Michael Socha

Michael Robert Socha (born December 13, 1987) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the films This Is England and Summer, and the television series This Is England '86 and its sequels. He also appeared in Being Human, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and the second series of the BBC One drama Showtrial.

Early life and education Michael Robert Socha was born in 1987 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, to Kathleen Lyons ("Kath") and Robert Socha. He is the older brother of actress Lauren Socha, star of the Channel 4 comedy-drama Misfits.

Socha was brought up in Littleover, a suburb of Derby, though for his secondary education he attended St Benedict Catholic School in the Darley Abbey area of the city. Socha's motivation for auditioning was his anger at being denied a role in a school musical and his desire to prove his teachers wrong about his acting skills. He acted in several plays for the group, but did not take acting very seriously. He worked at two other factories after leaving school, as well as at a car wash. He also worked as a labourer for his uncle's bricklaying firm, mixing mortar for the bricklayers, but as he was constantly taking time off work at the last moment to attend auditions he quit working full-time and dedicated himself to acting. His next big break came when Shane Meadows asked him to reprise the role of Harvey the bully for a four-part television series for Channel 4.

Socha appeared in BBC Three hit supernatural series Being Human in 2011, receiving good critical notice as the innocent young werewolf Tom McNair. He won the role of Tom, a young werewolf who has been brought up in the wild by his father and taught to hunt vampires. During his time on Being Human, Socha says he became good friends with Russell Tovey and co-star Robson Green. Socha has admitted that he can get carried away while performing some of his more physically demanding scenes. On another occasion, acting out a werewolf transformation in a metal cage, he almost injured himself after his physical acting became too extreme. He has received at least seven minor injuries requiring medical treatment and reporting to authorities. He also appeared in the music video to the Jake Bugg song "Seen It All" and in the music video to the Lauren Pritchard song "Stuck".

In 2013, Socha portrayed the Knave of Hearts in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a spin-off to the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time. He also starred in Chris Coghill's film Spike Island, based upon The Stone Roses gig of the same name. After Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'''s cancellation, it was confirmed that Socha would be a main cast member in the fourth season of Once Upon a Time.

He also starred in the film Svengali in which he played a guitarist in a band and in the film Twenty8k in which he played a drug dealer.

2016 saw Socha take the lead in the E4 series The Aliens.

In 2017, Socha starred in Double Date''

Personal life Socha has a son with former partner Faye. They split sometime before 2016.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2006 This is England Bully (Harvey) Soft ASBO Short films 2007 Lady Margaret Danny 2008 Better Things Mike Summer Daniel 2009 Public Sex Jim Original title: Dogging: A Love Story Jade Stephen Short films Bale Kyle 2010 Cut Jimmy / Food Dude Shank Craze Bonded by Blood Donny Svenson Labour Henry Short films The Good Men of Leicester Simon 2011 Hit and Run Michael 2012 Twenty8k Tony Marchetto Spike Island Carl 2013 Svengali Tommy 2017 Double Date Alex Papillon Julot 2018 Walk Like a Panther Ricky Rickson The Keeper Bill Twist 2019 Break Clause Nick Killers Anonymous Leandro A Guide to Second Date Sex Dan 2020 Edicius Jason Short film As Dead as It Gets Lee Big Boys Don't Cry Paul 'Jacko' Connolly 2021 Creation Stories Joe Foster 2022 Tales of the Creeping Death Goose The Other Me Giorgi Pram Snatcher Transit Man Short film 2023 Jericho Ridge Earl Macready Distressing Images Ed Collier Short film 2026 Preschool Brian Post-production Kyle Burden Post-production

Television

Stage

Radio

Music video