Robert Emms (born Robert James MacPherson; 20 May 1986) is a British film, stage and television actor, known for portraying Pythagoras in the BBC One fantasy-adventure series Atlantis, Supervisor Lonni Jung in the Star Wars series Andor, and Leonid Toptunov in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl.
Early life Emms was born in Horley, Surrey, England. He went to a local secondary school, Oakwood School, Horley. He studied at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology from 2002 to 2004, and then the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) from 2004 to 2007.
Career In March 2009, Emms played the lead role of Albert in the National Theatre's production of War Horse. After Steven Spielberg saw him in War Horse at the New London Theatre, he was cast as David Lyons in Spielberg's film adaptation of the play.
In June 2011, Screen International named him as a 'Star of Tomorrow'.
His other film work includes Kick-Ass 2 alongside Jim Carrey, and Rick 'Broken' Buckley in Broken directed by Rufus Norris for BBC films. He appeared as the Elizabethan playwright Thomas Dekker in Anonymous directed by Roland Emmerich, in Tarsem Singh's version of the Brothers Grimm's Snow White, Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts, and in the BAFTA-nominated film The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard. More recently he has portrayed Vitas Gerulaitis in the film Borg vs McEnroe directed by Janus Metz Pederson (alongside Shia LaBeouf).
Emms' notable television appearances include Happy Valley by Sally Wainwright, The Street by Jimmy McGovern, and Scott & Bailey. In 2015, Emms played the part of Smitty, the artistic grandson of Petunia Howe, in the three-part BBC series Capital based on John Lanchester's novel of the same name. He portrayed John Gerard in the 2017 BBC series Gunpowder alongside Kit Harington and Liv Tyler. He also played Pythagoras in the series Atlantis for the BBC.
Emms played Jack in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and the third season of Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2021).
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2010 The Arbor Young David 2011 War Horse David Lyons 2011 Anonymous Thomas Dekker 2012 Broken Rick Buckley 2012 Mirror, Mirror Charles Renbock 2013 Kick-Ass 2 Insect Man 2013 The Selfish Giant Phil 2017 Borg/McEnroe Vitas Gerulaitis 2017 Apostasy Steven 2018 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Tech Merc (Jack) 2022 This Is Christmas Paul 2023 Starve Acre Steven 2025 The Choral Robert Horner 2025 Bad Apples Josh 2027 Klein Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes 2008 Shangri-La Horatio 1 episode 2008 Waking the Dead Steo 1 episode 2008 The Wrong Door Colin/Smee 2 episodes 2009 The Street Calum Miller 1 episode 2009 Monday Monday Tom 1 episode 2011 Scott & Bailey Luke Farrell 1 episode 2013–2015 Atlantis Pythagoras Main role, 25 episodes 2015 Capital Smitty Miniseries, 3 episodes 2016 The Living and the Dead Peter 1 episode 2016 Happy Valley Daryl Garrs Main role, 4 episodes (Series 2) 2017 Gunpowder Father John Gerard Recurring role, 3 episodes 2019 Cleaning Up Glynn Main role 2019 Chernobyl Leonid Toptunov Miniseries, 5 episodes 2019 His Dark Materials Thomas 6 episodes 2021 Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Tech Merc (Jack) (voice) Season 3, 1 episode 2021 War of the Worlds Micah2 episodes 2022Four Lives Ricky Miniseries, 3 episodes 2022–2025 Andor Supervisor Lonni Jung 10 episodes 2023 The Reckoning Ray Teret Miniseries, 3 episodes 2024 KaosAnatole 3 episodes 2024 SherwoodSamuel Warner6 episodes
Theatre Year Title Role Director Company 2007 The Six-Days World Tom Jamie Harper Finborough Theatre 2008 The Glee Club Colin Roger Haines Library Theatre, Manchester 2008 Shangri-La Horatio Mark Ravenhill Roundhouse 2009–10 War Horse Albert Narracott Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris National Theatre at New London Theatre 2009 Billy Narracott 2019–20 Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer Bobby Fischer Annabelle Comyn Hampstead Theatre 2023–24 The Homecoming Teddy Matthew Dunster Young Vic
References
External links
Emms' page at Curtis Brown