# Nick Simpson-Deeks

Nick Simpson-Deeks is a NIDA-trained Australian actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his portrayal of Archie McMahon in the SBS drama series The Circuit, Rhys Mitchell in Seven Network's Winners & Losers, and James King in the Amazon Original crime series Deadloch.

## Early life

Simpson-Deeks was born and raised in Werris Creek, New South Wales, and attended Oxley High School in Tamworth. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2001. In 2006 he was awarded a Mike Walsh Fellowship which he used to further his actor training at the School at Steppenwolf in Chicago.

## Career
### Film and television

Simpson-Deeks was a series regular in both seasons of the award-winning legal drama The Circuit, the second season of Winners & Losers (after guest starring in the show's first season), and the sci-fi series Stormworld. Additionally, he has guest-starred in Utopia, The Newsreader, Five Bedrooms, Underbelly: Fat Tony & Co., Wentworth, Mr & Mrs Murder, Play School, City Homicide, The Strange Calls, Temptation, and The Postcard Bandit. He plays forensic pathologist James King in the Amazon Original series, Deadloch.
His film credits include roles in the short films After the Credits, Dropbear, A Simple Song, Shades of Grey and Home. He portrayed Irish rider Pat Smullen in the 2011 feature film The Cup, and filmmaker Billy Name in Jim Sharman's Andy X – a musical film based on the death of Andy Warhol.

### Theatre

Simpson-Deeks made his professional theatre debut in Falling on My Left Ear: A Show about George Wallace for the now defunct Railway Street Theatre Company in Parramatta in 2002. The following year, he returned to Railway Street to play the role of Tom in Michael Gow's iconic Australian play, Away. Both productions toured regionally and were directed by Mary-Anne Gifford.
In 2005 he received critical acclaim for his performance in Mark Ravenhill's Handbag at the Seymour Centre. Later that year, he starred in Somewhere – an original musical by Tim Minchin and Kate Mulvany – for Q Theatre.
In 2009, Simpson-Deeks was cast in the ensemble of Jerry Springer: the Opera at the Sydney Opera House as part of Sydney Festival. He joined the original Australian cast of Jersey Boys, in the role of Franki Valli (Alternate), that same year, but left the production prematurely due to health complications. In 2010, he sang the role of Skeets Miller in a one-off concert performance of Adam Guettel's Floyd Collins at City Recital Hall in Sydney.
Simpson-Deeks played the role of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick in Ned: A New Australian Musical at Bendigo's Ulumbarra Theatre in 2015, and is featured on the show's Official Cast Recording. He reprised the role in concert at The National Theatre, Melbourne in 2017.
He played Chris Bean in the Australian production of The Play That Goes Wrong, and briefly reprised the role during the Australian tour of Peter Pan Goes Wrong in 2019. In between, he toured nationally as Cassius in Bell Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Simpson-Deeks has worked extensively with Watch This – a Melbourne-based theatre company dedicated exclusively to the work of Stephen Sondheim – starring in seven of their nine productions to date.
In 2019 he received a Green Room Award for Best Supporting Actor in Musical Theatre for his performance in Falsettos at Melbourne's Chapel Off Chapel. He has been nominated for six Green Room Awards in total.
In 2023, he played the role of Mike Priddle in the Australian premiere of Ghost Stories, at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne.

### Other work

Simpson-Deeks created the character of Daniel "Danno" Bookham for the popular educational video game Murder Under the Microscope, and played the role from 2007 to 2012.
In 2018, Simpson-Deeks was featured in the six-part web series Freudian Slip, alongside writer and commentator Benjamin Law.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
| 2015 | Home | Theo | Short film |
| 2014 | Dropbear | Dad | Short film |
| 2012 | Andy X | Billy Name | Short film |
| 2011 | The Cup | Pat Smullen | Feature film |
| 2011 | The Strange Calls | Judd | Short film |
| 2010 | After the Credits | Passenger | Short film |
| 2003 | Temptation | Agent | TV movie |
| 2003 | The Postcard Bandit | Prison Guard Greg | TV movie |

### Television

| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
| 2023 | The Newsreader | Paul | TV series: 4 episodes |
| 2023 | Utopia (Australian TV series) | Bryce | TV series 1 episode |
| 2023 | Deadloch | James King | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 2021 | Five Bedrooms | Roger | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2018 | Freudian Slip | Jacob's Super Ego | TV series, 7 episodes |
| 2011-14 | Winners & Losers | Rhys Mitchell | TV series, 18 episodes |
| 2014 | Fat Tony & Co. | Bruno Rich | TV miniseries, 3 episodes |
| 2013 | Mr & Mrs Murder | Tyler Betts | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2012 | The Strange Calls | Nick | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2010 | City Homicide | Lleyton Brenner | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2007-10 | The Circuit | Archie McMahon | TV series, 11 episodes |
| 2009 | Stormworld | Apssed | TV series, 13 episodes |

### Video game

| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
| 2007–12 | Murder Under the Microscope | Daniel 'Danno' Bookham | Educational video game |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Roles | Notes |
| 2000 | Road | Brink / Mr Iger / Tom Stanley / Blowpipe | NIDA Parade Theatre |
| 2000 | Masurca Fogo | Dancer | Sydney Olympic Arts Festival |
| 2000 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Egeus / Puck | NIDA Parade Theatre with Night Sky Productions |
| 2001 | Kiss Me, Kate | | NIDA Parade Theatre |
| 2002 | Falling on My Left Ear: A Show about George Wallace | Young George Wallace | Railway Street Theatre Company |
| 2003 | Away | Tom / Rick | Railway Street Theatre Company |
| 2004 | Dot by Dot with Sondheim | Lover | Cabaret @ Bar Me |
| 2004 | Into the Woods | Rapunzel's Prince | |
| 2004 | Embalmer! The Musical | Craig | Naked Theatre Company |
| 2005 | In the Raw: The Windows Project | Nick | Darlinghurst Theatre |
| 2005 | Handbag | Phil | Seymour Centre with Focus Theatre Company |
| 2005 | Somewhere: The Magical Musical of Penrith | Sam | Q Theatre |
| 2005 | Much Ado About Nothing | Claudio / Dogberry | Night Sky Productions |
| 2005 | Rosie | Willy / Louie / Rita etc | Independent Theatre, Sydney |
| 2006 | The Paper Wall | Troy | |
| 2006 | Little Black Book | Mick | |
| 2006 | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Lysander | |
| 2007 | Floyd Collins | Skeets Miller | Angel Place City Recital Hall, Sydney Theatre with Kookaburra Musical Theatre |
| 2007 | Twelfth Night | Feste | |
| 2008 | The Turning | Vic Lang | Playhouse, Perth with Perth Theatre Company for Perth International Arts Festival |
| 2008 | Risky Lunar Love | Rabbit | CarriageWorks, Sydney with 504 Producers |
| 2009 | Jerry Springer the Opera | Ensemble | Sydney Opera House for Sydney Festival |
| 2009 | Jersey Boys | Frankie Valli (alternative) | Princess Theatre, Melbourne with New Theatricals |
| 2010 | The Shakespeare Revue | Various | |
| 2013–14 | Assassins | The Balladeer / Lee Harvey Oswald | Fortyfivedownstairs, West Gippsland Arts Centre with Watch This |
| 2014 | The Parricide | Kolya / Mitya | La Mama |
| 2014 | Pacific Overtures | Manjirō | Theatre Works, Melbourne with Watch This |
| 2015 | Sweet Phoebe | Fraser | Basement Theatre, Auckland with Both Sides Now Theatre Company |
| 2015/17 | Ned: A New Australian Musical | Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick | Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo with Groaning Dam Productions, National Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2015–16 | Company | Robert | Fortyfivedownstairs, Geelong Arts Centre, Her Majesty's Theatre, Ballarat, West Gippsland Arts Centre with Watch This |
| 2016/18 | Elegy | Iraqi refugee (solo performer) | Gasworks Melbourne, Stratford Courthouse Theatre Melbourne, West Gippsland Arts Centre, Ararat Performing Arts Centre, Her Majesty's Theatre Ballarat, Geelong Arts Centre with Lab Kelpie |
| 2017 | The Play That Goes Wrong | Chris Bean | Comedy Theatre, Melbourne, Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, Roslyn Packer Theatre, Canberra Theatre, Concert Hall QPAC, His Majesty's Theatre Perth with Mischief Theatre |
| 2018 | Falsettos | Mendel | Chapel Off Chapel with StageArt |
| 2018 | Julius Caesar | Cassius | Australian tour with Bell Shakespeare |
| 2018 | A Little Night Music | Director / Assistant | National Theatre, Melbourne with Watch This |
| 2019 | Sunday in the Park with George | George | Southbank Theatre with Watch This |
| 2019 | Peter Pan Goes Wrong | Chris Bean | Australian tour |
| 2021 | The Art of Making Art | | Online |
| 2022 | Into the Woods | Wolf / Cinderella's Prince | Arts House Meat Market, Melbourne with Watch This |
| 2022 | Ghost Stories | Mike Priddle | Melbourne Athenaeum with Realscape Productions |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2006 | Mike Walsh Fellowship Award | Award for Acting | | Won |
| 2007 | Macquarie Bank Youth Award | Award for Screenwriting | | Won |
| 2009 | West Australian Screen Awards | Best Actor (Short Film) | Shades of Grey | Nominated |
| 2013 | Green Room Awards | Supporting Actor (Musical Theatre) | Assassins | Nominated |
| 2014 | Green Room Awards | Supporting Actor (Musical Theatre) | Pacific Overtures | Nominated |
| 2015 | Green Room Awards | Leading Actor (Musical Theatre) | Company | Nominated |
| 2019 | Green Room Awards | Supporting Actor (Musical Theatre) | Falsettos | Won |
| 2021 | Green Room Awards | Celebration of Online Performance* | The Art of Making Art | Nominated |
| 2022 | Green Room Awards | Supporting Actor (Musical Theatre) | Into the Woods | Nominated |
*Nominated with Sonya Suares, Nick McInerney, Dean Drieberg and Mel Hillman