Scott Ian Major (born 4 July 1975) is an Australian actor and TV and film director, best known for his roles as Peter Rivers in the 1994 television teen drama series ''
Heartbreak High
''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program 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 s ...
'' and
Lucas Fitzgerald in soap opera ''
Neighbours''.
Career
Major's acting debut was playing
Murray on ''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''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 tr ...
'' in the 1990s. He played a student in the comedy series ''
Late For School'' in 1992, and then joined the cast of ''
Neighbours'' for three months in 1993 as
Darren Stark
Darren Stark is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'', played by Todd MacDonald. He made his first on-screen appearance on 20 July 1993 and was originally played by Scott Major. When the character was released from ...
.
Major appeared in the 1993 Australian
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...
film ''
The Heartbreak Kid'', with
Alex Dimitriades
Alex Dimitriades (born 28 December 1973) 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 Nick Poulos in the 1994 television teen drama spin-off ' ...
and
Claudia Karvan
Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. 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 i ...
. Major reprise his role as Peter Rivers in ''
Heartbreak High
''Heartbreak High'' is an Australian television program 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 s ...
'' from 1994 to 1995. In 1998 he appeared in an episode of ''
All Saints'' (Season 2 – "If these walls could talk"). In 1999 he was cast in the Aussie film ''Envy'' (titled as ''The New Girlfriend'' in the United States). Two years later he had a small role as a welfare officer in the book to film production ''
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand
''He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'' is a purportedly non-fiction autobiographical novel by Australian author John Birmingham about his experiences as a share housing tenant, first published in 1994 by The Yellow Press (). The story consists ...
'', the novel was written by
John Birmingham
John Birmingham (born 7 August 1964) is a British-born Australian author, known for the 1994 memoir '' He Died with a Felafel in His Hand'', and his '' Axis of Time'' trilogy.
Early life and education
Birmingham was born in Liverpool, Unit ...
.
Major had a major role the Australian drama, ''
Always Greener
''Always Greener'' was an Australian television drama/comedy series that aired on the Seven Network which followed the fortunes of two families, one from the city and the other from the country, when they decide to switch homes and start a new d ...
'' as Tom Morgan, which was shown on the
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australi ...
between 2001 and 2003. He also wrote, produced, directed and starred in his own play called ''Both Sides of the Bar'' at the 2006
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
. Spending two years in the UK, he appeared in an episode of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
soap ''
Doctors'' in 2007 and also starred in the first episode of the second series of ''
Love Soup
''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 ...
'', a BBC comedy starring
Tamsin Greig.
Major returned to Australia and began appearing in ''Neighbours'' from July 2008 as
Lucas Fitzgerald.
On 1 July 2013, it was announced that Major had left the show.
In December 2010, the actor revealed that he has been
directing some episodes of ''Neighbours'' with the help of an existing television director.
Major has admitted that he finds the directing part of his job "very tough to fit it in with the acting" because he is "running from location to location and getting the scene shot and then putting a different hat on and directing a scene."
Of his decision to take on the new role, Major has said "I want to do it all. I also do a lot of writing. I write my own plays and put them on, direct and produce them. Australia is a very small industry acting-wise. I've been doing it professionally for 21 years and you just have to have more strings to your bow than acting."
In 2019, Major won Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Drama Serial for his work on "Episode 7776A" at the
Australian Directors' Guild Awards. He was nominated in the same category for "Episode 7776B".
Major directed episodes of the 2018 drama series ''
Playing for Keeps''. He also directed the 2021 miniseries ''
Lie With Me'' created by ''Neighbours executive producer
Jason Herbison. Major has filmed a part in the upcoming film titled ''Residence'', playing Cormac the Shepherd. He will also direct the 2022 psychological thriller series ''
Riptide
A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal f ...
''.
Filmography
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Scott
1975 births
20th-century Australian male actors
21st-century Australian male actors
Australian male film actors
Australian male soap opera actors
Film directors from Melbourne
Living people
Male actors from Melbourne