Dean O'Gorman

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

Dean O'Gorman
O'Gorman at Boston Comic-Con in 2013
Born
Dean Lance O'Gorman

(1976-12-01) 1 December 1976
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationActor, photographer, artist
Years active1990–present
Spouse(s)
Sarah Wilson
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1
Websitedeanogorman.com

Early life

O'Gorman was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to parents Lance, a landscape painter, and Christine O'Gorman. He has a younger brother, Brett, who is also an actor as well as a comedian. He has Irish and English ancestry; his maternal grandfather was an English paratrooper in the Second World War.[1]

O'Gorman earned a black belt in karate by the age of ten,[2] and attended Rangitoto College in Auckland. He initially planned to study graphic design.[3]

Career

Film

At 12 years old, O'Gorman was discovered by a casting agent during a school speech competition.[4] 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.[3]

Subsequent roles included co-starring as Mark in ensemble drama When Love Comes and playing opposite Melanie Lynskey in road movie Snakeskin, the latter of which received five awards at the 2001 New Zealand Film and Television Awards.[3]

In April 2011, O'Gorman was cast as the Dwarf Fili in Peter Jackson's three-part film adaptation of The Hobbit.[5] He later made a cameo appearance in an advertisement for Air New Zealand.[6]

In Jay Roach's 2015 film Trumbo, O'Gorman plays the part of Kirk Douglas,[7][8] including a re-creation of filming the movie Spartacus. He plays a demoralized writer in the 2017 film Pork Pie, winning praise at Cannes.[9]

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,[3] 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 2011–2013, O'Gorman played the role of Anders Johnson in New Zealand fantasy series The Almighty Johnsons.[3] 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.[10] 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 2012, he held his first exhibition at the Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand between 19–23 June.[10] The theme of the exhibition focused on the Vietnam War. In order to obtain accuracy in his work, O'Gorman sought the advice of a New Zealand Vietnam veteran.[10] Preferring to dress and set up shoots himself, the models for this gallery included other cast members from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey[10] and The Almighty Johnsons. O'Gorman's photographs were displayed at the 2015 Berlin B3 Biennial.[11]

Personal life

O'Gorman married his long-time girlfriend Sarah Wilson in January 2016.[12]

In May 2019, his daughter was born.[13]

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

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)
2014 Lego the Hobbit Fíli (voice) Video game
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 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

References
  1. "Prince Charles lays wreath at Auckland cenotaph". 11 November 2012.
  2. Nathan, Ian. "The Hobbit Interviews: Dean O'Gorman On Fili". Empire Online. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. "Dean O'Gorman", NZONSCREEN
  4. "Dean O'Gorman Biography", Tribute Movie
  5. "O'Gorman and Pace Join The Hobbit". Comingsoon.net. 30 April 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
  6. "Just another day in Middle-earth #airnzhobbit - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
  7. Kit, Borys (September 22, 2014). "'Hobbit' Actor to Play Kirk Douglas in Bryan Cranston's 'Trumbo' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  8. Mandell, Andrea (20 November 2015) Kirk Douglas reviews 'Trumbo', USA Today, retrieved 21 January 2016
  9. Pork Pie remake triumphs at Cannes Film Festival New Zealand Herald, 20 July 2017, by Ophelia Buckleton, retrieved 2017-08-05
  10. reviews of Dean O'Gorman in 2012
  11. B3 Biennial 2015 News, accessed 2016-01-19
  12. A magic year for Dean O'Gorman New Zealand Herald, by Ricardo Simich, 30 April 2016, retrieved 2017-08-05
  13. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12238630
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