Childhood & Early Life
Shaun was born Shaun Francis Evans, on March 6, 1980, in Liverpool, England, to an Irish couple from Northern Ireland. He has an older brother.
Shaun earned a scholarship to the Merseyside Catholic school 'St Edward's College' in 1991 and graduated from the school in 1998. He participated in several stage productions in school.
Initially, Shaun did not want to be an actor. Instead, he wanted to pursue a career in history and politics. He eventually developed an interest in acting and joined the 'National Youth Theatre.'
Shaun was 18 when he moved to London to attend the 'Guildhall School of Music & Drama.'
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Career
Shaun began his acting career in 2002, with the second season of the 'Channel 4' comedy–drama 'Teachers.' His character, ‘John Paul Keating,’ was a friendly French teacher and the only main homosexual character on the show. Shaun's character, however, was shown disappearing without an explanation, between the second and the third seasons.
The following year, Shaun made his feature film debut with the Irish comedy–drama 'The Boys from County Clare' (as a fiddle player named ‘Teddy’). Subsequently, he made appearances in movies such as 'Being Julia,' 'The Situation,' 'Cashback,' 'Boy A,' 'Telstar: The Joe Meek Story.'
Continuing with his TV projects, in 2002, Shaun featured in the two-part ‘BBC’ drama 'The Project.' He portrayed the Earl of Southampton in the fourth episode of the four-part 'BBC' miniseries 'The Virgin Queen' in 2005, showcasing the life of Queen Elizabeth I.
Shaun made his professional stage debut in 2005, with the first grand revival of Joe Penhall's award-winning play 'Blue/Orange,' in which he played the character ‘Bruce.’ The play was produced by the 'Sheffield Theatres' touring production.
Shaun played the lead character, Sam, in the 2007 comedy film 'Sparkle.' He was cast as ‘Alex,’ opposite Amelia Warner as ‘Sophie,’ in the 2007 British–Australian psychological thriller film 'Gone.' In 2009, he portrayed a handsome young man named ‘Clive Davies’ in ‘Princess Kaiulani,’ a movie showcasing the life of Princess Kaʻiulani of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Shaun's character was later shown falling for the princess and getting engaged to her.
In 2009, Shaun had a prominent role as ‘Jimmy Jackson’ in the four-part 'Sky 1' crime drama 'The Take,' an adaption of Martina Cole's novel. The same year, in the British horror film 'Dread,' Shaun played ‘Quaid,’ a psychopath wishing to take his fear to “the next level” and conducting a "fear study" for a school project.
Shaun played one of the titular leads, Kurt Cobain, in the play 'Kurt and Sid,' which premiered and ran at the 'Trafalgar Studios' in London's West End, from September 9 to October 3, 2009.
Shaun played ‘Nick,’ an army serviceman troubled by his war experiences, in the 2011 drama film 'Wreckers.' In 2012, he played the role of a new student named ‘Daniel Lomas’ in three episodes of the second series of the 'BBC' drama 'Silk.' That year, Shaun also starred in the three-part 'ITV' psychological thriller 'The Last Weekend,' as ‘Ian.’
In 2012, Shaun began playing the young ‘Endeavour Morse’ in the detective drama series 'Endeavour.' The series showcased Morse's career arc that began with him working as a detective constable and progressed with him being a detective sergeant with the ‘Oxford City Police CID.’ He later served as an associate producer and directed a few episodes of the show.
Shaun was seen as ‘Tom’ in 'War Book,' a 2014 British political drama. In 2015, he portrayed another real-life character, in the 'BBC Two' movie 'The Scandalous Lady W.' Adapted from the book 'Lady Worsley's Whim' by Hallie Rubenhold, the series chronicled the scandalous life of Lady Seymour Worsley. Shaun played Seymour's husband, Sir Richard Worsley, 7th Baronet, a British politician who brought his wife to public attention.
In the beginning of 2015, Shaun starred as ‘Alex,’ a handsome stranger and the love interest of Miranda Raison (as ‘Juliet’) in the Peter Souter play 'Hello/Goodbye' staged at 'Hampstead Theatre.' On February 23, 2017, it was announced that he would make his directorial debut with an episode of the 'BBC' medical drama 'Casualty.' Shaun later went on to direct three episodes of the show.
