Toby Schmitz

Last updated

Toby Schmitz
Ella Scott Lynch & Toby Schmitz 2012.jpg
Schmitz with actress Ella Scott Lynch
Born (1977-05-04) 4 May 1977 (age 47)
Education University of Western Australia
National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA)
Occupation(s)Actor and playwright
Children1

Toby Schmitz (born 4 May 1977) is an Australian actor and playwright.

Contents

He was born in Perth, Western Australia, attended Perth's Scotch College and briefly studied law at the University of Western Australia. [1] He graduated from the acting course at National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1999 and has performed many times on stage for Sydney Theatre Company, [2] Company B at Belvoir St Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company. [3] He has also appeared in film and television, and writes plays.

Theatre credits

His Sydney Theatre Company credits include The School for Scandal directed by Judy Davis, the premiere and national tour of David Williamson's The Great Man directed by Robyn Nevin, and leading roles in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara , Andrew Upton's Hanging Man , Tony McNamara's The Great, Brendan Cowell's Self Esteem, Nina Raine's Rabbit and Tom Stoppard's Travesties . Several of these productions toured to Melbourne and other Australian capital cities.

For Griffin Theatre Company, he played the central role of Luke Boyce in Louis Nowra's The Boyce Trilogy – The Woman with Dog's Eyes (2004), The Marvellous Boy (2005) and The Emperor of Sydney (2006), all directed by David Berthold.

For Company B he played the title role in Brendan Cowell's Ruben Guthrie (2008 and 2009). He performed the role of Coleman in The Lonesome West at Belvoir St Theatre in 2009. He also appeared in Strange Interlude in 2012 played the title role in Hamlet in 2013.

He also appeared in the premiere of Brendan Cowell's Men for Rogue Star Productions.

In 2000, he directed a production of Howard Korder's A Boy's Life at the Bondi Pavilion. In 2008 he directed Neil LaBute's This Is How It Goes .

In 2010, he played the eponymous character Hamlet in the enormously successful La Boite Theatre production in Brisbane, directed by David Berthold and in 2011 he played Benedick in Bell Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. In 2013 he played with Tim Minchin in Rosecrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.

In 2015, Schmitz appeared in Andrew Upton's adaptation of Chekhov's play Platonov , titled The Present, for the Sydney Theatre Company. The play was directed by John Crowley and featured Cate Blanchett, Jacqueline McKenzie, Marshall Napier, and Richard Roxburgh. That production moved in 2016/17 to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City for the Broadway debut of Schmitz and the rest of the cast. [4]

Television credits

His many television credits include McLeod's Daughters , The Heartbreak Tour, The Cooks , White Collar Blue , Water Rats , Fat Cow Motel (ABC), Home and Away , Temptation , and the Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks produced miniseries The Pacific .

He also be appeared in the third instalment of the Underbelly Files series of telemovies, titled 'The Man Who Got Away', portraying notorious drug smuggler and organised crime figurehead David McMillan.

In 2012, he teamed up with Angus Sampson in Season 1 of the Australian word game Randling , hosted by Andrew Denton on ABC1.

In 2014, Schmitz joined an ensemble cast in the Starz dramatic series Black Sails as historical pirate Calico Jack Rackham.

In 2017, Schmitz starred in the ABC legal drama Newton's Law opposite Claudia Karvan, appearing as the SC Lewis Hughes.

In 2024, he appeared in Boy Swallows Universe as corrupt detective Tim Cotton.

Film credits

His film credits include The Rage in Placid Lake , Somersault , Agoraphobia in the Desert of the Real, The Heist, My Last Ten Hours with You, Emulsion, Solo, Heaven , Right Here Right Now , for which he was also writer and co-executive producer, and Three Blind Mice , a film which has played at numerous international film festivals and won awards including the 11th FIPRESCI International Critics Award at the London Film Festival presented to the Best Film in the World Cinema section. He also appeared in Griff the Invisible , which was released in 2010.

Schmitz as playwright

Schmitz is also an award-winning playwright. After a solid grounding in writing revue and stand-up comedy at university in Perth, Schmitz wrote his first play, dreamalittledreamalittle, while studying acting at NIDA. It was presented as a director's project there in 1998 and was later restaged at Belvoir St Theatre. In 2002, Schmitz won Sydney Theatre Company's Patrick White Playwrights' Award with his play Lucky, which was later produced by the Australian Theatre for Young People. Chicks Will Dig You was performed as part of Company B's 2003 B Sharp season. It won the Australian National Playwrights' Centre/New Dramatists Award in 2004, and was shortlisted for the 2003 Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award. In 2007, he wrote and directed Capture the Flag for Tamarama Rock Surfers. His other plays include This Blasted Earth, Pan, Cunt Pi, and Grazing the Phosphorus, commissioned by the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Awards

Related Research Articles

<i>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead</i> 1966 play by Tom Stoppard

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the courtiers Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and the main setting is Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Roxburgh</span> Australian actor

Richard Roxburgh is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including four AACTA Awards, three Logie Awards, and two Helpmann Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wood (English actor)</span> English actor (1930–2011)

John Wood was an English actor, known for his performances in Shakespeare and his lasting association with Tom Stoppard. In 1976, he received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Stoppard's Travesties. He was nominated for two other Tony Awards for his roles in Sherlock Holmes (1975) and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968). In 2007, Wood was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year Honours List. Wood also appeared in WarGames, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Ladyhawke, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Orlando, Shadowlands, The Madness of King George, Richard III, Sabrina, and Chocolat.

Constance Lalage "Lally" Katz is an American and Australian dramatist writing for theater, film, and television. She now resides in Los Angeles.

Lyndel Rowe is an Australian actress of stage, television and film, who is best known for her work with the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia, and for her role as Karen Fox/Hamilton in the television soap opera Sons and Daughters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathaniel Dean</span>

Nathaniel Dean is an Australian actor and voiceover artist. His most recent performances include Sergeant Hallett in Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant, as well as colonial Australian settler William Thornhill in The Secret River for the Sydney Theatre Company.

David Berthold is an Australian theatre director, who has also been artistic director of several major Australian arts organisations.

Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Its artistic director is Eamon Flack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Cowell</span> Australian actor and writer

Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor and writer.

The Patrick White Playwrights' Award is an annual Australian literary award established jointly by the Sydney Theatre Company and The Sydney Morning Herald in honour of Patrick White's contribution to Australian theatre. The award was launched in 2000 and in 2011, was amended to include the Patrick White Fellowship.

Eloise Mignon is an Australian actress. She began her career starring in children's television shows Legacy of the Silver Shadow and Silversun, before appearing in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She has starred in numerous theatre productions.

Ewen Leslie is an Australian stage, film and television actor.

Tyler Coppin is an American-Australian actor, playwright and American dialect coach for actors in film, television and theatre.

The NSW Philip Parsons Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights, formerly the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award, is an Australian annual award for early-career playwrights in New South Wales, offered by Belvoir St Theatre and Arts NSW from 1995. It was last awarded in 2018.

The Tamarama Rock Surfers was an independent theatre company that operated out of the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney, Australia, and beyond. After 18 years, the group ceased trading in December 2015 due to lack of funding.

Daniel Frederiksen is an Australian actor who has worked in television, film and live theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gaden</span> Australian actor and director

John Stuart Gaden is an Australian actor and director known particularly for his stage career, although he has also made some film and television appearances.

Sam Strong is an Australian theatre director and arts leader; he was the artistic director of Queensland Theatre Company (2015–2019) and of Griffin Theatre Company (2010–2013). He has also been Chair of Circa and the Associate Artistic Director of Melbourne Theatre Company.

<i>Ruben Guthrie</i> 2015 Australian film

Ruben Guthrie is a 2015 Australian romantic drama film starring Patrick Brammall as the title character, with Alex Dimitriades and Abbey Lee Kershaw in supporting roles. The film was written and directed by Brendan Cowell, based on his play of the same name.

Once in Royal David's City is a play by Australian playwright Michael Gow.

References

  1. "Tim Minchin and Toby Schmitz: interview". Jo Litson: Scene and Heard. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  2. "Stars align as Tim Minchin and Toby Schmitz reunite in Tom Stoppard play". The Guardian. 7 August 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  3. "Capture the Flag". Critical Stages. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  4. "The Present". Sydney Theatre Company. Retrieved 17 May 2018.