Tyler Conti is having the kind of year actors spend a long time working towards. With a leading role in Fightland and a place in the second season of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, 2026 is putting him firmly in front of a much wider audience. But speak to Conti about the momentum building around him and he seems more interested in staying grounded than getting carried away by the idea of sudden success.
That perspective makes sense when you consider the road that brought him here. After leaving drama school and booking an early role in Netflix’s Safe, Conti thought his career had begun in earnest. Then came nearly three years without acting work, filled instead with coffee shops, tuk-tuks, National Theatre shifts, sales jobs and, as he puts it, “everything and anything.” Rather than becoming a footnote, those years now feel integral to the actor he has become.
In Fightland, Conti plays Justin “Jay” Hall, a young man caught inside a volatile world of boxing, crime, loyalty and betrayal. He describes Jay as the show’s moral compass, a character whose instinctive reactions allow audiences to enter an environment far more dangerous than their own while still recognising something deeply human within it. Soon after, Conti shifts gears entirely for The Gentlemen, stepping into Guy Ritchie’s already established criminal universe as Joe and finding himself opposite Kaya Scodelario’s formidable Susie Glass.
The contrast between the two roles is striking, but so is Conti’s approach to them. He talks about character through clothes, rhythm, humour and instinct, drawing as much from his theatre training as from the realities of his own upbringing in Essex and London. There is also a refreshing lack of polish in the way he speaks about ambition. His advice to younger actors is simple: protect the qualities that make you different. “Your quirks are your selling point,” he says. “So be different, be bold and just be a bit weird.”
As Fightland and The Gentlemen introduce Tyler Conti to a larger international audience, House of Solo speaks to the actor about survival, self-doubt, finding truth in larger-than-life characters, learning from Guy Ritchie’s world and why, after everything, his dream is still simply for audiences to think: “I’d like to see more of that guy.”
Welcome to House of Solo. 2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for you, with Fightland and The Gentlemen arriving almost back-to-back. How does it feel to be standing at what many are calling your breakout moment?
Yeah, it feels incredible. I feel very lucky, and I’m just taking it as it comes. I think it’s really important not to get swept up in the moment and to just try to be as present as I can be. I want to have fun, spend time with people I enjoy being around and appreciate what’s happening now.
I’m excited for what’s going to come next, but things can move pretty fast in this industry, so I’m just trying to stay present and enjoy the moment.
Fightland throws audiences into a brutal world where boxing, organised crime and family loyalties collide. What was it about Jay that made you feel, “I have to play this character”?
It was Jay’s relatability. He feels like a real human being, a fully rounded character who is really easy to connect with. I felt like I was reading my own words, and the very few times you get to experience that with a script, you really want to jump at the chance.
As soon as I picked up the script and read Jay, I thought, “This is someone I know.” He’s someone I could care about, empathise with and understand. He’s instinctive and fast-paced, he reacts instantaneously, and everything he does feels very human.
I want to play those kinds of characters because they feel real, and that means I can bring a lot of truth to them. I saw a lot of myself in Jay, and that’s why I wanted to play him so badly.
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Jay finds himself navigating shifting alliances in a world where trust is almost impossible. What fascinated you most about his psychology beneath the violence?
I keep saying that Jay is like the moral compass of the show. I think a lot of the audience will see what’s happening through Jay’s eyes because he’s caught up in something he doesn’t fully understand. When Jay reacts to something, it’s often the first time the audience is seeing it too, or it might be exactly how they would react themselves, which makes him really relatable.
There’s nothing particularly complicated or manipulative about him. He wears his heart on his sleeve and does what he feels is right in the moment. He’s quite straightforward, but there are still lots of layers to him. He’s a very well-rounded character. He’s very instinctive and objective, and he tries to do the right thing depending on what’s happening in front of him, whether that means following Duke or warning him. It all depends on the situation.
Boxing dramas often focus on physical transformation, but the emotional preparation can be just as demanding. What was the toughest challenge in becoming Jay?
Jay reveals something to Duke in Episode 5 that has been weighing heavily on him throughout the first four episodes, as well as during the eight years Duke was in prison. He carries a huge amount of guilt, and I think in my own life I’m often trying to be a better person by talking things through with friends and my partner when I’m struggling with something. Jay doesn’t have that. He’s kept everything bottled up for so long, and there’s this feeling that he wants it to burst out of him, but he doesn’t know when the right time is to let it.
To carry that kind of weight and burden for so long is incredibly difficult and emotionally taxing. But it’s also a joy to play because there’s so much going on in his head that can’t come out yet. You have to wait for the right moment, and I really enjoyed that. There’s so much subtext to the character, which makes him feel layered and really fun to play.
Fightland is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Did his involvement shape expectations going into the project, and what does he bring creatively to a series like this?
Yeah, 50 Cent’s involvement as executive producer was always going to shape my expectations. When you go into a project, you want to treat every job as its own thing, but having 50 Cent at the top naturally brings a certain level of pressure. There’s a level of expectation when you’re working with someone who has consistently produced such amazing work over so many years, and you want to match that bar.
But I quickly realised once we got on set that it was a really creative, free-flowing process. We were trusted to create our own characters and contribute to the story, so we actually had much more autonomy than I initially expected. In that sense, it felt like any other job once we got into it, although you’re always aware that 50 Cent is going to be watching the rushes at the end of the day, so there’s definitely still that pressure! It was incredible to work with him, and I feel really lucky to have been part of the project.
The series explores themes of redemption, revenge and survival. Which of those themes resonated with you most personally?
I’d say survival. I think we’re all just trying to survive day to day. When I was younger, I probably had a somewhat challenging upbringing, as a lot of people do, and I think we’re all just trying to get by. Especially at school, you’re trying to find your place and not stick out too much.
So, for me, it would be survival. I’m not really a particularly vengeful person, I don’t think, so I’ll definitely go with survival.
London itself almost feels like another character in Fightland. How important was the city in helping you understand Jay’s world?
I’m originally from Essex, which borders London, but I moved to London when I was young and have lived here for most of my life. So London really feels like home to me.
Knowing that Jay is from London, and that his family and friends are all from there, really helped me get into the character. I know where he would eat, where he’d train, where he’d go for a drink with his mates, and all of those little details helped me to really embody him. I can relate to those places, so it was really nice to be able to film in my home city.
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Many crime dramas glamourise violence, yet Fightland promises something much grittier and emotionally grounded. What do you hope audiences take away beyond the action?
I think audiences will take away something about the human condition. If you do something bad, dangerous or a bit dodgy, then you have to expect that there will be consequences. It’s that idea of karma, what goes around comes around.
But ultimately, we’re all human and we all have our flaws. I think the show explores a lot of complicated relationships that, to an extent, we can all relate to. I think audiences might be surprised by just how relatable the world feels, even though it’s set within this heightened and much more violent environment.
Later this year you’ll join Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, a universe renowned for its wit, style and razor-sharp dialogue. What excited you most about stepping into that world?
It’s Guy Ritchie! I grew up watching Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and he’s worked with some of the best actors in the business. So to be even a small cog in the Guy Ritchie world feels like such a dream come true.
I loved The Gentlemen Season 1, so when the audition came through, I was like, “This is mine. I feel good about this and I really want to get it.” So I worked incredibly hard on it. I just love the characters he writes, the way his projects are shot and edited, and the rhythm and pace of them. There’s honestly nothing about a Guy Ritchie show or world that doesn’t excite me.
Guy Ritchie’s productions have such a distinctive rhythm and energy. Did working within his style require you to rethink your approach as an actor?
Yeah, definitely. I think that’s one of the things that made it so different from Fightland. With Fightland, we were creating a completely new world, so we were setting the pace, rhythm and tone ourselves. With The Gentlemen, especially coming into the second season, it felt like trying to catch a moving train. You have to jump on at Guy’s tempo, pace and rhythm.
It took me a few attempts to find my feet, but once I got into it, it was a really interesting way to approach a character. I wanted to create someone that Susie would be attracted to, someone she would feel comfortable enough to let her guard down around and want to spend time with.
Kaya has created such a strong character, and Guy has written such an amazing female lead, so I needed to think about where and how Joe would fit into that world rather than just coming in and bulldozing his way through it. I had to work out what Susie likes and what kind of man would appeal to her, rather than thinking about what kind of woman Joe would want. It was an interesting way of working, almost back to front, but it was a really nice challenge. It felt a bit like a puzzle.
Sharing the screen with talents such as Theo James and Kaya Scodelario brings its own opportunities. What did you learn from working alongside such an accomplished cast?
I think I learned to relax and chill out a little bit. It was great working with Kaya and Theo. They’re such seasoned pros that you naturally just follow their lead. Seeing how at ease they are in front of the camera was great! The more experience I get, the more I’m starting to find that same sense of ease myself, and I think that’s when I do my best work.
They taught me to shake it off, have fun with it and not overthink things. Especially in a Guy Ritchie world, where the characters are so larger-than-life, you don’t necessarily have to be as realistic or naturalistic as you might be in other shows. You can really have fun with it.
Looking at Fightland and The Gentlemen, both live within criminal underworlds, but they feel completely different in tone. As an actor, how did you ensure the two performances remained distinct?
Yeah, both shows exist within a kind of criminal underworld, and they’re both slightly more heightened than everyday life, so in some ways they do sit in a similar place. But I was lucky that my two characters are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum, which actually made it quite easy to move between them.
I went from one job straight into the next, with only a one-day overlap, but as soon as you put on Jay’s clothes, you’re out of Joe’s more polished attire and into Jay’s scruffier jumpers, coats and boots with holes in them. You immediately start to find the rhythm of that individual character. It actually came quite naturally, and it was great to have the opportunity to push the two characters as far away from each other as possible.
Before these major productions, your work ranged from ITV’s Tell Me Everything to Shakespeare at the Globe and stage productions such as The Beast of Blue Yonder. How has classical theatre informed the way you approach screen acting?
Being theatre-trained has been really helpful in my screen work. I think there’s sometimes a misconception that you can’t be big on screen, and that everything has to be small and subtle, with everything happening in the eyes. There’s definitely truth in that, but I genuinely believe you can go as big, playful and over-the-top as you want if the character earns it and it’s truthful.
If something is purely demonstrative, then it doesn’t work, but if there’s a genuine reason for your character to behave that way, why not go for it? We’re larger than life as people. When we’re telling a story, making a joke or feeling something really strongly, we can be big and expressive.
I think being classically trained in theatre has helped me find those places where I can be big, playful and expressive while still keeping it honest and truthful.
Was there a particular role earlier in your career that quietly prepared you for opportunities like these, even if audiences may not realise it?
Yeah, at school I played Basketballer No. 3 in High School Musical, which was probably the first play or musical I ever did. I remember going up to my teacher and saying, “I want the biggest part you can give me that doesn’t require singing, because I’m a really bad singer.” She gave me Basketballer No. 3, and I remember being so disappointed because he had one line and wasn’t particularly important to the story.
But I think it taught me that just because you’re not good at something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, or that you shouldn’t ask for more. Basketballer No. 3 lives rent-free in my mind whenever I start putting myself down or thinking I can’t do something. I just think, “Come on, you can at least ask for Basketballer No. 2.”
Every actor experiences moments of self-doubt. Have there been times when you questioned whether this career was possible, and what kept you moving forward?
Yeah, definitely. I was lucky enough to come out of drama school and book a Netflix job about a year later, and I kind of thought, “I’ve made it.” It was Safe, the Harlan Coben show with Michael C. Hall, Marc Warren and Amanda Abbington, and I remember thinking, “This is it. I’m done. This is my career.”
Then I didn’t get any work for probably three years. I worked in a coffee shop and had every job under the sun in London. You name it, I’ve probably done it. I worked in the National Theatre’s Goods In, which is basically their bin man, I drove tuk-tuks around, sold coffees, sold insurance, sold cars and even sold boots out the back of a van. I’ve done everything and anything.
During those periods, there were definitely times when I thought, “Maybe this just isn’t the thing for me. Maybe I’m not getting anywhere.” But what kept me going was my passion for acting. I was lucky enough to see a lot of theatre when I was younger, and whenever I watched something, I was so moved by it. I’m a real empath when it comes to characters, and I knew there was nothing else in the world I wanted to do.
That passion and drive kept me pushing, trying to prove myself and find my way into the industry, and thankfully it’s finally starting to pay off. I’m actually grateful I did all those jobs because they’ve all helped get me to where I am now.
Looking back at the young actor just starting out, what advice would you give him knowing everything you know now?
I’d say to any young actor: your quirks are your selling point. Being unique and being yourself is what makes you interesting. That’s your superpower, and it’s what you should bring into every audition, every self-tape and every job you get.
At drama school, which I loved, there was sometimes a feeling that they wanted to smooth out my Essexisms, who I was and where I’d come from, and make me a little more neutral. But there are a million neutral actors out there trying to fit into the shape of what they think an actor should be. Actually, what makes an actor interesting is you.
So be different, be bold and just be a bit weird.
Streaming platforms have opened British talent to global audiences in a way we’ve never seen before. How conscious are you of building an international career rather than simply a UK one?
I’d say I’m conscious of it, but it doesn’t rank particularly highly on my list of priorities. For me, if the show is good, I like the character and I want to work with the people involved, then that always comes first.
Obviously, doing Fightland and having it open me up to an American audience is great, and hopefully that creates more opportunities to work over there and build a relationship with a more international audience. That would be amazing. But ultimately, the work itself and what the project is always come first for me.
Outside of acting, what inspires your creativity? Are there books, films, music or people you continually return to?
I think places, different cultures and food really inspire me. I like making things too. I do a lot of DIY and woodwork. I’m not necessarily that good at it, but I give everything a go! I’m actually building a campervan at the moment, which I find really creatively fulfilling. It gets the creative juices flowing and gives me something completely different to focus on.
I also do a lot of exercise and run quite a bit. I don’t usually listen to music when I run, so I’m just left with my thoughts. It gives me time to think about everything and anything, and I think that, for me, is a really important part of the creative process.
If audiences could understand just one thing about Tyler Conti beyond the characters they see on screen, what would you want that to be?
I love Marmite! I think it’s great! It should go on everything: beans on toast, avocado if you’re feeling fancy. Sometimes I just spoon it from the jar. It’s incredible, and I think I want people to know that Marmite runs through my veins.
Finally, with Fightland introducing audiences to Jay and The Gentlemen opening another exciting chapter, what do you hope people will be saying about your work by the end of 2026?
I want people to say, “He’s alright, him. He’s got something about him, the one with the funny accent.” And, “I’d like to see more of that guy.” That would be my dream.
Photographer: David Reiss
Styling: Nathan Henry
Grooming: Charlie Cullen
