# Louis Landau
**Louis Landau** (full name Matthew Louis Landau) is an English actor from Bristol, known on television for his roles in the Disney+ series *Rivals* (2024–) and the [Amazon Prime](https://www.edgepedia.org/amazon-prime) series *[Butterfly](https://www.edgepedia.org/butterfly-2025-tv-series)* (2025)[9](https://tvtime.trakt.tv/people/louis-landau). Born in 2005[1](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/6576618/), he trained at the [Guildhall School of Music and Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/guildhall-school-of-music-and-drama) and has worked steadily in British and international television since his debut in 2022.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / origin | Matthew Louis Landau, from Bristol, England; born 2005[1](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/6576618/) |
| Training | Guildhall School of Music and Drama, acting, 2017–2020[2](https://profile.tagmin.com/is602e4g839379mq16uxps4794vo4768k9d47) |
| Leading role | Oliver Barnes in the Amazon Prime spy thriller *Butterfly* (2025), filmed over six months in South Korea[3](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/) |
| Upcoming | Stu Sutcliffe in *Hamburg Days* and Billy Cavendish in Netflix's *Kennedy*; Christopher Timothy in Danny Boyle's film *Ink* (2026)[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11620060/) |
## Training and early work
Landau graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2020[9](https://tvtime.trakt.tv/people/louis-landau). His [Guildhall](https://www.edgepedia.org/guildhall) productions included [Puck](https://www.edgepedia.org/puck-a-midsummer-nights-dream) in *A Midsummer Night's Dream*, Oedipus in *Oedipus*, Trofimov in *The Cherry Orchard*, and Casimir/Henry Forester in *Red Velvet*; he also wrote and directed the piece *Delicious Scabs*[5](https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/drama/final-year-actors/final-year-actors-2019-20/louis-landau). While training he co-founded the Splint theater company, ran Wind Up Penguin workshops in Syrian refugee camps, and was a finalist in the Josephine Hart Poetry Prize 2019[5](https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/drama/final-year-actors/final-year-actors-2019-20/louis-landau). In a later interview he described the Bristol devising scene of his youth, where "if you can get a group of fun people together, you can make something interesting," as a corrective he returns to when the London industry feels boxed in[6](https://contentmode.com/louis-landau/).
## Television and film career
**Debut roles, 2022–2024.** IMDb dates *[Surprised by Oxford](https://www.edgepedia.org/surprised-by-oxford)* to 2023[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11620060/).
**Rivals.** Also in 2024, Landau began playing Archie Baddingham in the Disney+ adaptation of [Jilly Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/jilly-cooper)'s *Rivals*[9](https://tvtime.trakt.tv/people/louis-landau). Archie is the son of [David Tennant](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-tennant)'s media mogul Tony Baddingham; in the first season the character existed in his own peaceful bubble outside his father's rivalries, and his role expands in the second season with more tension and a deeper look at the family's legacy[7](https://thestardustmag.com/interviews/louis-landau). Season two was filmed in Bristol[3](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/).
**Butterfly.** Landau stars as Oliver Barnes in Amazon's *Butterfly*, an adaptation of the graphic novel by Arash Amel. The show centers on David Jung, a onetime US intelligence operative portrayed by [Daniel Dae Kim](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-dae-kim), who is living in South Korea until an encounter with Rebecca, his estranged daughter and a lethal assassin, throws his life into turmoil. Oliver is the son of David's archnemesis Juno, a cold CEO played by [Piper Perabo](https://www.edgepedia.org/piper-perabo) who runs the spy organization Cadiss[3](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/). Landau described Oliver as a tragic figure full of doubts, "collateral in a world that he just should never have been involved in in the first place," and said he drew on his own secondary-school feeling of being out of place[3](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/). He spent six months filming in Korea, in Seoul and Busan, and noted the structured social hierarchy of a Korean set as the main difference from filming *Rivals* in Britain[3](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/) • [6](https://contentmode.com/louis-landau/). He tried for weeks to obtain the source graphic novel before filming and found it out of print; his character is not in it, and the series takes substantial liberties with the original story[7](https://thestardustmag.com/interviews/louis-landau).
**Voice and other work.** In 2025 he voiced Trent Ferran in the Netflix animated series *Wolf King* and played Simon Ashby in a [BBC Radio 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-4) adaptation of *Brat Farrar*[2](https://profile.tagmin.com/is602e4g839379mq16uxps4794vo4768k9d47).
## Stage work
Landau made his professional stage debut in the world premiere of Charlotte Jones' *Redlands* at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2024, playing [Nigel Havers](https://www.edgepedia.org/nigel-havers) in the lead[2](https://profile.tagmin.com/is602e4g839379mq16uxps4794vo4768k9d47).
## Upcoming projects
Landau is set to portray [Stuart Sutcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuart-sutcliffe), the Beatles' original bassist, in *Hamburg Days*, a six-part drama series about the band's formative years in Hamburg created by showrunner Christian Schwochow, shooting in the German port city[8](https://www.presseportal.de/pm/151427/6301697). He is also filming the recurring role of Billy Cavendish in the Netflix miniseries *Kennedy*, directed by [Thomas Vinterberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-vinterberg) and [Thomas Schlamme](https://www.edgepedia.org/thomas-schlamme), and plays Christopher Timothy in *Ink*, a 2026 film directed by Danny Boyle for StudioCanal[2](https://profile.tagmin.com/is602e4g839379mq16uxps4794vo4768k9d47) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11620060/).
## References
1. [Луис Ландау (Louis Landau), Kinopoisk](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/6576618/)
2. [Louis Landau, Spotlight profile via TAG](https://profile.tagmin.com/is602e4g839379mq16uxps4794vo4768k9d47)
3. [Louis Landau, 1883 Magazine (15 August 2025)](https://1883magazine.com/louis-landau/)
4. [Louis Landau, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11620060/)
5. [Louis Landau, Final-year Actors 2019-20, Guildhall School of Music & Drama](https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/drama/final-year-actors/final-year-actors-2019-20/louis-landau)
6. [Louis Landau, ContentMode](https://contentmode.com/louis-landau/)
7. [Family, Espionage, and Expectations: Louis Landau Breaks Down His Role in Butterfly, Stardust Magazine](https://thestardustmag.com/interviews/louis-landau)
8. [Dreharbeiten zu „HAMBURG DAYS" gehen weiter, Presseportal / Wiedemann & Berg (25 June 2026)](https://www.presseportal.de/pm/151427/6301697)
9. [Louis Landau - Trakt Time, tvtime.trakt.tv](https://tvtime.trakt.tv/people/louis-landau)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames L to Mb*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license