Kit Young

Christopher William Young is a British actor born in 1994. He gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Jesper Fahey in the Netflix fantasy drama series Shadow and Bone. Beyond his television work, Young has established a career across stage and feature films, earning recognition and honors for his performances in both mediums.

Young was born in Oxford to a Scottish father and a Ugandan mother, and he grew up in Abingdon-on-Thames. From 2008 to 2013, he attended Abingdon School, where he participated in the Abingdon Film Unit and played the lead in a 2012 school staging of Candide. He was also involved with the National Youth Theatre and took part in minor or ensemble projects, including the television movie Walter's War and Oxford Playhouse productions of Cinderella and Dick Whittington. He went on to formal acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting in 2017.

After graduating from RADA, Young played the title character in The Extraordinary Cabaret of Dorian Gray at the 2017 Underbelly Theatre Festival on the South Bank, and he toured the United Kingdom playing Billy in The Real Thing. In 2018, he secured several stage roles, playing Octavius in Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre, the Journalist in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Donmar Warehouse, and Malcolm in Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at the Globe Theatre. He made his screen debut in 2019 with a guest role in Endeavour and a part in Dylan Holmes Williams's short film The Devil's Harmony. That same year, he played Lysander alongside Gwendoline Christie in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre, earning an Ian Charleson Award nomination.

In October 2019, Young was cast as Jesper Fahey in the Netflix adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's fantasy novels, The Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology. His work on Shadow and Bone, which ran from 2021 to 2023 across two seasons before its cancellation, drew notable praise from several media outlets. In 2022, he starred in the horror movie The Origin, later retitled Out of Darkness, winning a Scottish BAFTA for his role. That same year, he also appeared in the Netflix film adaptation of The School for Good and Evil.

Young's career continued into 2025 with a starring role in the FX and FX on Hulu series Alien: Earth. During the same period, he returned to the stage as George Knightley opposite Amelia Kenworthy in Ava Pickett's adaptation of Emma at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. Additionally, his portrayal of Jack Absolute in The Rivals at the Orange Tree Theatre was highlighted by a reviewer for its physical presence and speed.