Daniel Webber is the picture of cool. The 35-year-old Australian actor plays the real-life Old West outlaw Jesse Evans in Billy the Kid, the MGM+ series from BAFTA-nominated Vikings creator Michael Hirst. Now in its second season on the streamer, the show offers a unique, age-accurate depiction of Billy the Kid, played by Hunger Games prequel star Tom Blyth.
The series' sympathetic portrayal of America's most famous outlaw works in large part because of Daniel Webber's electric co-lead performance as Jesse Evans, the real-life gunslinger (even quicker on the draw than Billy, some say) who at turns protected, defended and battled against Billy. "Jesse is one of those roles that don't come around very often," Webber said in 2022. "He's a leader of men, he's so capable and confident."
It's no surprise, then, that Webber should be the one to do the figure of Jesse Evans some justice. He oozed charisma as Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil in the 2019 pic The Dirt, and he turned in a spectacular comedic performance as a Kenny Rogers impersonator in the 2022 musical Seriously Red. But Webber's breakout performance was something else entirely. He gained critical acclaim for his role as Lee Harvey Oswald in the 2016 Hulu miniseries 11.22.63, based on Stephen King's time-travel novel about attempting to prevent the assassination of President Kennedy.
For someone who came to acting relatively late (he was 21 when he went on his first audition, and he won the part), Webber's rise is a rare Hollywood success story. Next, he will appear in 2024's Furiosa, a prequel to Aussie director George Miller's Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road.
From his pre-Hollywood career to his thoughts about the real Jesse Evans, here's everything you need to know about Daniel Webber.
Webber Grew Up Racing Horses in Australia
Daniel Webber at his first long distance horse race as a child. (Daniel Webber via Instagram)
Daniel Peter Webber was born on June 28, 1988 in New South Wales, Australia. He attended Green Point Christian College, a nondenominational Christian school, through elementary and high school. He's described his upbringing in Australia as "adventurous," noting that his family spent a lot of time outdoors together. One family tradition came in handy for his Billy the Kid cowboy training:
"We used to race horses long distances in Australia — anywhere from 40 kilometre to 400 kilometre rides," Webber told Hero Magazine in 2022. "I hadn't ridden for about fifteen years though, so it was about getting back on the bike again and seeing what skills I still had."
Webber was also a competitive gymnast in his youth. In 2000, he performed trampoline routines during the closing ceremony of the Sydney Olympics.
He Worked as a Wind Turbine Technician
(Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for AFI)
Webber's first professional acting gig came in 2009, when he was 21 years old. Before pursuing an acting career, Webber worked as a wind turbine technician. He climbed turbines nearly 200 feet high, attached only by a rope. "You're on this skinny little beanpole of a tower getting blasted by the wind. You see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets from that high up," he recalled to Anthem in 2016.
Despite getting into the entertainment industry later than many actors, Webber grew up loving cinema. Sci-fi and fantasy films were his early favorites. He counts Star Wars and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy as formative movies.
His Breakout Role Was Lee Harvey Oswald in 11.22.63
Daniel Webber as Lee Harvey Oswald in 11.22.63. (Ben Mark Holzberg/Hulu)
Webber landed his first acting role out of a cattle call audition for the 2009 Australian crime drama The Combination. He took on roles in Aussie films and series like the medical drama All Saints and the teen show K9, a Doctor Who spinoff about a robot dog.
Then, in 2016, his big break came when he played Lee Harvey Oswald in the J.J. Abrams-produced miniseries 11.22.63. The show starred James Franco and garnered an Emmy nomination for its visual effects. The series put Webber on the map, and he moved to Los Angeles permanently.
What Webber Thinks of the Real-Life Jesse Evans
Daniel Webber as Jesse Evans in Billy the Kid Season 1. (MGM+)
After his impressive turn in 11.22.63, Webber played a drug-addicted teen in the crime drama Thumper. He then guested as a troubled U.S. Army veteran in the Marvel series The Punisher, and sang his own vocals as frontman Vince Neil in the 2019 Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt. He also starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in the 2020 thriller Escape from Pretoria, based on the true story of two inmates who escaped from a South African prison.
In 2022, he played a Kenny Rogers impersonator in the musical comedy Seriously Red, about a woman who tries her hand as a Dolly Parton impersonator. 2022 also marked the premiere of Billy the Kid, in which Webber plays real-life Old West gunslinger Jesse Evans. He and Tom Blyth (who plays Billy) co-lead the series, now in its second season on MGM+.
"Jesse is one of those roles that don't come around very often. He's a leader of men, he's so capable and confident within his own skill set and ability. He's so purposeful in where he wants to go. That was in the writing, but it was also in the history," he gushed to Hero, adding: "He's so central to the Billy the Kid myth, yet he's never been portrayed on screen. The newspapers talk about him as being more troublesome than the raiding parties or the Apaches, and in all the news clippings you read he's so bombastic, bold, charismatic and dangerous."
Daniel Webber's Upcoming Films
(Amanda Stronza/Getty Images for SXSW)
Webber has parlayed his successes into roles in even bigger studio fare. He is set to appear in 2024's Mad Max: Fury Road prequel film Furiosa, directed by George Miller and starring Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit) and Chris Hemsworth. He will also star in a war film called Recoil, about a group of Australian soldiers marooned in the Afghan desert.
