2002-2011: Career beginnings and HollyoaksEdit
Whittle took up modelling in college. Ele viria a se tornar o Rosto De Reebok em 2000. Whittle fez sua estréia atuando em 2002 a série de televisão britânica Dream Team, que foi ao ar no Sky 1. O ator disse que o programa era um “trabalho de sonho” para um jovem ator que estava começando. O agente do Whittle surpreendeu-o e mandou-o para uma audição para a equipa dos sonhos. Whittle credita sua carreira à sua co-estrela Terence Maynard com quem ele fez o teste. Whittle left the show in 2006 after series 9 and in May 2006, it was announced that Whittle had joined the cast of the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks in the role of Calvin Valentine. In December 2009, it was announced that Whittle would leave Hollyoaks and the character would be killed off in 2010. Em uma entrevista com o Digital Spy explicou suas razões para deixar Hollyoaks e revelou seus planos para tentar sua mão na televisão e cinema americanos. Ele só planeava cumprir quatro anos com o series.In the summer of 2009, Whittle joined series 7 of the BBC reality series, Strictly Come Dancing. Ele foi emparelhado com a dançarina profissional Natalie Lowe. Whittle ficaria em segundo lugar depois do apresentador de esportes Chris Hollins. Ele se mudou permanentemente para Los Angeles no verão de 2011 para continuar sua carreira.
2012-2016: American TV breakthrough and the 100Edit
Upon his arrival in the States, Whittle met with someone to put a reel together. A reunião levou – o a assinar com o gerente Ken Jacobsen. Jacobsen era conhecido por representar grandes nomes como James Franco, Michelle Williams e Hilary Swank. Não muito tempo depois, Whittle foi escalado para o longa-metragem Austenland ao lado de Keri Russell, Jane Seymour e Jennifer Coolidge. Whittle joked that he only reserved the role because of his body as the audition tape he submitted cut off his head. Ele achou irônico que ele filmou em locações no Reino Unido quando ele viajou para Los Angeles para perseguir projetos de TV americanos. Depois disso, Whittle não teve problemas em marcar shows. No entanto, seu status de imigração fez com que ele se retirasse de alguns projetos. Whittle was set to film an episode of the NBC sitcom Up All Night when his management contacted him the night before to inform him that the network wouldn’t accept his visa. After this incident, Whittle decided to apply for his green card.
In March 2012, it was announced that Whittle was cast in the recurring role of Charles, a love interest of Denise Vasi’s character, in the second season of the VH1 comedic-drama Single Ladies. Whittle submeteu sua fita de audição, assim como ele retornou ao Reino Unido para o Natal. Enquanto ele era muito jovem para o papel que ele inicialmente fez, os produtores encontraram outro papel para ele. Whittle was initially supposed to appear in two episodes, and that turned into six. However, Whittle made such an impression on producer Stacy A. Littlejohn that she wrote him into the rest of the season. Whittle filmou a série em Atlanta de Janeiro a junho de 2012.
In 2013, Whittle appeared in an episode of the CBS drama NCIS, ” Detour.”In 2014, Whittle joined the cast of the CW’s post-apocalyptic drama The 100 in the role of Lincoln. On 25 July 2014, at San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Whittle had been promoted to series regular for season 2. Around the same time, Whittle reserved the recurring role of Daniel on ABC’s prime-time drama Mistresses. Whittle wrapped filming for the 100 the week before he was scheduled to start production on Mistresses. Daniel Zamora é o interesse amoroso de April interpretada por Rochelle Aytes. Whittle apareceu em 10 episódios.
In January 2016, it was reported that Whittle was in talks for the lead role on another series. During an interview with AfterBuzz TV in April 2016, Whittle announced his decision to leave the 100. Whittle controversially accused the show’s creator Jason Rothenberg of bullying him into leaving the series by marginalizing his character. O ator explicou que uma vez que o Presidente da Warner Bros.Television Peter Roth e o Presidente da CW Mark Pedowitz foram informados da situação, ele foi autorizado a fazer audições para outros projetos.
2017-presente: American Gods and Nappily Ever Afisedit
In January 2016, it was announced that Whittle had been cast as Shadow Moon, the lead role in Starz television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel American Gods opposite Ian McShane. Though Whittle had no prior knowledge of the novel, he was a fan favourite pick to play Shadow when Starz announced the series in August 2015. Out of the 2000 audition tapes submitted, Whittle was chosen out of approximately 600 actors that met with the producers. Whittle submissed 16 audition tapes over the five-month process. In September 2017 Whittle was cast opposite Sanaa Lathan in the Netflix original film, Nappily Ever After based on the novel of same name by Trisha R. Thomas. On 16 April 2018 it was announced that Whittle signed with talent agency William Morris Endeavor.