Thomas Sidney Jerome Sturridge was born on 21 December 1985 in London. His father is a movie director. His mother, aunt, and sister are actresses.
When he was just 11 years old, Sturridge debuted in a short TV series Gulliver's Travels, which was directed by his father. The series won five Emmy Awards, including “the best miniseries” award.
A year later, Tom landed a secondary role in a fantasy drama FairyTale: A True Story, where Mel Gibson made a cameo appearance. It wasn’t a big project for Tom but it gave him valuable experience. After the movie came out, Tom went on with his studies and came back to the movie arena 7 years later.
In 2004, Thomas appeared in two movies, including a comedy-drama Being Julia, in which he portrayed Roger Gosselyn. The movie earned two Golden Globe awards and was nominated for an Academy award. The next movie was Vanity Fair, in which Tom portrayed young Georgy. The film was nominated for a Golden Lion award at the Venice Movie Festival 2004.
In 2005, the young actor worked on a pseudo-documentary Brothers of the Head. The same year he appeared in the TV film A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets, in which he played William Herbert.