Gabriel Bisset-Smith

Biography

Gabriel Bisset-Smith is a BAFTA-nominated British writer, actor, director, and comedian from London, raised on a council estate with a mixed-race mother from Jamaica and a father from Manchester. He trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Royal Court, Young Vic, York Theatre Royal, and Lyric Hammersmith. He is best known for directing and co-creating the BBC's multi-platform murder mystery The Last Hours of Laura K, which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Digital Creativity, Best Visual Experience at SXSW, and a Gold and Audience Award at the Lovies. His debut short film Thrush won the 2010 Vimeo Best Narrative Award, and he was named a Dazed Visionary by Dazed & Confused magazine, which commissioned his award-winning film Toilets. His play The Charming Man was nominated for the Off West End Most Promising Playwright Award, and his latest play Whitewash (co-produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones's company Drywrite) opened to rave reviews and a sell-out run at the Soho Theatre. He was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow in 2018, and his satirical online sketches have amassed over a million views, earning a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award nomination. His filmography spans acting, writing, directing, and producing across film, television, and digital media. Notable acting credits include Reg Starter in Saltburn (2023), Dave Colombo in I Came By (2022, 70% on Rotten Tomatoes), Rex (voice) in Sprite Fright (2024), L in Beta Male (2021), and George in Thrush (2010, which he also wrote and directed). As a writer and director he created The Last Hours of Laura K (2014–2019), directed Smoke (starring Jodie Whittaker), and is developing a debut feature film co-written with Matilda Ibini for BBC Films, as well as the TV series The Temps (based on Andrew DeYoung's novel) with the Los Angeles Media Fund. On television he appeared in Skins (as a regular story contributor), The Athena (2019), and McDonald & Dodds (2020). His comedy double act Guilt & Shame with Robert Cawsey has played sold-out shows at the Soho Theatre, Underbelly, Bestival, and Latitude, and their podcast (with Vicky Jones) has featured guests including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jessie Cave, and Deborah Frances-White. His most recent credit is Hangman in Wuthering Heights (2026).