Film and television
In 2010, Reid played Prince Harry in The Taking of Prince Harry, a Channel 4 docufiction exploring a hypothetical scenario in which Prince Harry is kidnapped whilst serving in Afghanistan. During his final semester at LAMDA, Reid had the opportunity to audition for a role in Anonymous (2011). Although he did not receive a script prior to the audition, he was offered the role of the Earl of Essex the next day. At that time, he was credited as Sebastian Reid.
Reid portrayed the young Harry Pearce in series ten of the BBC drama Spooks in 2011. The following year, he played Brian Lomax in the pilot episode of Endeavour and Tolbert McCoy, the son of Randolph McCoy, in the American Civil War miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.
In the period drama Belle (2013), he played John Davinier opposite Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Belle. He was cast relatively late in pre-production after actor Sam Claflin left the project due to scheduling conflicts. That same year, Reid played Young Finlay in the war film The Railway Man, alongside Stellan Skarsgård, who portrayed the older version of the character.
In 2014, Reid appeared in '71 as Second Lieutenant Armitage, an inexperienced commanding officer deployed to Belfast at the height of The Troubles. He later played Hugo, "a louche postgrad", in The Riot Club, a film adaptation of Laura Wade's Bullingdon Club-inspired play Posh. The following year, Reid portrayed American astronaut John Glenn in The Astronaut Wives Club, a historical drama series based on Lily Koppel's book of the same name. The book focuses on the lives of the Mercury Seven astronauts' wives.
Reid appeared in the music video for Flume's song "Never Be Like You" alongside Sophie Lowe in 2016. That year, he also played the young Alexander "Sasha" Ivanov in Shamim Sarif's Cold War espionage film Despite the Falling Snow and John Cree, a "failed playwright" and a "controlling husband" in The Limehouse Golem.
In 2017, Reid played DCI Len Bradfield in Prime Suspect 1973 opposite Stefanie Martini, who portrayed the young Jane Tennison. The series is a prequel to the original series Prime Suspect (1991-2006), which starred Helen Mirren in the lead role. Reid then starred in the supernatural thriller 2:22 (2017), alongside Michiel Huisman and Teresa Palmer.
In 2019, Reid played Mikey, the boyfriend of Sunny, in Standing Up for Sunny, a rom-com that "successfully breaks down barriers around disability and mental illness". That same year, he played Young Max opposite Phoebe Tonkin in the supernatural mystery Bloom, which centres around an enchanted plant that can revive physical youth. Reid portrayed young teacher Ray in the drama miniseries The Hunting (2019). It explores a teen nude photo scandal affecting schools and families while exposing systemic misogyny. In the gothic drama Lambs of God (2019), Reid played Father Ignatius, a priest assigned to reclaim a monastery for the church by relocating the last three nuns of the Order of St. Agnes. The nuns were portrayed by Ann Dowd, Essie Davis, and Jessica Barden. According to Dom Fisher of Geek Vibe Nation, Reid "goes through such a transformative metamorphosis that only a skilled actor could pull off". His performance earned him his first nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama.
In 2021, Reid portrayed Sergeant Klintoff in Leah Purcell's feature directorial debut, The Drover's Wife, a First Nations revisionist Western thriller. From 2021 to 2025, Reid played rising news presenter Dale Jennings in the ABC series The Newsreader. Kelsie Mattson of Collider described his performance as "demonstrative of Reid's range", whilst Helen Hawkins of The Arts Desk praised his "impressively delicate performance, an unnamed fear lurking behind his confident smile". For this role, Reid received three AACTA Awards for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama nominations.
Since 2022, Reid has starred as Lestat de Lioncourt in the AMC television series Interview with the Vampire. His performance has received widespread praise from critics. Kayleigh Donaldson of Consequence described Reid's performance as "directly taken from the novels, as opposed to the camp eccentricity of Tom Cruise". Reid was included in IndieWire's 28 Best Film and TV Performances of 2022, which stated: "Every minute of Reid's performance here is a master class in manipulation". Similarly, Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter praised Reid's ability to "convincingly command every room" in his review of the series. He was nominated for the 2025 Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance. In 2026, Reid released the singles "Long Face", "All Fall Down", a cover of Billy Idol's "Dancing with Myself", "Butterscotch Bitch", and "Your Biggest Fan" for the series' third season The Vampire Lestat, renamed after Anne Rice's 1985 novel of same name, in which Lestat becomes a rock star. Reid was credited in the songs as The Vampire Lestat. On 2 June 2026, Reid performed a one-night only concert in-character at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.
