Toby Schmitz (born 4 May 1977) is an Australian actor and playwright. He was born in Perth, Western Australia, attended Perth's Scotch College and briefly studied law at the University of Western Australia. 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 Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

, Company B at Belvoir St Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company. 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 ''The Great Man'' is a 1956 American film noir drama film directed by and starring José Ferrer. The screenplay was written by Ferrer and Al Morgan, Morgan's novel of the same name the source material. It was loosely based on the controversial ...

'' 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 ''The Woman with Dog's Eyes'' is a play by the Australian writer Louis Nowra. It is the first part of the ''Boyce trilogy'' written for the Griffin Theatre Company at the behest of its Artistic Director David Berthold. The other two plays are '' T ...

'' (2004), ''

The Marvellous Boy ''The Marvellous Boy'' is a play by Australian playwright Louis Nowra, the second part of the Boyce trilogy. It is set in Sydney, particularly in Kings Cross. It was first performed at the SWB Stables on 13 October 2005 by the Griffin Theatr ...

'' (2005) and ''

The Emperor of Sydney ''The Emperor of Sydney'' is a play by Australian playwright Louis Nowra, the third part of the Boyce trilogy following '' The Woman with Dog's Eyes'' and '' The Marvellous Boy''. The play is a single continuous scene set at night in the living ...

'' (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 2015, Schmitz appeared in Andrew Upton's adaptation of Chekhov's play ''

Platonov Platonov or Platonaw is a surname. It may refer to: People *Andrei Platonov (1899–1951), pen name of Andrei Platonovich Klimentov, Russian writer of the Soviet period * Dzmitry Platonaw (born 1986), Belarusian footballer *Igor Platonov (1934–19 ...

'', titled ''The Present'', for the Sydney Theatre Company. The play was directed by

John Crowley John Crowley may refer to: *John Crowley (Irish revolutionary) (1891-1942), Irish revolutionary and hunger striker *John Crowley (author) (born 1942), American author *John Crowley (baseball) (1862–1896), American Major League catcher *John Crowl ...

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.

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 ''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 trip ...

'','' Temptation'', and the

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

/ Tom Hanks produced miniseries ''

The Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

''. He also be appeared in the third instalment of the Underbelly Files series of telemovies, titled '

The Man Who Got Away ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

', 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 ''Randling'' was an Australian comedic word-based television quiz show hosted by Andrew Denton. It aired on ABC1 at 8:30 on Wednesday nights, with the show repeated on Fridays on ABC2 at 11pm. The show was hosted by Andrew Denton who posed quest ...

'', hosted by

Andrew Denton Andrew Christopher Denton (born 4 May 1960) is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program ''Enough Rope'' and ...

on ABC1. In 2014, Schmitz joined an ensemble cast in the

Starz Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...

dramatic series '' Black Sails'' as historical pirate

Calico Jack Rackham John Rackham (26 December 168218 November 1720), commonly known as Calico Jack, was an English pirate captain operating in the Bahamas and in Cuba during the early 18th century. His nickname was derived from the Calico (fabric), calico clothing t ...

. ABC series producers cast Schmitz as Lewis Hughes, a smooth and unrequited SC in the 2017 legal drama '' Newton's Law'', starring Claudia Karvan.

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 Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

'', '' 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 ''Griff the Invisible'' is a 2010 Australian romantic superhero, comedy-drama film written and directed by Leon Ford. The story is about Griff (Ryan Kwanten), a socially awkward office worker who spends his days being bullied by his workmates. ...

'', 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, ', 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 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 launche ...

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 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. History The Tamarama R ...

. His other plays include ''This Blasted Earth'', ''Pan'', ''Cunt Pi'', and ''Grazing the Phosphorus'', commissioned by the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Awards

* 2010 Sydney Theatre Awards Nomination for 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role' for ''Measure for Measure'' * 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards Nomination for 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role' for ''The Great'' * 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards Nomination for 'Best Actor in a Lead Role' for ''Ruben Guthrie'' * 2004 Recipient of the Australian National Playwrights' Centre/New Dramatists Award for ''Chicks Will Dig You'' * 2003 Shortlisted for the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award for ''Chicks Will Dig You'' * 2002 Co-recipient of the

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

for ''Lucky''

References

The Australian interview for ''Private Lives'', 2012

* ttp://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/theatre/toby-schmitz-in-ruben-guthrie.aspx Time Out Sydney interview for ''Ruben Guthrie'', 2009
''Putting on the Schmitz'': Sydney Morning Herald interview for ''Travesties'', 2009

CitySearch interview for ''This is How It Goes'', 2008

Threedworld interview for ''Travesties'', 2009

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, Toby Australian male stage actors Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian people of German descent Australian dramatists and playwrights 1977 births Living people People educated at Scotch College, Perth University of Western Australia alumni Male actors from Perth, Western Australia