Rowan Witt is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for starring in ''

The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

'',

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, Totally Completely Fine, ''

She Loves Me ''She Loves Me'' is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. The musical is the third adaptation of the 1937 play '' Parfumerie'' by Hungarian playwright Miklós László, following the 1940 f ...

,'' ''

Dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an air combat manoeuvring, aerial battle between fighter aircraft that is conducted at close range. Modern terminology for air-to-air combat is air combat manoeuvring (ACM), which refers to tactical situations requir ...

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins ...

Into The Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1986 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

'', ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

,'' and ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

''.

Early life

Witt was born in Australia. A talented artist, his secondary school graduating artwork topped the state, and was exhibited at the NSW Art Gallery, and was awarded the

Julian Ashton Julian Rossi Ashton (27 January 185127 April 1942) was an English-born Australian artist and teacher. He is best known for founding the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney and encouraging Australian painters to capture local life and scenery ' ...

drawing scholarship. He undertook intensive acting training throughout school, and received his classical degree from the highly-competitive

Sydney Conservatorium The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music ...

, where he majored in Voice. Witt also trained in acting at various notable institutions including ATYP and NIDA, with a background in theatre and improvisation.

Career

Witt was discovered at an early age and started working extensively in film and television, with credits including ''

'' (credited as "Spoon Boy"), ''Somewhere in the Darkness'', '' Escape of the Artful Dodger'', ''Underbelly'' and ''

''. He was short-listed to the final few for the role of ''Harry Potter'' in the series of feature films and was notably the only Australian actor to be flown to

Leavesden Studios Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden is an studio complex in Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Formerly known as Leavesden Film Studios and still colloquially known as Leavesden Studios or simply Leavesden, it is a film an ...

in England to screen-test. He continued acting through school, and a few weeks after graduating university, Witt made his musical theatre début 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 ...

in The Lincoln Centre's production of ''South Pacific''. The production was the highest selling show in the

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

's history, and was directed by

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. ''The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". ...

and starred

Teddy Tahu Rhodes Teddy Tahu Rhodes (born 30 August 1966) is a New Zealand-born operatic baritone based in Australia. He has performed at opera houses in New Zealand, Australia, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and throughou ...

and

Lisa McCune Lisa McCune (born 19 February 1971) is an Australian actress, known for her role in TV series ''Blue Heelers'' as Senior Constable Maggie Doyle, and in ''Sea Patrol'' as Lieutenant Kate McGregor RAN. She has won four Gold Logie Awards. McCune ...

. This was followed by the role of Jack, in the Australian production of ''Into The Woods'', at the Melbourne Arts Centre, for which he garnered considerable critical acclaim. Witt was then cast in the Australian premiere of

Pasek and Paul Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, known together as Pasek and Paul, are an American songwriting duo and composing team for musical theater, films and television. While Pasek usually writes lyrics and Paul usually writes music, they share credit fo ...

's musical, ''Dogfight'', at the

Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theatre is a 111-seat theatre specialising in music theatre and cabaret in Potts Point, Sydney, Australia. It is named after the Australian performer Nancye Hayes. Hayes Theatre Co was established at the former ''Darlinghurst Theatre' ...

, as the abusive Vietnam marine, Bernstein. AussieTheatre named Witt's performance a highlight of 2015, stating "Witt is the kind of actor that musical theatre needs." Midway through the ''Dogfight'' season, Witt was cast and started work on

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

's production of ''Les Misérables'' (25th Anniversary Production) performing and rehearsing two shows simultaneously. Other theatre roles during this time include

John Hinckley John Warnock Hinckley Jr. (born May 29, 1955) is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. president Ronald Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a ...

in the Australian tour of Sondheim's ''Assassins'', Danny in ''Baby'' at the

, Leaf Coneybear in

William Finn William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...

's ''

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by William Finn, with a book written by Rachel Sheinkin, created by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional ...

'', originating the role of

Chandler Bing Chandler Muriel Bing is a fictional character from the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', portrayed by Matthew Perry. Chandler was born to Nora Tyler Bing, an erotic romance novelist, and Charles Bing, a gay female impersonator and star of a Las Vegas drag ...

in the Australian production of ''Friends: the Musical'', and Young Buddy in the acclaimed concert production of Sondheim's ''

Follies ''Follies'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The plot centers on a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on the ''Ziegfeld Follies ...

'' – opposite

Philip Quast Philip Mark Quast (born 30 July 1957) is an Australian actor and bass-baritone singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category. He is perhap ...

Debra Byrne Debra Anne Byrne (born 30 March 1957), formerly billed as Debbie Byrne, is an Australian pop singer, variety entertainer, theatre and TV actress and writer, director and choreographer of cabaret. From April 1971 to March 1975 she was a founding ...

, and David Hobson. Witt's breakout role came as Elder McKinley in the original Australian cast of mega-musical ''The Book of Mormon'', both at The Princess Theatre in Melbourne and the Sydney Lyric Theatre in Sydney. For this role he won several awards including a Sydney Theatre Award, and a

Helpmann Award The Helpmann Awards are accolades for live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia (LPA) since 2001. The annual awards recognise achievements in the disciplines of musical theatre ...

nomination. The production boasted the biggest opening sales of any musical in Australia's history selling more than $5 million worth of tickets in the first few hours. Directly after, Witt signed on as the romantic lead in the acclaimed revival of Bock and Harnick's, ''

'' at the

, before playing Dean in the acclaimed Sydney premiere of Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' play, ''Gloria''. For both roles he was nominated for BW and Sydney Theatre Awards. In 2021, Witt starred opposite

Katherine Parkinson Katherine Parkinson (born 1977 or 1978) is an English actress. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy series ''The IT Crowd'' as Jen Barber, for which she won BAFTA's British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2014. Par ...

(

The IT Crowd ''The IT Crowd'' is a British television sitcom originally broadcast by Channel 4, created, written, and directed by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry. Set in th ...

) in the first

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

original television series, ''

Spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

''. And across 2022-2023, Witt took up the iconic role of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

in the Australian production of

. It was during this period that he was cast in

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

's "wild and darkly poignant" Totally Completely Fine, in which he starred as John, opposite Thomasin Mackenzie,

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

, and Devon Terrell.

Personal life

Witt has a sister, a pop musician, who performs under the stage name, ELKI.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Witt, Rowan Living people 21st-century Australian male actors Helpmann Award winners Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Australian male musical theatre actors Year of birth missing (living people) Australian male voice actors Male actors from Sydney Australian male child actors Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni Male Shakespearean actors Australian people of English descent