Finn Cole

British actor Finn Cole rose to fame playing two very similar characters on television: as the youngest member and accountant for a British gang in the BBC series "Peaky Blinders" (BBC Two, 2013- ), and as the grandson of a notorious California criminal in the American drama "Animal Kingdom" (TNT, 2016- ). Born November 9, 1995 in the English town of Kingston, he was the fourth of five brothers born to a ship builder, and initially intended to take up his father's profession. But he also enjoyed acting at his school, which provided him with both an outlet and some much-needed individual attention - something lacking in his crowded household - and with the encouragement of a teacher, Cole joined the National Youth Theatre in his late teens. He landed his first professional audition with the help of his brother, Joe, who played a member of a World War I-era British crime family on the series "Peaky Blinders." Cole auditioned for the role of Michael Gray, the youngest cousin and newest member of the gang, joined the cast in its second season. While working on the acclaimed series, Cole also landed supporting roles in two British made-for-television features: as the son of a family under suspicion in a BBC One adaptation of J.B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" (2015), and in the first episode of the ninth and final season for the long-running detective series "Inspector Lewis" (ITV/STV/UTV, 2006-2015). The following year, he made his American television debut in "Animal Kingdom" an adaptation of the 2010 Australian film of the same name about a crime family overseen by its flinty matriarch (played in the U.S. series by Ellen Barkin). Cole played her grandson, J, who, like Michael Gray, is introduced into a chaotic household of thieves and dangerous types.