The Untold Truth Of Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Do you know who Thomas Brodie-Sangster is? If you don't recognize his name, that might be because you know him as Sam from 2003's "Love Actually," per IMDb. Yes, he was the adorable little guy who had a crush on a girl from his school in the beloved holiday film. If you're not a fan of the festive flick, then you still may have seen Brodie-Sangster on screen. Indeed, you might have spotted him as Simon in 2005's "Nanny McPhee," or as Newt in the "Maze Runner" franchise, or Jojen Reed on "Game of Thrones," not to mention his role as hipster chess champion Benny Watts (and love interest to Anya Taylor-Joy) in "The Queen's Gambit."

If it's not already clear, while Brodie-Sangster may not be the biggest star in the entertainment industry, he has still nabbed plenty of enviable and memorable roles over the years and continues to do so. However, there's much more to Brodie-Sangster than just his impressive onscreen performances. Read on to find out a few intriguing facts about this actor that will probably come as a complete surprise!

Thomas Brodie-Sangster was born in London, England, on May 16, 1990, the son of Mark Sangster and Tasha Bertram, according to IMDb. The family also includes Brodie-Sangster's younger sister, Ava Sangster. Granted, beyond that, the actor has a relative that you'll surely recognize. In fact, the two worked together in one of Brodie-Sangster's most famous films.

Brodie-Sangster is related to his "Love Actually" co-star, Hugh Grant. They are apparently second cousins, once removed, as IMDb noted. Brodie-Sangster was aware of this fact while the pair were filming together and let his co-star in on their connection. "His grandmother and my great-grandmother are sisters," Brodie-Sangster said (via Times of India). "He didn't know. I said, 'Apparently, you are my uncle or my cousin or something.' Then he kind of remembered my mum and uncle. So for the rest of the shoot, he went 'round saying: 'Hello cousin.' That felt quite cool."

That may have been pretty awesome, but it's certainly not the only cool thing about Brodie-Sangster's experiences while on the job.

"Phineas and Ferb" had an impressive run from 2007 until 2015, following two stepbrothers as they "invent, scheme, and stay one step ahead of their bratty sister," according to IMDb. Many famous names appear in its credits, including Ashley Tisdale, who voiced the show's (arguably annoying) older sister. As for the titular Ferb, he was voiced by none other than Thomas Brodie-Sangster for all 130 episodes.

However, that doesn't mean that Brodie-Sangster got to work alongside the other stars. Back in 2008, he noted (via the Daily Record) that voicing Ferb reminded him of another project that he had been involved in. He explained, "[W]orking on 'Love Actually' was a bit like doing 'Phineas And Ferb' in that I didn't get a chance to meet the cast until it was finished."

That still didn't stop Brodie-Sangster from nailing his performance. "We knew Thomas Sangster from 'Love Actually' and 'Nanny McPhee' and he was able to express so much," said Dan Povenmire, the show's co-creator and the voice of Dr. Doofenshmirtz, per Daily Record. Confirming that the actor "never met or saw anybody else working on the show," he noted that the star had "seen one episode where somebody else was the voice that he had to portray and he just got it."

Thomas Brodie-Sangster's main gigs obviously happen in the world of films and television shows, however, he's also a part of the music scene. In fact, he put his onscreen skills to work appearing in two different music videos. The first was in 2014 for The Luka State's "30 Minute Break." In the short movie-like story, the actor is seen out for a night that doesn't end well at all. His second appearance in a video was in the 2017 Kioko release of "Tired of Lying." 

Putting Brodie-Sangster in their video was definitely a good move if the YouTube comments are any indication. Many were along the lines of one viewer, who wrote, "I came here for Thomas Brodie-Sangster, not gonna lie, but I ended up liking the song a lot."

Beyond that, Brodie-Sangster has also tackled his own music-related endeavors. It turns out that he occasionally plays bass for Winnet, which is his mother, Tasha Bertram's stage name, along with his sister, Ava. Of course, the actor has also taken up instruments for movie roles. He actually learned to play the guitar left-handed to portray a young Paul McCartney in "Nowhere Boy," and, per Insider, his dad taught him to play the drums for "Love Actually."

You might think that Brodie-Sangster loves to show off such skills on social media. But it turns out that the opposite is true.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster has a fairly sizable fanbase, with more than 1.1 million followers on Instagram — and that's despite the fact that he barely uses his account! Frankly, the star only has three posts to date. One from September 2020 included a video message from the cast of "Maze Runner" that encouraged people to vote in the U.S. election. Another from a few months earlier asked for donations to an injured friend's GoFundMe campaign. The third post was shared back in April of that same year and had a pretty sweet message.

"Hello, world. What strange uncharted territory we have found ourselves in," Brodie-Sangster wrote, presumably referring to the coronavirus pandemic. "I feel now is the time more than ever for me to reach out, and become a part of this global online community. I've never used social media regularly because I've always struggled with allowing myself to be so easily accessible." However, he noted that the platform could also be used "to communicate and educate each other," which he feels "is something to celebrate and encourage."

It now seems as if his IG efforts have fizzled out, which also goes for his Twitter account. Back in December 2017, he sent out his last tweet as of this writing, telling his followers, "Sorry for never tweeting about anything, but thats just me." Frankly, Brodie-Sangster has other things to do with his time, like manage (and build on) his fortune.

Due to the fact that Thomas Brodie-Sangster isn't the most active celebrity on social media, we can't see for certain how he spends his days. That means we also can't see how he spends his money, which might be of interest to some fans considering the fact that the actor has some decent funds at his disposal.

Surely thanks to his notable movie roles and television gigs, Brodie-Sangster has an impressive (if not jaw-droppingly massive) fortune that sits at $3 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Although Brodie-Sangster is now an adult, there's a very good chance that he made a significant chunk of that money from his early roles. While that kind of money (along with responsibilities, expectations, criticisms, and temptations) has led to sad outcomes for some former child stars, this actor seems to have avoided any major issues or scandals (at least, there haven't been any that we know about). Because of that, he has continued to work — and make money — over the years, which is surely something his fans love to see. We can't wait for what's next!