Layton Williams

Early life, acting background and education

Williams was born in Bury, Greater Manchester, to a white mother and a father of Jamaican descent. He grew up on the Dicky Bird Estate. His paternal grandparents are from Jamaica and his father was born in the UK. He has several siblings and half-siblings.

Williams went to London at age 11 to pursue an acting career. After several months of training at the Billy Elliot Academy in Leeds, Williams debuted in Billy Elliot the Musical on 26 February 2007 in London's West End. His training was documented on The Paul O'Grady Show in which he appeared in on 25 May 2007 and then in several morning TV shows, TV interviews, and short clips related to the musical. He is the second person of colour, the other being Matthew Koon, and the first mixed heritage performer to star in the show. He gave his final performance in the musical on 29 November 2008 while still being the second-longest running performer as 'Billy' in the show's history. On 31 January 2009, two months after his final performance, Layton appeared on the programme Feelgood Factor on ITV, where he and two other 'Billy' actors, Tanner Pflueger and Tom Holland, performed a specially choreographed version of Angry Dance from Billy Elliot the Musical.

Williams took street dance and drama lessons at Carol Godby's Theatre workshop in Bury and ballet lessons at Centre Pointe, Manchester. Williams was awarded a scholarship to Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London and stayed there until 2008. He attended Broad Oak High School in his home town Bury and then the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. During his time at Italia Conti, Williams featured in a children's documentary School for Stars which was broadcast on the children's television channel CBBC.

Career

He was offered the part as Young Michael Jackson in the West End musical Thriller – Live where he did a few performances before he outgrew the role. Williams became well known to a TV audience as the character Kylie – acting, dancing and singing in the 2008 to 2009 BBC Two comedy Beautiful People, series 1 and 2. From 2012 to 2014, he played Stephen Carmichael in the BBC comedy Bad Education and also appeared in the 2015 spinoff film. Williams returned to the show for the 2022 reunion special and became the co-lead of the show's fourth series alongside Charlie Wernham.

Williams went on tour with Matthew Bourne's show The Car Man. Following that he performed the part of Duane in Hairspray the Musical 2015–2016 tour. He announced that he would also be in the new 20th anniversary cast of Rent which toured the UK from October 2016.

In August 2023, Williams was announced as a contestant on the twenty-first series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin. They achieved not only their first perfect 40 score, but the first of the whole series in Musicals week, which they followed up with another one in the semi-finals, as well as two in the final. They finished as joint runners-up, alongside Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell, losing to winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola.

From 3 June to 21 September 2024, Williams played the Emcee in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre opposite Rhea Norwood as Sally Bowles.

Williams then originated the role of Iceberg in the West End premiere of Titanique at the Criterion Theatre in December 2024, which earned him a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for his performance.

Other ventures

Williams is a strong supporter of the charities Stonewall and Ditch the Label.

Personal life

Williams is gay and has spoken about coming to terms with his sexuality while working on Billy Elliot in London.

While on Who Do You Think You Are in May 2025, he found that his great-great-grandfather, Lance Corporal William Downing, served in the Army Remount Service in WW1 and WW2 and was part of the BEF during the Dunkirk evacuation. After returning to the UK, William Downing ended up in Bury working at a PoW camp there, which is how William's family came to Bury. Williams also found out that his five-times great-grandfather Edward Downing was in financial trouble and was even sent to the Queen's Bench Prison.

Williams also discovered on his paternal side, that his three-times great-grandfather, Alexander Denton, was born in 1825 in Jamaica as a slave. He had a twin sister called Peggy. They would have been about nine years old when slavery was abolished in 1834. Williams also discovered that his four-times great-grandmother, Jessy Denton, came to Jamaica sometime before 1807 on one of the slave ships from Africa.

Acting credits

Film and television

Theatre

Workshops

Awards

References

References

1. (2017). "Cast". Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Ltd for RENT 20th Anniversary Production Ltd.
2. "Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 22: 4. Layton Williams". BBC.
3. (26 February 2007). "Photo Flash: Layton Williams Debuts as Billy Elliot". Broadwayworld.com.
4. "Billy Elliot Description – Roles in Billy Elliot (contracts of the cast)". Londonmusicals Online.
5. (2 October 2008). "Press Office – Beautiful People Press Pack". BBC.
6. Teeman, Tim. (3 October 2008). "Beautiful People; Ian Hislop Goes Off the Rails; Natural Born Sellers". [[The Times]].
7. Eyre, Hermione. (8 October 2008). "Jamie's Ministry of Food, Channel 4; Beautiful People, BBC2; Ian Hislop Goes Off The Rails, BBC4". [[The Independent]].
8. (14 August 2021). "Everybody's Talking About Jamie reveals initial cast for north American premiere".
9. Hogan, Michael. (16 December 2023). "Strictly Come Dancing: the final – as it happened". The Guardian.
10. (7 May 2024). "Cabaret to star Layton Williams and Heartstopper's Rhea Norwood in the West End".
11. (8 October 2024). "Titanique announces West End cast including Layton Williams, Lauren Drew, Jordan Luke Gage & Charlotte Wakefield {{!}} West End Theatre".
12. Wiegand, Chris. (6 April 2025). "Olivier awards 2025: Giant, Benjamin Button and Fiddler on the Roof triumph". The Guardian.
13. (10 June 2015). "Interview with Layton Williams". London Theatre 1.
14. Bond, Nick. (12 July 2015). "''Bad Education'' star Layton Williams on coming out and playing gay". [[Attitude (magazine).
15. (5 July 2013). "Education for All Conference 2013: Youth Programme". [[Stonewall (charity).
16. (25 July 2013). "Layton Williams gives a keynote address at Stonewall's 2013 Education for All conference". [[Stonewall (charity).
17. (11 May 2023). "The UK's first ever gay dating show, I Kissed a Boy, is coming to the BBC".
18. (28 October 2019). "Who won at the 2019 Black British Theatre Awards?".
19. (22 May 2023). "The Black British Theatre Awards 2020 Winners".
20. (22 May 2023). "25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards Winners in Full".
21. Wiegand, Chris. (4 March 2025). "Fiddler on the Roof up for 13 Olivier awards and Romola Garai nominated twice in same category". The Guardian.