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
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
'' for the
Sydney Theatre Company.
In 2002, he won an
AACTA Award
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...
for
Best Supporting Actor for his role in
Tony Ayres
Tony Ayres (born 16 July 1961) is an Australian showrunner, screenwriter, director in television and feature film. He is most notable for his films '' Walking on Water'' and '' The Home Song Stories'', as well his work in television, includi ...
’ acclaimed ''
Walking on Water''.
Dean has performed in numerous stage plays, TV series, short films and Australian feature films. He has been the voice of numerous advertising campaigns and productions including ''Recipe to Riches'', the AFL, Victoria Bitter and Holden.
Early life
Dean grew up in the
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is the region surrounding the Yarra River in Victoria, Australia. The river originates approximately east of the Melbourne central business district and flows towards it and out into Port Phillip Bay. The name Yarra Vall ...
region of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. During his final year of high school, he resuscitated a woman at his local swimming pool. This event would later become the subject of Dean’s first dramatic work.
After performing in numerous productions in Melbourne’s independent theatre scene Dean auditioned for the
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...
. He was accepted with a scholarship.
Career
After graduation, Dean and NIDA classmate
Toby Schmitz
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 ...
worked together on
Howard Korder
Howard Korder is an American screenwriter and playwright. He is the author of the 1988 coming-of-age play '' Boy's Life'', which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama nomination. His play ''Search and Destroy'' was adapted into a film in 1995. ...
’s ''Boys Life''. The production was selected to open the
Sydney Fringe Festival
The Sydney Fringe is an alternative arts and culture festival held for the first time in September 2010 in the inner west of Sydney, Australia.
The Fringe is an initiative of the Newtown Entertainment Precinct Association. .
The pair appeared together soon after in Schmitz’s first play, ''Dream a Little Dream'' at
Belvoir St Theatre
Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack.
The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...
.
In 2002, Dean played Patch in the TV series ''
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 ...
'', which was nominated for an
International Emmy Award
The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and Sci ...
. That same year, he received an
AFI Awards award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Tony Ayres’ film ''
Walking on Water''. In 2004, Dean was nominated for the same award for his role in
Cate Shortland
Cate Shortland (born 10 August 1968) is an Australian screenwriter, film director, television director, and television writer. She received international acclaim for her 2004 romantic drama film '' Somersault'', her 2012 historical drama film ' ...
’s ''
Somersault
A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...
''. He also played Jothee in Brian Henson’s science fiction film ''
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars''.
Dean played alongside
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...
in ''
Candy'' -
Neil Armfield’s adaptation of
Luke Davies’ novel by
the same name. Armfield would later direct Dean in the plays ''
Peribanez'' and
Tommy Murphy’s ''Gwen in Purgatory'' at Belvoir St Theatre and later ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
'' at the Sydney Theatre Company.
In 2008 Dean played a Rugby League star in Matt Nable’s Australian film, ''
The Final Winter
''The Final Winter'' is an Australian drama film released in 2007. It was directed by Brian Andrews and Jane Forrest and produced by Anthony Coffee, and Michelle Russell, while independently produced it is being distributed by Paramount Pictur ...
'', which told the story of how big business entered the NRL during the 1980s.
That same year, Dean played Fred Klein in ''
Rain Shadow,'' a desperate and suicidal farmer whose livelihood is threatened by drought. Dean then played a psychotic serial killer addicted to Crystal Methamphetamine on ''
East West 101
''East West 101'' was a drama series airing on the SBS network. The series was produced and created by Steven Knapman and Kris Wyld, the team behind other drama series such as '' Wildside'' and ''White Collar Blue''. It ran from 2007–2011, ...
''.
Dean went on to play Sergeant Mick Scanlon in Channel Seven’s period drama ''
Wild Boys
''Wild Boys'' is an Australian television period drama series that began airing on the Seven Network on 4 September 2011. It is produced by Julie McGauran and Sarah Smith from Southern Star and John Holmes. The series is set in and around the ...
'' and Kraut in Channel Ten’s "
Bikie Wars". He also appeared in the AFI winning series ''Puberty Blues''.
More recently, Dean has spent more time on stage, starring in Belvoir St Theatre’s production of "Gwen in Purgatory", written by Tommy Murphy, and directed by Neil Armfield.
In 2013, he starred as William Thornhill in the Sydney Theatre Company’s landmark adaptation of Kate Grenville’s book, ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
''.
Dean plays Tyson Black in the crime-thriller film ''
Locusts''.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Nathaniel
Australian male television actors
Living people
National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni
Male actors from Victoria (Australia)
Australian male stage actors
Australian male film actors
Best Supporting Actor AACTA Award winners
Year of birth missing (living people)