Early life, family, educational background
English actor Otto Farrant was born on 13 November 1996 in Hammersmith, West London, England; Otto is a Scorpio. Nothing is known about his family or upbringing, except that he was raised in Tooting, South London where he attended Graveney School. He became interested in acting after watching the character Gavroche singing “Little People” in a performance of “Les Misérables.” While he was young, he participated in theater at Stagecoach Theater School in Battersea.
His most prominent role is as Alex Rider in the spy thriller series “Alex Rider,” which has been running on Amazon Prime since 2020.
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Career
When Otto was 11 years old, he performed in stage productions at Shakespeare’s Globe theater and the National Theater in London. Casting agents attended Otto’s school to audition children, and Otto was cast in the lead role of Robin in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” in 2008 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. ‘At school I was not academically that great at English, I was much better in maths and sciences, and I almost did a degree in physics and maths… However, I was always in the school plays. One day I was picked to do a play at the Globe, and off the back of that I got an agent, and from there it snowballed.’
Amazingly, Otto was still able to attend school while going to auditions, rehearsals and performances. He played Eteocles in “Oedipus” in 2008, Charlie in “The Habit of Art” the following year, Sam in “Little Platoons” in 2011 and the young collector in “A Streetcar Named Desire”’s revival, sharing the stage with American actress Gillian Anderson in 2014. Two years later he played a quirky German director, Rudolph Kammerling, in the satirical comedy production “Once in a Lifetime” at Young Vic Theatre.
His big screen debut was as Young Perseus in 2010’s action fantasy “Clash of the Titans”. The same year he appeared in his small screen debut as Archie Powell in an episode of the British crime drama “The Bill”, entitled “Who Dares Wins.”
He then guest-starred as Thomas Grey in five episodes of the BBC historical drama “The White Queen”, then played in another BBC historical drama – this time Russian based – as Petya Rostov in “War & Peace.” In 2011 he appeared in two films, as Joshua Maxwell in “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”, and in “The Great Ghost Rescue.” In 2018, Otto played Nigel Wilson in the BBC miniseries “Mrs Wilson”.
In 2017, Otto got together with fellow actor Finn Cooke to write and direct the film entitled “Spool”, consisting of text, dance, sound, imagery, body and mind. It has been described as an introspective analysis that symbolizes the co-dependency of body and mind as a relationship grows from happy, to sour on both sides.
In 2019, he was cast as the lead in the Amazon Prime Video television series “Alex Rider”, which is a series based on Anthony Horowitz’s book series of the same name, about a teenage boy who’s recruited by the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. He acts alongside Stephen Dillane as Alan Blunt, and Vicky McClure as Mrs Jones. After six months of filming, the series premiered on 4 June 2020 in the UK and Ireland; the second season was filmed during the first six months of 2021, and premiered that December.
Personal life
Otto spoke about the rarity of his name in an interview. ‘I’ve only met one other Otto. It’s not a common name. It’s my whole identity in a way. I hear a lot of dogs called Otto. So if I’m at the beach or in the park I’ll turn my head when I hear the call for Otto.’
Brenock O’Connor who plays George Sear in “Alex Rider” has become close friends with Otto. They hang out together on set, and during the months that filming is not taking place.
He is not open about any of his relationships, and his sexuality hasn’t been made public knowledge.
Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts
Unlike most people his age, Otto doesn’t have any social media accounts – none that are available to the public at least – but his fans have created multiple accounts dedicated to him.
In an interview with NME, he shared, ‘I wasn’t a big reader when I was a kid, but “Alex Rider” was one of the only series that I read… “Point Blanc” was the book that I always loved most, so when I found out that they were making that book into the series, it was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments.’
Otto loves doing action scenes and performing his own stunts. He told AssignmentX, ‘I did some Krav Maga, I did a lot of climbing… working with a personal trainer, running, cycling, swimming, general active stuff.’ He found it very exciting to not only get to do his own stunts, but also receive training.
His friends have said that he always has a positive attitude, no matter what is going on in his personal life or career. Above that, Otto really enjoys stepping out of his comfort zone to try new things. That is one of the many reasons he loves working on “Alex Rider,” as the fearless character forces him to try new things all of the time.
Otto’s favorites:
- Midnight Snack: mint tea
- Playwright: William Shakespeare and Anton Chekov
- Play/production: “‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore” by John Ford
- Place: south of the river in London
Appearance
Otto stands at 5ft 8ins, has dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.
He may play a teenager in “Alex Rider” while he is in his 20s, but Otto has thankfully maintained his young, boyish looks, making it easier for him to portray characters younger than him.
Aside from performing stunts, Otto enjoys staying active. One of his favorite forms of exercise is snowboarding; he is quite good at it and partakes in the activity whenever he can, but he didn’t perform the snowboard stunt in “Alex Rider.”
Net worth and salary
As of mid-2022, Otto’s net worth is estimated at close to $3 million, accumulated largely from his acting career stretching over 15 years.
