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Celebrated actor Will Sharpe is taking the lead in a must-watch new Sky drama, so what do we know about his life away from the screen?

British actor Will Sharpe stars alongside Paul Bettany in one of Sky’s biggest new shows of the year, Amadeus.

A brand new, star-studded interpretation of the classic Peter Shaffer play, this sumptuous five-part drama reimagines the fierce rivalry of two iconic composers; Antonio Salieri (played by Bettany) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Sharpe).

Created by Joe Barton, the series is set to catapult the star to even loftier levels of fame after already landing acclaimed roles in The White Lotus, A Real Pain and Too Much.

But, did you know the actor, writer and creator already won himself a BAFTA nomination over a decade ago and is married to an equally familiar name from the world of streaming TV?

Let’s take a look at what we know about Will Sharpe’s life and career so far.

Early Life

Will Sharpe is half-Japanese on his mother’s side and, despite being born in London, was raised in Tokyo until he was eight. The family then settled in Surrey.

After schooling at Winchester College, he went on to study classics at the University of Cambridge and became the president of the Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe.

However, his first attempts at a showbiz career didn’t go as planned. Upon graduating, Sharpe moved to London and began performing at open-mic comedy nights in Whitechapel.

Speaking to GQ, he recalled: “The thing that I’d sometimes do was see how long I could act as if I wasn’t sure about the performing space, like moving chairs around and adjusting the mic, before it stopped being funny for them. And then seeing if I could do it for so long it became funny again.”

Unfortunately, he was eventually approached by a comedy agent who admitted she couldn’t represent him because it was unclear if he was actually performing comedy. He opted for a different approach instead, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company for its 2008-2009 season.

Career Success

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Sharpe’s talents to be recognised as his 2011 film Black Pond, co-directed by Stath Lets Flats and Ghosts’ Tom Kingsley, was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. They had previously worked together on the 2009 short film, Cockroach.

A few years later, Sharpe received more awards recognition for his Channel 4 comedy-drama series Flowers, starring Olivia Colman, Julian Barratt, Daniel Rigby and Sophia Di Martino, as well as himself. This won Sharpe his first BAFTA, for best scripted comedy.

A few years later, he won his first acting BAFTA for his critically acclaimed turn in Amadeus writer Barton’s hit crime drama Giri/Haji. He went on to have similar success in Hollywood for his Emmy-nominated turn in The White Lotus season two. Sharpe also directed the biopic film The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular troubled artist.

Mental Health Struggles

Many of Sharpe’s projects tackle mental health issues and the actor/director has drawn from his own experiences to bring those personal stories to life.

Following the release of the second season of Flowers in 2018, the creator revealed he had been diagnosed with type two bipolar disorder.

Writing in a blog for the mental health charity mind, he shared his wish for the series was for “the audience to get a sense of how helpless you can feel in the face of mental illness, of how relentless and confusing it can be, and how painful it is to love somebody who is suffering.

“Because, for me, the only way to feel truly hopeful is to look at that stuff head on and still feel like there’s a way through.”

He added: “My experience of mental illness is that it can sell you an overpoweringly compelling – and fictional – narrative about your life, to which it can eventually start to feel like there is only one possible conclusion.

“The final episode of the second series of Flowers, I hope, challenges that and offers, if you like, a break in the narrative.”

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Famous Spouse

Sharpe is married to his Flowers co-star Sophia Di Martino, with whom he has had a relationship since 2009. The pair met while filming Casualty, in which they were both main cast members. They have two children born in 2019 and 2021.

The actress is perhaps best known for portraying Sylvie, an alternate female version of Tom Hiddleston’s iconic Marvel villain Loki, in the Disney+ superhero drama based on the fan-favourite character.

She has also appeared in Sharpe’s The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and reunited with him again in an episode of Netflix’s Too Much. Di Martino will also star in her husband’s upcoming Apple TV series Prodigies, alongside Ayo Edebiri.

Amadeus is available on Sky and streaming service NOW.

Sam Teesdale jetted off to Malta for a winter break, staying at the AX Odycy hotel. He went to check out the island’s reputation at great for catching the winter rays

The small island country of Malta, found between Italy and North Africa, has long been regarded as one of the best places to get away for some winter sun.

With affordable flights, a flight time of around three hours, and close ties to Britain, it’s no wonder that it’s ranked number one on easyJet’s top winter getaways for 2025. But, there are, of course, wins and trade-offs with winter holidays.

Yes, the crowds on a winter getaway are a fraction of what they are in the high-season, but then again, so are the temperatures. It’s a mixed bag. Which is why I set off to stay at the all-inclusive AX Odycy hotel, to see whether a winter getaway was worth the hassle and cash.

The weather

With December looming on the horizon, the weather was understandably up and down. There were rainbows, downpours, thunderstorms, sea winds of 50mph and also, some moments of glorious sunshine.

So, while it was most definitely a climatological smorgasbord, Malta was undoubtedly warmer than Blighty. As is always the case with holidays, the final day, which was spent in the airport, saw completely clear skies and a lovely temperature of 20 degrees. Such is life.

Sunbathing

Sunbathing is indeed possible in the late November Malta sun, weather permitting, but whether you’ll see the all-important tan lines appear is a different question. Temperatures reached a cool high of 17 degrees, but, coupled with some fairly relentless winds and sporadic rain bursts, it made for some of the less balmy sun-worshipping experiences I’ve had in my life.

However, it is most definitely warmer and more enjoyable than braving the UK’s measly end-of-November highs of five degrees. So, yes, sunbathing is possible. You will just have to wrap up warm.

Swimming in (unheated) hotel pools

For this, I will have to assign a 1/10 on the enjoyment scale. Although the AX Odycy was blessed to have a lovely heated indoor pool, this was not the case for the numerous rooftop pools. It’s humbling when the brut served at breakfast is warmer than the outdoor pool water. I naively thought that as a hardy Lincolnshire-native, I could firm a quick dip in 15-degree water. So I put my nervous system’s cold shock response to good use, and after some undignified guttural breathing, I decided that swimming was not on the agenda in winter.

Hot tubs

The hot tubs at AX were brilliant, with no notes to report. After a while, it does essentially feel like you’re sitting in a big bowl of human soup, but still, anything is a blessing after the Arctic plunge of the non-heated pools. Opportunities were scarce to have the jacuzzi to yourself, with fellow Brits understandably hogging the coveted warmth of the hot tubs.

Sitting at the ‘beach’

‘Beach’ may be a bit of a misnomer as the beaches near the hotel consisted mainly of jagged limestone. The water was not much warmer than the rooftop pools, so yes, while you can sit at the beach, it most certainly won’t live up to the Euro-summer images you probably had in mind.

Visiting tourist sites

Now, this is an often-overlooked but important factor in winter getaways. I had the distinct sense both in the hotel and out and about that the crowds were a fraction of the size normally seen in high season. My visit to Disney film-set-turned-living-museum, Popeye Village was a similar experience, and I was able to roam unabated by the throngs of tourists one normally encounters on a typical high-season holiday.

Dining

Dining both in and outside of the resort was notably different from a summer holiday. Although I had never visited before, AX Odycy had a quieter atmosphere and dining was similarly subdued.

The hotel was not empty by any stretch, and it still enjoyed a good number of guests, but there were no notable instances of queues and lots of room and time to dine leisurely without the constant barging and overstimulation normally expected at an all-inclusive.

Prices

Finally, the prices. As it was low season and during term time, the prices were incredibly good value. Popeye Village cost just £13 to spend all day there, with minigolf and popcorn included, while AX Odycy’s stunning Junior Suite, complete with private wraparound balcony, came in at £750 per person.

The holiday offered great bang for my buck, so it’s no wonder Malta has become such a popular destination for Brits looking to warm their cockles over the winter months.

Book it

Lastminute.com offers convenient, great-value package deals. Its January Sale starts at the end of December. A six-night stay for two adults in the 4* AX ODYCY in Qawra, Malta from 12 to 18 January costs from £199 per person, with flights from Manchester included.