Dillane was born in London, England. He spent part of his childhood in Brixton, before moving to East Sussex, where he grew up in a creative environment. His mother, Naomi Wirthner, is British and Afro-Jamaican. Wirthner manages a theatre company called The Barebones Project. His father, Stephen Dillane, is an actor who has starred in numerous movies and TV series, and was awarded a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor on Television in 2009. Dillane made his film debut at his side as an extra in Welcome to Sarajevo when he was six. He became more widely known when he portrayed Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After passing his A-level examinations, Dillane was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated in 2013, with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting. In spite of the school rules specifying that actors are not permitted to accept professional acting work for the duration of the course, Dillane was allowed to play James Papadopoulos in the independent movie Papadopoulos & Sons, since it was filmed during summer holidays in 2011. After Dillane was cast, his father decided to rearrange his own filming schedule to play Harry Papadopoulos at his side. Stephen Dillane declared it was rare to have the opportunity "to work with your children after they left home".
Acting career
Since graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Dillane has participated in several projects. In July 2013, he played in Candida at Theatre Royal, Bath, directed by Simon Godwin. Also in 2013, Dillane portrayed Owen Coffin in In the Heart of the Sea. This adventure-drama film directed by Ron Howard is based on Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction book of the same name, about the sinking of the American whaling shipEssex in 1820, an event that inspired the novel Moby-Dick. In 2014, Dillane filmed the role of Keyes in Viena and the Fantomes directed by Gerardo Naranjo, in which he starred alongside Dakota Fanning Dillane appeared as Shugs in the Netflix 2015 series Sense8, directed by The Wachowskis. Dillane was also been cast in an adaptation of Peter Goldsworthy's best-selling novel Maestro, to be directed by Catherine Jarvis. Dillane is described by the production company Bow Street Films as having an "amazing talent and screen presence". Dillane portrayed Nick Clark in the horror drama seriesFear the Walking Dead, from its debut in 2015 until the fourth season. He has appeared alongside Beanie Feldstein and Alfie Allen in How to Build a Girl, directed by Coky Giedroyc.
