Callum Scott Howells

Callum Scott Howells (born 29 April 1999) is a Welsh actor and singer. He is best known for portraying Colin Morris-Jones on the Channel 4 drama It's a Sin (2021).

Howells was born in Pontypridd to parents Alison and Keith and grew up nearby in Tonyrefail and Porth.^[1] His grandfather, Bryn Howells, was a life member of the Treorchy Male Choir.^[2]

Callum attended Treorchy Comprehensive School, where he was Head Boy. He took classes with Rhondda Stage School, Superstars in the Making in Barry, and was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre.^[3] He was scouted by an agent when he was 16 and went on to train at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, graduating in 2020.^[4][5]

Howells made his debut in a regional production of Oliver!^[6] He was a founding member of the boys' choir Only Boys Aloud, performing with them on series 6 of Britain's Got Talent in 2012 and later for Prince Harry and Meghan in 2018.^[7] He has since become a youth ambassador.^{[8][non-primary source needed]}

He appeared in series 2 of the CBBC reality documentary series Show Me What You're Made Of. He was 13 at the time.^[9] He later returned as a guest presenter. He worked as a Royal Correspondent on the CBBC series Blue Peter.^[10]

Howells won the 2013 Star of the Stage talent show. In 2014 he played Godfrey in Matthew Bourne's New Adventures production of Lord of the Flies at the Wales Millennium Centre.^[11] He performed with Treorchy Male Choir in 2015, Pendyrus Male Choir in 2017, and Dunvant Male Choir in 2018.^[3][12]

When he was 17 Howells auditioned for the singing competition Let It Shine with the song "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton.^[13] He was part of Group 4 and made it to the final 25. However, he pulled out to make time to play Arpad Laszlo in the West End production of She Loves Me at Menier Chocolate Factory.^[14][15]

In May 2016 he played the lead role in Blackout, a production in the nationwide "Connections" programme of the National Theatre. The first public review of his acting was headed "Actor to Watch" and read "Callum Scott Howells delivers a performance of ferocious impact."^[16]

In March 2019 he appeared at the Other Room Theatre in Cardiff in CRAVE by Sarah Kane.^[17]

In October 2019 it was announced Howells would star in Russell T Davies' miniseries It's a Sin as Colin Morris-Jones. The character is loosely based on a real-life past boyfriend of Davies.^[18] The series premiered in January 2021 on Channel 4 and February on HBO Max. For his performance, Howells was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor.

From 3 October 2022, Howells played The Emcee in the West End production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre. On New Year's Eve 2022 he appeared in a vignette from the show on BBC 1's The Graham Norton Show.^[19]

Howells had been cast to play in Gary Owen's play Romeo and Julie for the Royal National Theatre in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the co-production with the Sherman Theatre was postponed and instead opened at the Dorfman Theatre in February 2023.^[20][21] The Times described Howell in the Romeo role as: "an entertaining, unsentimental, smartly judged performance."^[22]

In May 2023 it was announced that Howells had been cast as the Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson in a biographical film Relax,^[23] and in Michael Sheen's series The Way for BBC One.^[24]

In May 2024, it was announced that he had been cast in the lead role in Madfabulous, a biopic movie based on the life of the flamboyant British aristocrat Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey.^[25]

Howells identifies as queer.^[26][4] In 2021, he voiced his support for Welsh independence,^[27] but in 2023 clarified his position, saying "I'm more in the curious category than being absolutely for it." He was critical of the Westminster government and its relationship with Wales, but acknowledged that independence was "really far away from happening".^[28]

• Callum Scott Howells at IMDb