# Thomas Doherty (actor)
**Thomas Doherty** is a Scottish actor and singer, born in Edinburgh in 1995, known for the [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) musical series *The Lodge*, the role of Harry Hook in the *Descendants* television films, and the pansexual playboy Max Wolfe in the [HBO Max](https://www.edgepedia.org/hbo-max) *Gossip Girl* reboot. He trained at Edinburgh's MGA Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2015, and landed his first starring role within six months of leaving school.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, in 1995[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty) |
| Training | MGA Academy of Performing Arts, Edinburgh; graduated 2015[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) |
| Breakthrough | First starring role in Disney Channel's *The Lodge*, six months after graduating[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) |
| Signature Disney role | Harry Hook, son of Captain Hook, in *Descendants 2* (2017) and *Descendants 3* (2019)[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D695935.html) |
| Best-known adult role | Max Wolfe in the HBO Max *Gossip Girl* reboot, 2021–2022[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/) |
| Highest-rated film | *Descendants 2* at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes; lowest is *The Invitation* at 32%[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty) |
| Stage debut | Seymour in the Off-Broadway revival of *Little Shop of Horrors* (2025)[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Thomas-Doherty/) |
## Early life and training
Doherty grew up in Edinburgh, the son of two bankers.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D695935.html) As a child he was hyperactive enough that his mother sent him to an after-school acting class "to give her an hour's rest". At twelve, after seeing [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-dicaprio) in *Titanic*, he decided he could act too; he continued acting classes and dance lessons but kept both secret from his football-playing friends.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article)
He trained at Edinburgh's MGA Academy of Performing Arts and graduated in 2015.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) • [3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D695935.html) Before acting became a career he worked a series of ordinary jobs, including hotel housekeeping, washing cars, and a stint at a [TJ Maxx](https://www.edgepedia.org/tj-maxx); he has said that when he started at Disney at age 20 it was his first job and "a means of exposure".[6](https://i-d.co/article/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-interview/)
## Disney years
Six months after graduating, Doherty landed his first starring role in *The Lodge*, a musical series for Disney Channel; he had never previously stepped onto a set and called the experience an amazing learning one.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) The collaboration with Disney continued with the television films *Descendants 2* (2017) and *Descendants 3* (2019), in which he played Harry Hook, son of [Captain Hook](https://www.edgepedia.org/captain-hook), and he sang on the films' soundtracks.[3](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D695935.html) *Descendants 2* remains his highest-rated screen credit on Rotten Tomatoes, at 83 percent with critics and 72 percent with audiences.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty)
## Transition roles
After what Screen International described as his Disney "apprenticeship", Doherty took a string of roles that moved him away from family programming. He played Peter Zavadovsky, a lover of [Helen Mirren](https://www.edgepedia.org/helen-mirren)'s Russian empress, in HBO's *Catherine the Great* (2019), and appeared as Sebastian in *Legacies* the same year.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article) • [7](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/695935/filmo/) He then moved to New York to play Liam Shawcross, a musician, in Hulu's *High Fidelity* (2020) opposite [Zoë Kravitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoe-kravitz), a role he credits with loosening him up as an actor, and he settled in Brooklyn.[1](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article)
His first full film villain came in *The Invitation* (2022), a Gothic horror in which he played Walter, the wealthy head of a centuries-old vampire family who seduces [Nathalie Emmanuel](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathalie-emmanuel)'s character. Doherty said the role was kismet: "I always get told I look like a vampire as well."[8](https://www.glamour.com/story/thomas-doherty-the-invitation-interview) Critics were cooler on the film than on his earlier work; it registered 32 percent with critics and 59 percent with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest-rated title in his filmography there.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty)
## Gossip Girl and Max Wolfe
In the *Gossip Girl* reboot on HBO Max (2021–2022), Doherty played Max Wolfe, a hedonistic pansexual prep-schooler who spends the second season in a polyamorous relationship, or "throuple", with Aki (Evan Mock) and Audrey ([Emily Alyn Lind](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-alyn-lind)).[9](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a42151565/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-season-2-interview/) • [4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/) Reviewers repeatedly cast him as the reboot's answer to [Chuck Bass](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-bass) from the original series, a comparison he engaged with deliberately, saying he wanted Max to be "cheekier, more flirty, but not creepy" and lighter than his predecessor.[10](https://www.glamour.com/story/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl) • [9](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a42151565/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-season-2-interview/) Glamour called him a scene-stealer whose performance "steals every scene" of the series.[10](https://www.glamour.com/story/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl)
__Playing Max changed how he thought about sexuality.__ Doherty said that growing up in Scotland, where the categories felt like "straight and gay, and that's kind of it", the role of a pansexual character in New York made him question preconceived ideas formed in childhood, and he called the experience liberating.[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/) He has also spoken about the value of intimacy coordinators on set, particularly for the show's polyamory scenes, saying they "create a safe, comfortable set" and that actors must "trust the yeses".[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/)
HBO Max did not renew the series for a third season, announced a week before the season-two finale aired in January 2023.[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/)
## Later work
Doherty has named *Dandelion* (2024), an independent musical romance with [KiKi Layne](https://www.edgepedia.org/kiki-layne), as the pinnacle of his career to that point. For the role of Casey he learned guitar, grew a beard, and lost about 25 pounds, and the film was shot on film, which he had never done before.[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/) It earned 75 percent with critics and 80 percent with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty)
__Stage work followed.__ In 2025 he made his New York stage debut as Seymour in the long-running [Off-Broadway](https://www.edgepedia.org/off-broadway) revival of *Little Shop of Horrors* opposite [Madeline Brewer](https://www.edgepedia.org/madeline-brewer), and said afterward that he could not wait to do theater again.[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Thomas-Doherty/) On television he joined the cast of Hulu's *Paradise* for its second season as Link, appearing in the 2026 season.[7](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/695935/filmo/)
His stated ambitions include musical theater, which he calls his first love, the role of George in [Stephen Sondheim](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-sondheim)'s *Sunday in the Park with George*, and playing [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond) or a Bond villain.[4](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/)
## References
1. [Mark Salisbury, "Stars of Tomorrow 2021: Thomas Doherty (actor)", Screen International, 4 October 2021](https://www.screendaily.com/features/stars-of-tomorrow-2021-thomas-doherty-actor/5163767.article)
2. [Thomas Doherty filmography and ratings, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/thomas_doherty)
3. [Thomas Doherty biography, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne%3D695935.html)
4. [Max Gao, "Thomas Doherty Has Hope for a Gossip Girl Reboot-Reboot", ELLE, 26 January 2023](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a42662467/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-finale-cancelation-interview/)
5. [Thomas Doherty stage credits and news, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Thomas-Doherty/)
6. [Lexi McMenamin, "Thomas Doherty isn't trying to be Chuck Bass", i-D, 23 December 2022](https://i-d.co/article/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-interview/)
7. [Filmografie von Thomas Doherty, FILMSTARTS.de](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/695935/filmo/)
8. [Tyler McCall, "Is Thomas Doherty the Most Charming Man in Hollywood?", Glamour, 25 August 2022](https://www.glamour.com/story/thomas-doherty-the-invitation-interview)
9. ["Thomas Doherty Just Wants to 'Make Cool Sh-t'", Harper's Bazaar, 2022](https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a42151565/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl-season-2-interview/)
10. [Anna Moeslein, "Thomas Doherty Doesn't See Himself as the Breakout Star of 'Gossip Girl.' He's Wrong.", Glamour, 8 July 2021](https://www.glamour.com/story/thomas-doherty-gossip-girl)
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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 › Scottish actors › Surnames A to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; 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