Lindsay Farris

Lindsay Farris is an Australian / Maori actor, writer, producer, musician, voice over artist and entrepreneur who has been labelled as one of the "young guardians of theatre".[1][2]

Lindsay Farris
Born	18 October 1985 Sydney, Australia
Occupation	Actor, author, director, musician.
Years active	Since 2002

Career

Stage work

Farris has an extensive background in Australian theatre having worked for several leading Australian theatre companies including the Sydney Theatre Company under Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton's Artistic Direction, La Boite Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, The Production Company and Christine Dunstan Productions.

Farris' theatre credits include the critically acclaimed[3][4][5][6] title role of Hamlet in Sport For Jove Theatre Company production at the Seymour Centre for which he received a 2012 Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role in an Independent Production.[7] Farris received rave reviews with iconic Sydney arts reviewer and co-founder of the Sydney Theatre Awards Diana Simmonds stating "Lindsay Farris' Hamlet is the most electrifying, memorable, sustained and intelligent realisation of the tragic Prince of Denmark I've ever seen".[4] In 2011 he appeared in the Australian premiere of Anthony Neilson's play Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness, a co-production between the Sydney Theatre Company and La Boite Theatre Company.

Farris appeared as Dakin in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys at the Sydney Opera House.[8]

In May 2013 Farris reprised his critically acclaimed role of the Danish Prince in Sport For Jove Theatre Company's return season of Hamlet. Farris appeared in Noises Off and Mojo, both for Sydney Theatre Company.

Farris was founder and Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre Company.[9]

Film and Television

Farris appeared in Peter Templeman's 2005 short film Splintered, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2005.[10] It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (Live Action).

In 2009 Farris appeared in Rene Hernandez’s short film The Ground Beneath, which was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Film.[11][12]

Farris starred in the Joseph Sims feature film Bad Behaviour alongside John Jarratt. The film was selected as the closing night feature for the 2010 Melbourne Underground Film Festival, and received five awards including Best Actor for Lindsay.[13] Bad Behaviour also appeared at the 2011 Cinequest Film Festival, making its North American premiere and has since appeared at Cannes and Another Hole in the Head Festival in San Francisco.[14]

In 2010 Farris worked alongside Sunny Abberton to develop a documentary on youth theatre in Australia.[15] Lindsay is also Executive Director of The Australian Ministry of Theatre, a company dedicated to the development of cultural initiatives for the sustainability of theatre practitioners and audiences.[16]

In 2015 Lindsay worked alongside Geoffrey Rush, Nikolaj Coster Waldau, Brenton Thwaites and Gerard Butler on Gods of Egypt for Lionsgate Entertainment. Prior to this, Farris appeared in the Australian component of Geography of the Heart. He also worked with Alan Ball's HBO show Virtuoso executive produced by Elton John and David Furnish, and appeared as Dom Loneragan on Home and Away for The Seven Network. Farris also co-produced and starred in Observance, Joseph Sims-Dennett's second feature film, alongside John Jarratt and Brendan Cowell. Observance went to Cinequest Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival.

In 2017 Lindsay appeared in PBS civil war drama Mercy Street for Scott Free Productions and Carl Logan in Sisters for Endemol Shine Australia.

In 2018 he appears as Dalton, the leader of the Knights of Sumeria in Ash Vs Evil Dead alongside Lucy Lawless and Bruce Campbell, executive produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert and Bruce Campbell.

In 2019 he appeared again alongside Lucy Lawless in CJZ's My Life Is Murder for Acorn TV and Network TEN.

Directing and Writing

Farris was founding Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre Company of Australia and founding Chair of the National Youth Theatre Company Foundation.

Farris has taught regularly at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and has worked with students in performing arts at primary, secondary and tertiary schools across Australia including National Institute of Dramatic Arts and Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Farris is a regular lecturer at intensive education programs, including the NSW State Drama Camp, NSW Riverina School's Drama Camp, Big Day Out, National Institute of Dramatic Art Young Actors Studio, NSW State Drama Company and NSW State Drama Ensemble. He also lectures regularly at schools and community centers on the importance of film, theatre, acting, and drama in education.

Farris wrote the screenplay for Untitled Lindsay Farris Project, for which he was shortlisted for the 2018 Screencraft Pilot Launch Competition[17] and was a finalist for the 2019 Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship[18][19] and Table Read My Screenplay Competition.[20] Farris has also written the stage plays Sugar Bowl and Touch.[21]

Farris is also author of the novel, A Young Actor's Guide to Becoming a Wanker.[22]

Music

Farris is a pianist, who has performed in venues around Australia including the Sydney Opera House, Vanguard, Metro and The Spanish Club.

Charity work

Farris was co-founder and Chair of the National Youth Theatre Company Foundation.[23]

Credits

Theatre

Year	Play	Role	Company
2002	Hello Dolly	Barnaby	The Production Company
2003	Hamlet	Hamlet	National Institute of Dramatic Art
2004	I'm Not Rappaport	Gilley	Ensemble Theatre
	Seven Little Australians	Unknown	new theatre
2005	Verbal Combat	Unknown	Brainstorm Productions
	Saving Cal and Mindi	Unknown	Brainstorm Productions
2006	Birds of Passage	Unknown	The Street Theatre Company
2007	One in a Hundred	Simon	The Street Theatre Company
	Love of the Nightingale	Tereus	National Institute of Dramatic Art
	Emergence	Ram	Synarcade
2008	Blowing Whistles	Mark	Focus Theatre / Belvoir St Theatre
2009	The Keeper	Man	Micah Projects
	Inside Out	Simon	Christine Dunstan Productions
	The Little Dog Laughed	Alex	Ensemble Theatre
2011	Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness	Nicholas Ludd	Sydney Theatre Company / La Boite Theatre Company
2012	Hamlet	Hamlet[24]	Sport For Jove Theatre Company
2013	The History Boys	Dakin	The Peach Theatre Company
	Hamlet	Hamlet	Sport For Jove Theatre Company
2014	Noises Off	Timothy Allgood	Sydney Theatre Company
	Mojo	Baby	Sydney Theatre Company

Filmography

Year	Film	Production Company, director, Role	Type	Notes
2002	All Saints	Nicholas	TV episode
2003	Marking Time	Student	TV episode
	The Sleepover Club (TV Series)	Burberry Productions, Dir. Kate Woods, Wolf	TV episode
	My Soul Is Too Much Charged	AFTRS, Dir. Justine Gilmer, Harry Winchester	Short Film
	Splintered	Dir. Peter Templeman, Gavin	Short Film	Multi-award-winning[25] short film which was in contention for the 2006 Academy Awards for Best Short Film (Live Action). Won 14 awards including: Grand Jury Winner, Best Narrative Short – Slamdance Film Festival 2005 Best Film & Best Director – St Kilda Film Festival 2005 Best Film & Best Actor – In The Bin Short Film Festival 2005 Best Film & Best Director – Falls Creek Film Festival 2005
	G.D. Drama	Unknown	Short Film
2004	Blue Water High	Southern Star Productions, Cal	TV episode
	All Saints	SNO, Dir. Chris Seeto, Wayne	TV episode
	On the Lurk with Roy and H.G.	Hecktown Pty. Ltd., Dir. Adam Blaiklock, Young Bon Scott	Short Film
	Twists of Fate	On The Mark Films, Dir. Mark Eder, Dennis	Feature Film
2007	Sea Patrol (TV Series)	Sea Patrol Productions, Dir. Geoff Bennett, Simon	TV episode
2008	The Ground Beneath	Passion Pictures, Dir. Rene Hernandez, Mate	Short Film	Multi award-winning short film which was in contention for the 2010 Academy Awards[11] for Best Short Film (Live Action). Won 13 awards including: Australian Film Institute – Best Screenplay in a Short Film 2009 Sydney Film Festival – Rouben Mamoulian Award 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival – Best Australian Achievement in Cinematography 2008 Aspen Shortfest – International Special Recognition 2009 Australian Screen Editors Best Editing Short 2008
2010	Primal	Primal Films, Dir. Josh Reed, Chad	Feature Film	Nominated for 5 awards BLOODFEST FANTASTIQUE FILM FESTIVAL including Best Actor – Lindsay Farris, Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress & Best Screenplay
	My Place	Rusty Fig Productions, Dir. Sam Lang, Earl	TV episode
	Rescue: Special Ops	Southern Star, Dir. David Caesar, Shane	TV episode
	Bad Behaviour	Sterling Cinema Australia, Dir. Joseph Sims, Peterson	Feature Film	Official Selection Australian Film Festival, Cinequest Film Festival and Melbourne Underground Film Festival. Received six awards at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival including: Best Actor – Lindsay Farris Best Director – Joseph Sims Best Film Best Screenplay – Feature Film Best Supporting Actor – Roger Ward Best Supporting Actress – Ellen Grimshaw
2011	Crosshairs	17 Degrees South Films, Dir. Mike Hoath, Beau	Short Film	Multi award-winning short film including: New York City Short Film Festival- Best Drama Williamsburg International Film Festival – Outstanding Achievement Woodland Film Festival – Best Australian Short Film & Audience Choice Australian Film Festival – Honourable Mention Clare Valley Film Festival – Best Australian Short Film & Audience Choice
	Geography of the Heart	Sun Productions, Dir. Samantha Rebillet, Tal	Feature Film
	Elixir	Brodie Higgs Productions, Dir. Brodie Higgs, Phillipe	Feature Film
	Paradise Lost	Legendary Pictures / Warner Bros., Dir. Alex Proyas	Feature Film
2012	Chicom	Amos – Litton-Strain, Dir. Brendon McDonall, Charlie	Short Film
	Agent Provocateur	Sirin Productions, Dir. Sophie Wiesner, Ljubo	Short Film
	Hamlet	Dir. L. Hall, Hamlet	Feature
2013	Observance	Sterling Cinema Australia, Dir. Joseph Sims, Parker	Feature Film
	Shift	Deceptionworks, Dir. James Croke, Adam	Short Film
2014	The Code	Playmaker Media, Dir. Shawn Seet, Dean	Television
	Parer's War	Parer's War Pty. Ltd, Dir. Alister Grierson, Max Dupain	Feature Film
2015	Winter	Cornerstone Pictures, Dir. Ian Watson, Martin Jenkins	Television
	Virtuoso	HBO, Executive Prod. Alan Ball, Elton John, David Furnish, Heinrich Von Faust	Television
2016	Gods of Egypt	Mystery Clock Cinema, Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Pictures, Dir. Alex Proyas	Feature Film
	Home and Away	The Seven Network, Dom Loneragan	Television
2017	Mercy Street	Scott Free Productions, Dir. Laura Innes, Declan Brannan	Television
	Sisters	Endemol Shine, Prod. Imogen Banks, Carl Logan	Television
2018	Ash Vs Evil Dead	Starz, Produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert & Bruce Campbell. Dalton	Television
2019	My Life is Murder	Network Ten, CJZ	Television

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Role	Result
2004	Bondi Short Film Festival	"Best Actor"	Splintered	Gavin	Won
2005	In The Bin Film Festival	"Best Actor"	Splintered	Gavin	Won
2010	Melbourne Underground Film Festival	"Best Actor"	Bad Behaviour	Peterson	Won
2011	BloodFest Fantastique Film Festival	"Best Actor"	Primal	Chad	Nominated
2012	Sydney Theatre Awards	"Best Actor in an Independent Production"	Hamlet	Hamlet	Nominated
2018	Screencraft Pilot Launch Competition	Best Screenplay	Untitled Lindsay Farris Project	Writer	Finalist
2019	Table Read My Screenplay - Hollywood	Best Screenplay	Untitled Lindsay Farris Project	Writer	Finalist
2019	Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship	Best Feature Film or Television Pilot	Untitled Lindsay Farris Project	Writer	Finalist

References

1. Bithell, Garrett (7 May 2009). "Leading by example". AXN.
2. "Interview: Lindsay Farris turns up the heat in My Life Is Murder". 1428elm.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
3. Blake, Reviewed by Jason (18 June 2012). "An antic disposition, since brevity is the soul of wit". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
4. Simmonds, Diana. "Hamlet | Stage Noise - Diana Simmonds". www.stagenoise.com. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
5. "Hamlet | ArtsHub Australia". Artshub.com.au. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
6. "The AU Review". The AU Review. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. MX, Wednesday 23 January 2013, page 2
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. "Latest Academy News". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Bra Boy Sunny Abberton's new role as mentor". Daily Telegraph. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
16. http://www.ministryoftheatre.com
17. admin (11 January 2019). "2018 ScreenCraft Pilot Launch Competition Finalists Announced". ScreenCraft. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
18. Prestin, Scott. "The 2019 Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship Finalists and Winners | Filmmatic". Retrieved 15 August 2019.
19. "Season 2 WInners - Screenwriters Fellowship". screenwritingfellowship.org. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
20. "Hollywood Winners". Table Read My Screenplay. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
21. "Lindsay Farris | Biography". www.sportforjove.com.au. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
22. Entertainment, X. S. (11 May 2011). "Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness". XS Entertainment. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
23. http://www.nytcfoundation.org.au/#!home/mainPage Archived 19 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
24. Simmonds, Diana (20 June 2012). "HAMLET". Stage Noise. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
25. http://www.parkfilms.com.au/film_splintered.htm

Further reading

• "A prince of players", Lauren Murada, Inner West Courier, 21 June 2012, p. Cover, 2 and 33 – Lindsay Farris on playing Hamlet in Sport For Jove Theatre Company's 2012 production
• "Only The Lonely", Matt O'Neill, Time Off, 18 May 2011, p 28: Interview for Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness (La Boite Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company)
• "Leading by example" Garrett Bithell, AX National, 7 May 2009, p 3, 20–21: Interview about Lindsay Farris' career to date and in the future
• "Pulling no punches" Garrett Bithell, SX, 9 July 2009, p Cover and 13, Cover story and feature interview to promote The Little Dog Laughed for the Ensemble Theatre
• "Schizophrenia's long and difficult journey", Ron Cerabona, The Canberra Times, May 2007, interview for 1 in 100/ Inside Out
• "Actors seek a deeper meaning in their work", The Glebe, 6 July 2006, p 15 – Lindsay Farris on being a young Australian actor
• "Acting on an Ambition" Vanessa Santer, mX 9 February 2006 – on NIDA Young Actors Studio

External links

• Lindsay Farris at IMDb
• Splintered
• Blake, Elissa (February 2013). "School of thought". The Sydney Morning Herald, p 11
• Hook Chris (9 June 2012). "To be or not to be". The Daily Telegraph, Best Weekend, p 4
• Webster, Samuel (26 June 2012). "Shakespeare’s Real Jester: Lindsay Farris on playing Hamlet". Mood of Monk.