Who Is Tom Sturridge of Netflix's 'The Sandman'?

What to know about the actor starring in the new Netflix series based on the iconic Neil Gaiman comic book

When news broke that Neil Gaiman's The Sandman was finally getting a screen adaptation, fans of the iconic DC comics were cautiously thrilled. Beloved for its imaginative blend mythology, history and horror, it was groundbreaking for its storytelling and artwork—the surreal covers by Dave McKean alone were worth the price of the graphic novels. It would go on to win numerous Eisner Awards and was even listed on The New York Times bestseller list.

The Sandman centres around Morpheus, the King of Dream, one of seven Endless siblings that include Desire, Destiny, Despair, Delirium, Destruction and, of course, Death. Landing the lead role in the Netflix series, which was executive produced by Gaiman and also stars Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer Morningstar, is British actor Tom Sturridge. If the name is unfamiliar, it won't be for long as he has been earning praise—you could almost hear the sighs of relief from hardcore fans of the Gaiman classic—for his portrayal of the alabaster-skinned lord of dreams.

Let's find out more about 36-year-old thespian Sturridge.

Above Tom Sturridge as Morpheus in 'The Sandman' (Photo: Netflix)

He was a child actor

Born to showbiz parents in London on December 21, 1985, he attended The Harrodian School where Robert Pattinson and Will Poulter were also students. His first screen appearance was on TV's Gulliver's Travels in 1996.

He is an accomplished theatre actor

Although he appeared in a couple of notable movies, Vanity Fair and Being Julia, and worked on numerous TV shows, his best work so far are in theatre. In 2009, he was awarded Most Promising Newcomer by Critics' Circle Theatre Award. His first Tony nomination was for Orphans in 2013 for Best Actor in a Play. In 2020, he was nominated again in the same category for Sea Wall/A Life that also starred Jake Gyllenhaal. He was also nominated a Laurence OIivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2016.

He was engaged to Sienna Miller

Above Tom Sturridge, Alexa Chung, Oli Green and Sienna Miller at Wimbledon 2022 in London (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Sturridge started dating the Anatomy of a Scandal actress Sienna Miller in 2011. They had daughter Marlowe in 2012 and was even engaged to each other before splitting up in 2015. Sturridge is currently dating model Alexa Chung. Sturridge and Miller, however, are ex-couple goal, having remained friendly with each other as evident in their get-together with their current partners at Wimbledon 2022 (pic above).

The audition for 'The Sandman' took almost a year

Above The Dreaming realm in 'The Sandman' (Photo: Netflix)

Sturridge beat out more than 1,500 actors to land the coveted lead role in The Sandman but the audition process was long and arduous. "It began in January/February 2020 and ended in August 2020," said Sturridge in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "It's entirely necessary as the character is utterly beloved by me more than anyone. It requires you to spend time with a human being to discover whether they can live up to any small dream you have of who he is."

But Gaiman was convinced Sturridge was perfect to play Morpheus when he first saw Sturridge. "Tom was in the first 10 auditions, and we looked at the first 10 and we went, 'Oh, it's Tom. It's great'." That feeling never went away despite having gone through thousands more candidates from around the world.

On the first day on the set, Gaiman had one piece of good advice for Sturridge: "I growled at him once and said stop being Batman because he was trying to be a bit whispery."

He can also be seen now in 'Irma Vep'

In Olivier Assayas's HBO mini-series adaptation of his 1996 film, Alicia Vikander plays American actress Mira who goes to Paris to work on a television series based on a French silent film. Sturridge plays Eamonn, the ex-boyfriend of Mira.

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The Sandman Netflix Tom Sturridge neil Gaiman