# Dean O'Gorman

Dean Lance O'Gorman (born 1 December 1976) is a New Zealand actor, artist, and photographer. He played the dwarf Fíli in the Hobbit trilogy and the Norse God Bragi/Anders Johnson in the fantasy series The Almighty Johnsons. He also portrayed Kirk Douglas in Trumbo (2015).

## Early life

O'Gorman was born in Auckland to parents Lance, a landscape painter, and Christine O'Gorman. His younger brother, Brett, is also an actor as well as a comedian. He has Irish and English ancestry; his maternal grandfather was a British paratrooper in the Second World War.
O'Gorman earned a black belt in karate by the age of ten, and attended Rangitoto College in Auckland. He initially planned to study graphic design.

## Career
### Film

At 12 years old O'Gorman was discovered by a casting agent during a school speech competition. After acting in a number of television roles and the Australian film The Rogue Stallion, he got a starring role in 1995 teen romance Bonjour Timothy, a performance which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.
Subsequent roles included co-starring as Mark in the ensemble drama When Love Comes and playing opposite Melanie Lynskey in the road movie Snakeskin, the latter of which received five awards at the 2001 New Zealand Film and Television Awards.
In April 2011 O'Gorman was cast as the Dwarf Fili in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit. He later made a cameo appearance in an advertisement for Air New Zealand.
In Jay Roach's 2015 film Trumbo O'Gorman plays the part of Kirk Douglas, including a re-creation of filming the movie Spartacus. He plays a demoralized writer in the 2017 film Pork Pie, winning praise at Cannes.

### Television

O'Gorman began acting in television in the early 1990s. His career took off in the middle of the decade, when he won the role of Harry Martin in popular New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and appeared in locally-shot shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess multiple times. O'Gorman also held a regular role as Iolaus in the short-lived Young Hercules opposite Ryan Gosling, and in Australian hit McLeod's Daughters, as Luke Morgan, a love interest of Jodi Fountain McLeod.
He has made multiple guest appearances on several television shows including The Cult, Go Girls and Legend of the Seeker. From 2011 to 2013, O'Gorman played the role of Anders Johnson in New Zealand fantasy series The Almighty Johnsons. He played mountaineer George Lowe in 2016 mini-series Hillary.

### Art and photography

In addition to acting, O'Gorman is also a photographer and artist. In an interview with Tom Cardy, he confessed to difficult times finding work during his first year in Los Angeles. He was almost broke, but was soon discovered by his friend's agent and thus began to receive more work, dividing his time among painting, photography and acting.
In June 2012, he held his first exhibition at the Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. The theme of the exhibition focused on the Vietnam War. To obtain accuracy in his work, O'Gorman sought the advice of a New Zealand Vietnam veteran. Preferring to dress and set up shoots himself, the models for this gallery included other cast members from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Almighty Johnsons. O'Gorman's photographs were also displayed at the 2015 Berlin B3 Biennial.

## Personal life

O'Gorman married his long-time girlfriend Sarah Wilson in January 2016.
In May 2019, his daughter was born.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Bonjour Timothy | Timothy Taylor | |
| 1996 | Siren | Siren | Short film |
| 1998 | Young Hercules | Young Iolaus | Video |
| 1998 | When Love Comes Along | Mark | |
| 2001 | Snakeskin | Johnny | |
| 2002 | Toy Love | Ben | |
| 2004 | Piggy | Confucius | Short film |
| 2008 | The Legend of Bloody Mary | Rev. Whittaker | |
| 2009 | Sabotage | Bobby | |
| 2010 | Kawa | Chris | |
| 2012 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | Fíli | |
| 2013 | The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug | Fíli | |
| 2014 | The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies | Fíli | |
| 2015 | Trumbo | Kirk Douglas | |
| 2017 | Pork Pie | Jon | |
| 2023 | The Convert | Kedgley | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | The Rogue Stallion | Tony Garrett | TV film |
| 1990 | Raider of the South Seas | Bobby Morrison | TV film |
| 1995 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Iloran | Episode: "The Gauntlet" |
| 1996 | Shortland Street | Nurse Harry Martin | TV series |
| 1996 | Return to Treasure Island | Jim Hawkins | TV film |
| 1996 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Homer / Orion | Episode: "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards" |
| 1997 | Doom Runners | Deek | TV film |
| 1997 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Young Iolaus / Ruun | Episodes: "Regrets... I've Had a Few", "Prodigal Sister" |
| 1998 | Hercules: The Legendary Journeys | Young Iolaus | Episodes: "Medea Culpa", "Twilight" |
| 1998 | The Legend of William Tell | Darek | Episode: "The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior" |
| 1998 | The Chosen | Andrew Scott | TV film |
| 1998–1999 | Young Hercules | Iolaus | Main role (45 episodes) |
| 1999 | Big Sky | Dean | Episode: "A Family Affair" |
| 1999 | Duggan | Fergus MacLllwaine | Episode: "Going Overboard" |
| 1999 | Fearless | Cliff | TV film |
| 2000 | Xena: Warrior Princess | Wiglaf | Episode: "Return of the Valkyrie" |
| 2001 | Lawless: Beyond Justice | Nat | TV film |
| 2001 | All Saints | Evan Coen | Episode: "The Other Side of Perfection" |
| 2003 | Farscape | Zukash | Episodes: "We're So Screwed: Parts 2 & 3" |
| 2003 | MDA | Peter Jarman | Episodes: "Judgement Day", "St. Crispin's Day" |
| 2004 | Serial Killers | Dr. Gilligan / Andrew | Regular role (7 episodes) |
| 2004–2005 | McLeod's Daughters | Luke Morgan | Recurring role (25 episodes) |
| 2007 | Moonlight | Daniel | Episode "No Such Thing as Vampires" |
| 2007–08 | Animalia | Tyrannicus / Harry (voice) | Recurring role (4 episodes) |
| 2009 | Legend of the Seeker | Carver Dunn | Episode: "Deception" |
| 2009 | Go Girls | Marco | Episodes: "Signs and Obstacles", "Do the Right Thing" |
| 2009 | The Cult | Liam | Episode: "The Other Woman " |
| 2011 | Tangiwai | Bert Sutcliffe | Television film |
| 2011–13 | The Almighty Johnsons | Anders Johnson | Main role (36 episodes) |
| 2016 | Hillary | George Lowe | Main role |
| 2016–17 | Westside | Evan Lace | Recurring role (9 episodes) |
| 2017 | Wanted | Will Johnson | Recurring role (5 episodes, series 2) |
| 2018 | The Brokenwood Mysteries | Barnaby Buchanan | Episode: "The Dark Angel" |
| 2019 | The Bad Seed | Ford Lampton | Main role |
| 2019–present | Golden Boy | Aussie Dave | Recurring role (9 episodes) |
| 2020 | One Lane Bridge | Andrew "Grub" Ryder | Main role |
| 2021–present | Under the Vines | Griffin | Recurring role (5 episodes) |

### Video game

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Lego the Hobbit | Fíli (voice) | Video game |