Benedict Samuel
Samuel in 2016
Born (1988-04-15) 15 April 1988 (age 35)
Adelaide, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor, writer, director
Years active2011–present
RelativesXavier Samuel (brother)

Benedict Samuel (born 15 April 1988) is an Australian actor, writer, and director best known for playing Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter in the Fox crime series Gotham and as Owen in The Walking Dead.

Early life

Samuel was born in Adelaide, Australia, to Maree and Clifford Samuel.[1] The youngest of three siblings, his brother is actor Xavier Samuel and his sister, Bridget Samuel, the eldest, is a stage manager.[2] Benedict attended Christian Brothers College in Adelaide,[3] and is a graduate of The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).[1]

Career

Following his education at NIDA, Samuel began writing and directing a number of short films including Sanctuary which was released in 2012 [4] and starred his brother Xavier Samuel in the leading role. In theatre, he performed in Sex Wars, a production he appeared in during his time at NIDA.[5] He played a part in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne.[6]

In 2011, Benedict appeared on several Australian television series including the mini-series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo and the children's series My Place. He is known for playing the role of Harman "Hammer" Pirovic on Seven Network soap opera Home and Away,[2][7] for which he appeared for several episodes until his character was killed off in a showdown between Hammer, Charlie Buckton and Darryl Braxton.

Samuel made his directorial debut with the film Sanctuary in 2012.[8]

In 2014, Samuel was cast in Asthma, the hotly anticipated directorial debut from Jake Hoffman, alongside Iggy Pop, Rene Ricard and Krysten Ritter.[9][1]

In 2015, Samuel played Skeet du Pont in the acclaimed ABC series The Beautiful Lie and Jacob Harding in the thriller film The Stanford Prison Experiment.[10]

As one of his most recognizable performances, Samuel appeared as Owen, the leader of the Wolves gang, in the American post-apocalyptic zombie series The Walking Dead.[11]

In 2016, Samuel was cast as famous Batman villain The Mad Hatter, the main antagonist of the third season of Gotham. He continued to play the character in a recurring capacity during the fourth season, beginning to appear again with the episode "Ace Chemicals" of Season 5. Secret City is an Australian political thriller television series based on the best-selling novels The Marmalade Files, The Mandarin Code, and The Shadow Game by Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis. The show filmed in 2016 and Samuel plays Felix .[12]

In 2018, Samuel played monstrous character, Lewis in Australian movie Pimped.[1]

Personal life

Samuel enjoys gardening and woodworking hobbies and once built his own dining table.[9]

Samuel planned to be an actor from an early age and was inspired by his brother's high school theatre performances. When speaking about his close relationship with his older brother and fellow actor Xavier, Samuel stated "I admire my brother so much. He's been a wealth of support and knowledge. Having a best friend to go through this world with, and your career…I feel very fortunate to have that."[1]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Underground: The Julian Assange Story Jonah
2014 Asthma Gus
2015 The Stanford Prison Experiment Jacob Harding
2015 The Walk David
2016 The Duel Brit
2017 Ellipsis Jasper
2018 Pimped Lewis
2019 Sweetheart Brad
2021 Warning Vincent
2022 Leave Not One Alive Ronin
2022 North of Normal Karl
TBA Lovers Paris Post-production

Short film

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Kiss Sean
2012 The Shed Creature
2012 Sanctuary None Director and writer
2014 The Little House Zach
2015 Oscar Wilde's the Nightingale and the Rose Student (voice)
2022 Dark Blue Man in Trunk

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo Michael Miniseries (1 episode)
2011 Home and Away Harman "Hammer" Pirovic Season 24 (recurring, 8 episodes)
2015 The Beautiful Lie Skeet Du Pont Season 1 (main role, 6 episodes)
2015 Childhood's End Fence Miniseries (1 episode)
2015–2016 The Walking Dead Owen[13] Seasons 5–6 (recurring, 5 episodes)
2016 Secret City Felix Crawford Season 1 (main role, 6 episodes)
2016–2019 Gotham Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter Season 3 (main role, 10 episodes)
Seasons 4–5 (recurring, 4 episodes)
2019 Chicago PD Matthew Garrett / Outrage Season 6 (guest, 1 episode)
2020 Into The Dark Royal Briggins Season 2 (guest, 1 episode)
2022 FBI: Most Wanted Teddy Season 4 (guest, 1 episode)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kornits, Dov (13 March 2019). "Benedict Samuel: Pumped for Pimped". FilmInk. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b Gilbertson, Matt (30 July 2011)"Xavier Samuel's brother Benedict joins Home and Away". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Adelaide's bad-boy star charming Hollywood". Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Sanctuary (2012) - IMDb". M.imdb.com. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. ^ Howard, Jane (7 March 2010)"NIDA: Sex Wars". australianstage.com.au. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  6. ^ Browning, Allison (18 February 2011)"Review: 'Tis Pity She's A Whore". The Enthusiast. Archived from the original on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Benedict Samuel joins Seven's 'Home & Away'". tvcentral.com.au. 31 July 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2011.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Benedict Samuel: actor/director". Vogue Australia. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Benedict Samuel". Interview Magazine. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  10. ^ "The Stanford Prison Experiment - by IFC Films - A Movie Review". New Yorkled Magazine. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  11. ^ Foxtel. "Walking Dead". Archived from the original on 28 February 2021.
  12. ^ Farrell, Paul. "Foxtel, Secret City". Archived from the original on 17 May 2018.
  13. ^ "The Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple on that big death and even bigger injury | EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016.

External links

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