick Robinson) Love, Simon Won [19]
2018 Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Ship (shared with Nick Robinson) Nominated [20]

References

  1. ↑ "Chatting with Keiynan Lonsdale, actor. I'm Uriah in INSURGENT. AMA! : IAmA". Reddit.com. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  2. ↑ Anderson, Tre'vell (March 20, 2018). "'Love, Simon's' Keiynan Lonsdale on playing Kid Flash and LGBTQ representation in Hollywood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Keiynan Lonsdale on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-04-10.
  4. ↑ "From MTV VJ to Insurgent star in nine months". NewsComAu. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  5. ↑ "Divergent Sequel Insurgent Casts Keiynan Lonsdale As Uriah". 20 June 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Instagram". Instagram. 2016-04-29. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  7. ↑ Garofalo, Alex. "'The Flash' Star Keiynan Lonsdale Previews Wally West Debut, Sibling Rivalry With Barry, And Reveals He Auditioned For Firestorm". Ibtimes.com. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  8. ↑ Goldman, Eric (5 August 2015). "The Flash: Wally West Cast for Season 2". IGN.com. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Keiynan Lonsdale Leaves The Flash for Legends of Tomorrow". TVGuide.com. 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  10. ↑ "Keiynan Lonsdale On 'Love, Simon' and the Joy of Leaving the Closet". 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  11. ↑ "'Love, Simon' Star Keiynan Lonsdale Talks Coming Out on Set". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  12. ↑ "Love, Simon (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  13. ↑ "'Love, Simon': Your first look at 2018's major studio gay teen romance". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  14. ↑ Lang, Brent (2018-03-09). "'Love, Simon' Stars Say Gay Teen Romance Will Save Lives". Variety. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  15. ↑ Rossi, Rosemary. "'Flash' Star Keiynan Lonsdale Comes Out as Bisexual in Candid Tweet". The Wrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "'Love, Simon' Breakout Keiynan Lonsdale Talks LGBTQ Representation in Hollywood & Kissing His Co-Star". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-06-30.
  17. ↑ Garofalo, Alex. "'The Flash' Star Keiynan Lonsdale On His Music Career: Record Labels Said 'I Was Too Black For Pop And Not Black Enough For This'". Ibtimes.com. Retrieved 2016-07-12.
  18. ↑ Dino-Ray Ramos (June 5, 2018). "Keiynan Lonsdale Not Returning As Series Regular On 'The Flash' Or 'Legends Of Tomorrow'". Deadline Hollywood.
  19. ↑ Schulman, Alissa (June 18, 2018). "2018 MTV Movie & TV Award Winners". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  20. ↑ Evans, Greg (June 22, 2018). "Teen Choice Awards: 'Black Panther', 'Solo', 'Riverdale' Lead Nominations – List". Deadline. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

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