Nick Simpson-Deeks is a NIDA-trained Australian actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his portrayal of Archie McMahon in the SBS drama series '' The Circuit'', Rhys Mitchell in

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

's ''

Winners & Losers ''Winners & Losers'' is an Australian television drama series first broadcast on the Seven Network on 22 March 2011. It was created by the producers of ''Packed to the Rafters'' and is aired in the show's former time slot. ''Winners & Losers'' ...

'', and James King in the Amazon Original crime series ''

Deadloch ''Deadloch'' is an Australian black comedy crime mystery television series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 2 June 2023. Created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the series is set in Deadloch, a fictional town in Tasmania, and stars ...

.''

Early life

Simpson-Deeks was born and raised in

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had a ...

, New South Wales, and attended

Oxley High School Oxley High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in North Tamworth, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1968, the school enrolled approximately 970 stude ...

in Tamworth. He graduated from the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

in 2001. In 2006 he was awarded a Mike Walsh Fellowship which he used to further his actor training at the School at Steppenwolf in Chicago.

Career

Film and television

Simpson-Deeks was a series regular in both seasons of the award-winning legal drama '' The Circuit'', the second season of ''

'' (after guest starring in the show's first season), and the sci-fi series '' Stormworld''. Additionally, he has guest-starred in ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

The Newsreader ''The Newsreader'' is an Australian television Drama (film and television), drama series created by Michael Lucas and broadcast on ABC (Australian TV network), ABC Television, starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid (actor), Sam Reid. The show explores ...

,'' ''

Five Bedrooms ''Five Bedrooms'' is an Australian comedy-drama television series, which first screened on Network 10. The eight part series premiered on 15 May 2019, at 8:40 pm. In the United States, the series started streaming on Peacock on April 15, ...

'', '' Underbelly: Fat Tony & Co.'', '' Wentworth'', ''

Mr & Mrs Murder ''Mr & Mrs Murder'' is a 13-part Australian crime comedy television series produced by FremantleMedia Australia in association with Bravado Productions. It originally ran on Network Ten on from 20 February to 15 May 2013. The murder mystery seri ...

'', '' Play School'', ''

City Homicide ''City Homicide'' is an Australian television drama series that aired on the Seven Network between 27 August 2007 and 30 March 2011. The series was set on the Homicide floor of a metropolitan police headquarters in Melbourne. The main charact ...

'', '' The Strange Calls'', ''Temptation'', and '' The Postcard Bandit''. He plays forensic pathologist James King in the Amazon Original series, ''

''. His film credits include roles in the short films ''After the Credits'', ''Dropbear'', ''A Simple Song'', ''Shades of Grey'' and ''Home.'' He portrayed Irish rider

Pat Smullen Patrick Joseph Smullen (22 May 1977 – 15 September 2020), was an Irish jockey who won the Irish flat racing Champion Jockey title nine times. In a career running from 1992 to 2018 he rode 1,845 winners in Ireland and 47 in Britain. Amongst hi ...

in the 2011 feature film '' The Cup'', and filmmaker

Billy Name William George Linich (February 22, 1940 – July 18, 2016), known professionally as Billy Name, was an American photographer, filmmaker, and lighting designer. He was the archivist of The Factory from 1964 to 1970. His brief romance and subseq ...

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director since the 1960s, and is best known in ...

's ''Andy X –'' a musical film based on the death of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Theatre

Simpson-Deeks made his professional theatre debut in ''Falling on My Left Ear: A Show about

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

'' for the now defunct Railway Street Theatre Company in Parramatta in 2002. The following year, he returned to Railway Street to play the role of Tom in

Michael Gow Michael Gow (born 14 February 1955) is an Australian playwright and director, notable for his 1986 play ''Away''. Early life Born in Sydney, Gow acted and directed with the Dramatic Society from 1973 to 1976 s a student at Sydney University. Af ...

's iconic Australian play, ''Away''. Both productions toured regionally and were directed by Mary-Anne Gifford. In 2005 he received critical acclaim for his performance in

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include '' Shoppi ...

's ''Handbag'' at the

Seymour Centre The Seymour Centre is a multi-purpose performing arts centre within the University of Sydney, located in the city of Sydney, Australia. It is located on the corner of City Road and Cleveland Street in Chippendale, south-west of the city ce ...

. Later that year, he starred in ''Somewhere –'' an original musical by

Tim Minchin Timothy David Minchin Order of Australia#Levels of membership, AM (born 7 October 1975) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician, poet, composer, and songwriter. Minchin has released six CDs, five DVDs, and live comedy shows that he ...

and

Kate Mulvany Kate Maree Mulvany (born 1977) is an Australian actress, playwright and screenwriter. She works in theatre, television and film, with roles in ''Hunters'' (2020–2023), ''The Great Gatsby'' (2013), '' Griff the Invisible'' (2010) and '' The F ...

– for Q Theatre. In 2009, Simpson-Deeks was cast in the ensemble of ''Jerry Springer: the Opera'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

as part of

Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney, that runs for three weeks every January since it was established in 1977. The festival program features over 100 events from local and international artists and inclu ...

. He joined the original Australian cast of ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

'', in the role of Franki Valli (Alternate), that same year, but left the production prematurely due to health complications. In 2010, he sang the role of Skeets Miller in a one-off concert performance of

Adam Guettel Adam Guettel (; born December 16, 1964) is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera. Born into a musical theater family, he is the son of Mary Rodgers and the grandson of Richard Rodgers. Guettel has received two Tony Awards and ...

's '' Floyd Collins'' at City Recital Hall in Sydney. Simpson-Deeks played the role of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick in ''Ned: A New Australian Musical'' at Bendigo's Ulumbarra Theatre in 2015, and is featured on the show's Official Cast Recording. He reprised the role in concert at The National Theatre, Melbourne in 2017. He played Chris Bean in the Australian production of ''

The Play That Goes Wrong ''The Play That Goes Wrong'' is a play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. The story follows a performance of a murder mystery, where the ill-fated theatre company encounters numerous mishaps. The ...

'', and briefly reprised the role during the Australian tour of ''

Peter Pan Goes Wrong ''Peter Pan Goes Wrong'' is a comedy play by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of the Mischief Theatre company, creators of '' The Play That Goes Wrong'' (2012). Premise The fictitious Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempts ...

'' in 2019. In between, he toured nationally as Cassius in

Bell Shakespeare Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. Founded by actor John Bell and based in Sydney, it is Australia's only national theatre company. Apart f ...

's ''Julius Caesar''. Simpson-Deeks has worked extensively with Watch This – a Melbourne-based theatre company dedicated exclusively to the work of

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

– starring in seven of their nine productions to date. In 2019 he received a

Green Room Award The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

for Best Supporting Actor in Musical Theatre for his performance in ''

Falsettos ''Falsettos'' is a sung-through musical theatre, musical with a book by William Finn and James Lapine, and music and lyrics by Finn. The musical consists of ''March of the Falsettos'' (1981) and ''Falsettoland'' (1990), the last two installment ...

'' at Melbourne's

Chapel Off Chapel Chapel Off Chapel is a theatre venue in Prahran, Melbourne. Located near Chapel Street and opened in 1995, the venue consists of the 255-seat Chapel Theatre, the 150-seat Chapel Loft and a visual arts gallery. Chapel Off Chapel is particularl ...

. He has been nominated for six Green Room Awards in total. In 2023, he played the role of Mike Priddle in the Australian premiere of ''Ghost Stories'', at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne.

Other work

Simpson-Deeks created the character of Daniel "Danno" Bookham for the popular educational video game ''Murder Under the Microscope'', and played the role from 2007 to 2012. In 2018, Simpson-Deeks was featured in the six-part web series ''Freudian Slip'', alongside writer and commentator Benjamin Law.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

Theatre

https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/411321

Awards and nominations

*''Nominated with Sonya Suares, Nick McInerney, Dean Drieberg and Mel Hillman''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson-Deeks, Nick Living people Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Year of birth missing (living people) National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni 21st-century Australian male actors