Brian Vernel
Biography
Brian Vernel is a Scottish actor born on 29 December 1990 in Glasgow, Scotland. He attended St Mungo's Academy in Gallowgate and completed a one‑year general arts foundation course at Glasgow University before training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Vernel is known for portraying Bala‑Tik in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a role in which his character spoke with a Glaswegian accent. He also appeared as Odda the Younger in the television series The Last Kingdom (2015) and as Billy Wallace in the British gangster series Gangs of London, beginning in 2020. His credited work totals seventeen roles.
Career overview
Brian Vernel is a Scottish actor born on 29 December 1990 in Glasgow, Scotland. He grew up in Glasgow and attended St Mungo’s Academy in Gallowgate before completing a one‑year general arts foundation course at Glasgow University. He then trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, formerly known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Vernel’s screen career includes a supporting role as the alien mechanic Bala‑Tik in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in which his character spoke with a Glaswegian accent. The same year he appeared as Odda the Younger in the television series The Last Kingdom. More recently, he has been cast as Billy Wallace in the British gangster series Gangs of London, a role he has played from 2020 onward. According to his TMDB profile, Vernel has accumulated seventeen credited appearances across film and television.
Throughout his work, Vernel has been recognised for his contributions to both cinematic franchises and period television dramas, establishing a presence in contemporary British and international productions. His training at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and early education in Glasgow have informed a career that blends regional authenticity with roles in high‑profile projects.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- The Odyssey (2026) as Irus
- Shardlake (2024) as Brother Mortimus
- Kill (2024) as John
- Shardlake (2024) as Prior Mortimus
- Slow Horses (2022) as Curly
- Gangs of London (2020) as Billy Wallace
- An English Tale (2019) as Callum
- Dunkirk (2017) as Highlander 1
- Papillon (2017) as Guittou
- The Last Kingdom (2015) as Odda the Younger
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) as Bala-Tik
- The Casual Vacancy (2015) as Stuart 'Fats' Wall
- Grantchester (2014) as Tam
- Let Us Prey (2014) as Caesar Sargison
- Offender (2012) as Genghis
- The Field of Blood (2011) as Darren Naismith
- Doctor Who (2005) as Lucius