Scot Williams

Scot Williams is an actor, writer and director.

He made his big screen debut as Pete Best, in Iain Softley’s 1994 Beatles Biog movie BACKBEAT.

The following year he made his professional stage debut to rave reviews in the Jonathan Harvey play Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club, which toured the UK with the English Touring Theatre before transferring to The West End’s Donmar Warehouse and Criterion Theatres.

In 1996 he played the pivotal role of Joe Glover in the multi award winning television docu-drama Hillsborough. Written by Jimmy McGovern and directed by the Emmy award winning Charles McDougall, Hillsborough won the 1997 Best Single drama BAFTA.

That same year he starred in the TV series Springhill. Conceived by Paul Abbott and Frank Cottrell Boyce and written by Russell T. Davis.

Between 1998-2002, Scot appeared as a regular in two seasons of the Police Drama Liverpool One for ITV, as well as in Merseybeat and Nice Guy Eddie, both for the BBC. He starred alongside Keeley Hawes in Murder In Mind for the BBC and appeared in the Feature Film Swing, alongside Rita Tushingham, Tom Bell and Lisa Stansfield. He also reprised his role of Pete Best in the drama In His Life - The John Lennon Story, for NBC.

In 2003 Scot starred in a trilogy of films written and directed by the iconic film maker Peter Greenaway, entitled The Tulse Luper Suitcases. The first of which (The Moab Story), was nominated for the coveted Palme D’or at Cannes.

The following year he played the lead role of ‘Patrick Donovan’, alongside Rutger Hauer and Malcolm McDowell in an adaptation of the Planeta Prize winning novel La Tempesta. He also starred with Jesse Bradford, Sienna Guillory and Steven Berkoff in the thriller Perfect Life.

2007 saw Scot star as Catholic Priest Father Melia, in Heidi Thomas' period drama Lilies for the BBC, as well as the regular role of Tom Tyrell in the Channel 4 drama series Capewrath, alongside Tom Hardy, Felicity Jones and David Morrissey. (Capewrath aired in the U.S. on the Showtime network as Meadowlands). 

In 2008, Scot starred in Clubbed, an adaptation of The Sunday Times Best Seller ‘Watch My Back’ by the BAFTA winning writer Geoff Thompson and also in The Crew, the adaptation of Kevin Sampson’s best selling novel Outlaws, in which he played the lead role of Ged Brennan alongside Stephen Graham.

2009 saw him play the role of Irish ex-priest ‘Sheamy O’Brien’ in Maeve Murphy’s Beyond The Fire, of which he was also an associate producer. The film won ‘Best Film’ at the 2009 London Independent Film Awards and at The Garden State Film Festival in New Jersey. That same year he appeared in the film Dead Man Running, alongside Brenda Blethin, Danny Dyer and 50 Cent.

In 2011 Scot starred as ex con ‘Johnny’ in David Hughes’ Hard Boiled Sweets, a crime thriller co-starring Ian Hart, Paul Freeman and Peter Wight. Released by Universal Pictures in 2012. That same year he guested in Vexed alongside Toby Stephens 

In 2014 he starred in the Action Comedy ‘Redirected’ alongside Vinnie Jones. A UK-Lithuanian co-production, it became the biggest grossing film in Lithuanian history. That same year he also starred alongside Kelly Brook in the award winning Romantic Comedy Taking Stock.

In 2015/16 Scot starred in the horror Film K-Shop and as the father of a Transgender girl in the multi award winning film Just Charlie, which won the audience award at The Edinburgh International Film festival.

In 2020 Scot guested in the iconic television series Coronation Street, in it’s 60th anniversary year and in 2022 he featured in the Action Thriller MEMORY, alongside Liam Neeson, Monica Bellucci and Guy Pearce for director Martin Campbell (Goldeneye / Casino Royale). 

In 2023 Scot starred in the thrilling x8 part SkyOriginal drama UNWANTED, about the African people trafficking / small boats crisis. Written by Stefano Bises (Gomorrah) and directed by the Oscar nominated Oliver Hirschbeigel (Downfall).

In September 2024, Scot directed the World stage premiere of TWO OF US to critical acclaim. Written by Barry Sloane, Richard Short and Mark Stanfield and based on the screenplay by Mark Stanfield, TWO OF US premiered at The Watford Palace Theatre, before a transfer to HOME Manchester. 

As a writer he has notched up several plays for stage and screen, receiving one or two award nominations along the way. They are:-

Growing Young (1991), The Herd Of Brutes (1992), Get Another Lover Mother (1993), The Plastic Daft (1994), Level Minus 99 (1995), The Guilty Guessed (1996), Huggermugger (1997), Twenty Seven (2005) Brennan (2011) and Hope (2012).

A Bard Day’s Night (2012) is his comedy stage musical co-written with Backbeat co-star Chris O’Neill.

Scot has completed his first two novels, THE GHOST WRITER and ACCEPTANCE, as well as a book of poetry LES POÈMES and a YA Illustrated Novella called A BARD DAYS NIGHT, based on the book of his stage musical of the same name (co-written with Chris O’Neill). He is currently working on his third novel.