MAN OF THE MOMENT

Too Much star Will Sharpe on reinventing himself as a sex symbol in Lena Dunham's edgy show

- GILL PRINGLE

When he started out in comedy, Will Sharpe would probably have laughed at the notion that he would be recast as a sex symbol in his thirties.

Yet that's how life has turned out for the actor, who is also a talented writer and director. He recently appeared in a remake of the erotic thriller Emmanuelle and starred in The White Lotus as a tech bro.

Now, Will is appearing in Lena Dunham's rom-com series Too Much, in which he becomes sexually entangled with characters played by Jennifer Saunders, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Megan Stalter.

The star was born in Camden, north London, and moved to Tokyo as a toddler with his Japanese mother. He felt like a fish out of water when he returned to the UK seven years later, and that early experience of being an outsider has influenced his work, making him one of the most watchable actors of his generation.

While studying classics at the University of Cambridge, he led the acclaimed Footlights troupe, later training with the Royal Shakespeare Company before setting his sights on comedy.

FINDING LOVE AT WORK