Alex Dimitriades | |
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 Dimitriades with his AACTA Award, 2012 | |
| Born | Alexandros Dimitriades 28 December 1973 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, DJ |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Alex Dimitriades (born 28 December 1973[ citation needed ]) is an Australian actor and DJ. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Nick Polides in the 1993 romantic comedy film The Heartbreak Kid and as Nick Poulos in the 1994 television teen drama spin-off Heartbreak High .
Dimitriades was born in Sydney, as Alexandros Dimitriades. He is the son of first generation Greek immigrants and the youngest of three siblings. He has a brother, George, and a sister, Melinda. He grew up in Earlwood, Sydney. [1] His parents divorced when he was 12. [2] His mother worked as a legal secretary, and she raised the children as a single mother. [3]
Dimitriades first attracted national attention for his co-starring role as Nick Polides in the 1993 Australian romantic comedy film The Heartbreak Kid , for which he received positive reviews and acclaim. [4]
In 1998, he played the protagonist Ari in the Ana Kokkinos film Head On , based on the book Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Dimitriades' performance in the role was critically acclaimed and earned him an AFI Award nomination. [5] The film was controversial for its graphic violence, sex scenes and LGBT subject matter, but it earned mostly positive reviews. [6] It screened at dozens of festivals around the world, including the Director's Fortnight at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. [7]
His other film roles include the Australian comedies Let's Get Skase (2001) and La Spagnola (2001), the Greek film To Gamilio Party (English title Bang Bang Wedding, 2008), Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos (2010), and Summer Coda starring with Rachael Taylor. [8] He had roles in the Hollywood films Ghost Ship (2002) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005). [9]
In 2015, he co-starred in Ruben Guthrie with Patrick Brammall.
After making his acting debut in the film The Heartbreak Kid, he starred in a television spin-off Heartbreak High , in which he played Nick Poulos. [10] He went on to play underworld figure, Warren Lanfranchi, in the 1995 drama television series Blue Murder . [11] The following year, Dimitriades played estate agent Steve George in the television soap opera Neighbours . [12] In 1997, he took a role in the police drama Wildside .
In 2002, he appeared in Young Lions . In years to follow, he had a small guest role in the Australian science fiction series Farscape . In 2008, Dimitriades starred in the drama series Underbelly . [13]
In 2011, he featured in The Slap , the TV adaptation of the novel of the same name by Christos Tsiolkas. He was awarded the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for his role as the protagonist Harry. [14] In 2015, he starred in The Principal , a SBS four-part crime drama screened over two weeks in October, for which he won a Logie Award. [15] The series received positive reviews and various accolades, including several nominations from the Australian Film Institute in 2016. He appeared in the shows Secret City and Seven Types of Ambiguity .
In late 2018, Dimitriades had a recurring role in the BBC One drama The Cry as Detective Peter Alexiades and in the Netflix series Tidelands , again playing a police officer.
In 2022, Dimitriades played the Greek gangster, Kosta, in the TV series The Tourist with Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald. [16]
Dimitriades, an avid collector of vinyl records, has stated that his love of music started in childhood. [17] He has a passion for both hip hop and dance music and has stated he is inspired by Kings Go Forth because of their "’70s sound." [18] He works as a DJ professionally across Australia, often referred to as DJ Boogie Monster. [19] Dimitriades has headlined and performed at numerous events, including Derby Day,[ citation needed ] and as the headline act for the relaunch of the popular South Melbourne nightclub Motel. [20]
Although Dimitriades is primarily known as an actor, his DJ work predates his acting work:
It's partly my fault, I was a DJ before I was an actor, but I wasn't known and haven't been known as one. It's two sides of me that will never go away.” [18]
In 1996 and 1997, Dimitriades, along with Nick Giannopoulos and Vince Colosimo, toured as part of the Wogboys comedy stage shows. [21] [22]
Dimitriades has appeared in many theatre productions, including two plays by Louis Nowra for Griffin Theatre Company, The Woman with Dog's Eyes (2004) and The Emperor of Sydney (2006); The Nightwatchman (2007) and Rain Man in 2010; and the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross in 2014.[ citation needed ]
Dimitriades had an 8-year relationship with Terry Biviano in the late 1990s and early 2000s. [3] [23]
In 2008, Dimitriades was arrested driving under the influence. It was reported that he had a blood alcohol reading of .11, more than twice the legal limit in Australia. The charge resulted in the suspension of his driver's licence. [24] [25]
In September 2009, his mother died after a long-time illness. [26]
Nicholas Giannopoulos is a Greek Australian stand-up comedian, stage, TV and film actor and film director. He is best known for his comedy stage show Wogs Out of Work alongside George Kapiniaris, the television sitcom Acropolis Now and The Wog Boy film series and has been described as "Australia's leading exponent of "wog" humour".
Wildside is an Australian crime drama television series broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1997 to 1999. It was created by director Michael Jenkins and producer Ben Gannon.
Abigail Anne "Abi" Tucker is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress. She has had roles in television series-telemovies in Heartbreak High (1994-1995), Water Rats (1999), Wildside (1999), The Secret Life of Us (2001-2003), My Husband, my Killer (2001), McLeod's Daughters (2007-2009), Giggle and Hoot (2010) ABC's Playschool (2006-2010); and in films The New Girlfriend (1996), Angst (2000) and The Wog Boy (2000). Her theatre credits include The Vagina Monologues (2000), Everything's F***ed workshop (2003), The Music and Lyrics of Sean Peter (2003), Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson (2005), Poor Boy – Music of Tim Finn (2010) and Bell Shakespeare's As You Like It (2015).
Heartbreak High is an Australian television programme created by Michael Jenkins and Ben Gannon that ran from 1994 to 1996 on Network Ten and 1997 to 1999 on the ABC, for seven series. It was also partially funded from 1996 by BBC2, with some episodes airing in the UK ahead of their Australian release. The drama has been described as more gritty and fast-paced than many of its contemporaries, and follows the lives of students and staff at a multicultural Sydney high school.
Claudia Karvan is an Australian actress. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film Molly (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in High Tide (1987). She portrayed a teacher in The Heartbreak Kid (1993) – the film was spun off into a TV series, Heartbreak High (1994–1999), with her character taken over by Sarah Lambert. Karvan's roles in television series include The Secret Life of Us (2001–2005), Love My Way (2004–2007), Newton's Law (2017) and Halifax: Retribution (2020). She won Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama at the AFI Awards for her appearance in G.P. (1996). She won two similar AFI Awards for her role in Love My Way and in 2014 for her work in The Time of Our Lives (2013–2014). As a co-producer and co-writer on Love My Way, she won three further AFI Awards for Best Drama Series in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Karvan was inducted into the Australian Film Walk of Fame in 2007 in acknowledgment of her contributions to the Australian film and television industry. From 2010 to 2011, she starred in the drama series Spirited, which she co-created and was executive producer. She appeared as Judy Vickers in Puberty Blues. Karvan has co-produced House of Hancock and Doctor Doctor (2016–2021). In 2021 she co-created, co-produced and starred in the TV drama series, Bump.
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The Heartbreak Kid is a 1993 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Michael Jenkins. It stars Claudia Karvan as Christina Papadopoulos, a 22-year-old Greek-Australian teacher who falls in love with her 17-year-old, soccer-obsessed student, Nick Polides, played by Alex Dimitriades.
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The most phenomenal commercial success in immigrant theatre has been Wogs Out of Work (1987) and its spin-offs, Wog-A-Rama (1993) and Wog Boys (1996)
Particularly significant for its extremely broad audience appeal is the Wogs out of Work phenomenon.
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