Travis Fimmel

Travis Fimmel
Born 15 July 1979
nr. Echuca, Victoria, Australia
Nationality Australian
Occupation Actor, former model
Website
www.travisfimmel.com

Travis Fimmel (born 15 July 1979) is an Australian actor and former model. He is best known for his high-profile Calvin Klein campaign, for co-starring opposite Patrick Swayze in the TV series The Beast and for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel's series Vikings.[1][2]

Early years

Fimmel was born in the Australian state of Victoria, near the small country town of Echuca, between the capital cities of Melbourne and Sydney. He was raised on a 5500-acre dairy farm in Lockington. The youngest of three brothers, he is the son of Jennie, a nurse, and Chris, a cattle farmer,[3] and is of English and German descent. Aspiring to be a professional Australian rules footballer, Fimmel moved to Melbourne in his late teens to play for the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL, but a broken leg sidelined him before the season began.[4][5] He was accepted into RMIT to study commercial architecture and engineering but later deferred to travel abroad.[6][7]

Modeling career

Fimmel's modelling career first began when he was spotted working out at a gym in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn by the flatmate of Matthew Anderson, a talent scout for the prestigious Chadwick Models agency.[8]

Fimmel headed overseas and was signed on the spot with agency LA Models in 2002 after walking into their office broke and barefoot.[9] He then became the first male in the world to secure a six-figure deal to model exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year.[10] He fronted CK's Crave men's fragrance campaign and modelled the brand's famous underwear. It was reported that one of his London billboards had to be pulled down after complaints from an auto club of traffic congestion and accidents by 'rubbernecking' female drivers, but Fimmel insisted the story started with a rumour spread on the internet.[11][12]

He was named one of the world's sexiest bachelors by America's People magazine in 2002 and at the time was regarded as "the most in-demand male model in the world".[13][14] It has even been suggested by some journalists that Fimmel was the inspiration for Sex and the City heartthrob 'Jerry' Smith Jerrod.[15]

Fimmel appeared on various magazine covers, including France's Numero Homme and America's TV Guide,[16] as well as on top-rating American TV shows in 2003 including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Sharon Osbourne Show, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, MTV's Total Request Live and entertainment TV news program Extra.[11] He also made a cameo appearance in the bar scene of a video clip for Janet Jackson's "Someone to Call My Lover"[17] and played a hunk loading hay onto the back of a pick-up truck in Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" (not to be confused with her song of the same name featuring rapper Ja Rule).[18]

Preferring to be known for his acting rather than his modelling, Fimmel turned down an offer from Australia's Seven Network to be a guest judge on the TV series Make Me A Supermodel.[19]

Acting career

Fimmel studied under Hollywood acting coach Ivana Chubbuck, taking two years to pluck up the courage to audition for his first role, saying "half of acting is overcoming your fears [and] letting yourself be vulnerable in front of people".[7] He landed the title lead in Warner Bros. 2003 TV series Tarzan, described by CNN as one of the "five hottest things happening in entertainment right now”, in which he did most of his own stunts.[20][21][22] In addition, he appeared in the studio's pilot Rocky Point (with Lauren Holly) in 2005, the Fox movie Southern Comfort Madeleine Stowe) in 2006 and The Big Valley with Richard Dreyfuss and Jessica Lange in 2011.

Fimmel has played a diverse spectrum of characters on the small and big screens. In 2008, he portrayed a murderer in Restraint and a party boy in Surfer, Dude with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.[11] In 2010, he portrayed a compassionate cowboy in Pure Country 2: The Gift and a forensic photographer in Australian horror movie Needle, co-starring Ben Mendelsohn.[23]

He depicted a talented classical pianist in Ivory, a “creative, edgy, out-of-the box” independent film that was an Official Selection in the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival and the Strasbourg International Film Festival.[24] Produced by Academy Award-winner Gray Frederickson and co-starring Martin Landau and Peter Stormare, Ivory “details the troubled lives of classical pianists at a major American conservatory as they confront personal and professional rivalry during the rigors of training.”[11][25]

It was Fimmel's role as Helweg, a cheeky-but-brutish prison guard, that saw him star opposite Academy Award recipients Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker as well as Cam Gigandet in the 2010 film release The Experiment.[11] It was reported that the role originally went to Elijah Wood, who pulled out of shooting for reasons unknown, so Fimmel instead took the job.[26][27] The film is based on a real-life experiment on volunteers by Stanford University that was cut short after spinning out of control, with 'guards' exhibiting sadistic behaviour and 'prisoners' suffering depression.[28]

Fimmel's TV profile received a boost when he starred opposite Patrick Swayze in cable network A&E's 2009 series, The Beast (screened in Australia on ABC2).[29] He played rookie undercover FBI agent Ellis Dove partnered with a hardened veteran cop, Swayze's Charles Barker. Fimmel's character relies on his wits to navigate a high-pressure environment, browbeaten by Barker and resisting attempts by Internal Affairs to force him to spy on his mentor.[5] Production ceased after 13 episodes due to Swayze's death from pancreatic cancer.[30]

He then played fugitive Mason Boyle in two episodes of NBC's 2010 action-adventure Chase (season 1, episodes 1 and 8), produced by Emmy Award-winning Jerry Bruckheimer.[31][32] Fimmel depicted a dangerous man on the run after a murderous rampage, tracked down by a team of US marshals who later try to enlist his help in nabbing a serial killer.[33]

Fimmel appeared in FX's TV pilot Outlaw Country in 2011 with Luke Grimes, described as a “modern drama set against the back drop of a southern organized crime family”.[34] According to Variety magazine, he plays a rugged, “hard-drinking gang member and the main character's best friend”.[34]

He co-starred with Billy Bob Thornton and Eva Longoria in the 2013 redneck Southern comedy flick The Baytown Outlaws. He played one of the three hapless Oodie brothers who bites off more than he can chew when he agrees to help a woman get her godson back from her deadbeat ex-husband.[35]

Displaying a penchant for tough characters, Fimmel plays the lead in 2012's Harodim (originally called The Lazarus Protocol) with Peter Fonda as a former intelligence officer trained in black ops tracking down the world's most wanted terrorist who is compromised by his own chain of command.[36] A thriller blending a fictional narrative with actual news footage, the film was shot in 21 days among disused ironworks outside of Vienna.[37]

BlackBoxTV, a horror, science fiction and thriller channel featured Fimmel in Reawakening.[38] He is cast with another Calvin Klein model-turned-actor, Dylan Bruno, as a fat murdered cop who gets a chance to settle a few scores through a body swap with a superior human.

Fimmel was signed as the lead character in the television series Vikings, co-starring Jessalyn Gilsig, Katheryn Winnick and Gabriel Byrne. Premiering in 2013, the show was filmed in Ireland over 18 weeks and chronicles "the extraordinary and ferocious world of the mighty Norsemen who raided, traded and explored during medieval times."[39] He plays Ragnar Lothbrok who is loosely based on Ragnar Loðbrók, the legendary Viking leader who is frustrated by the unadventurous tendencies of his local chieftain and strikes out to pillage new lands.[40][41] USA Today described Fimmel's performance as "engaging", while the Huffington Post called it his "breakout role".[1][42] Created by renowned writer and period drama specialist Michael Hirst, Vikings is distributed globally by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).[43] Episodes were directed by Ciarán Donnelly (The Tudors, Titanic: Blood and Steel), Ken Girotti (Law & Order: Criminal Intent) and Johan Renck (Breaking Bad).[41] Following strong ratings, it was announced that the show would be renewed for a ten-episode second season.[2]

Fimmel will be starring in Warcraft, a live action adaptation based on the video games of the same name.[44]

Personal life

The actor's favourite recreational activities include Australian rules football, camping, surfing, riding motorbikes and going to the beach.[12][45][46]

Fimmel also played a celebrity cricket match in the 2009 Australia vs England Hollywood Ashes with fellow Australian actors Jesse Spencer (from House) and Cameron Daddo (from Models Inc.), plus celebrity chef Curtis Stone, INXS bass guitarist Garry Gary Beers and fast bowler Michael Kasprowicz.[15][47]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Warcraft Anduin Lothar (')
2015 Maggie's Plan Filming
2012 The Baytown Outlaws McQueen Oodie
Harodim Lazarus Fell
2011 Supremacy Garrett Tully (short)
2010 Pure Country 2: The Gift Dale Jordan
Needle Marcus Rutherford
Ivory Jake
2008 Surfer, Dude Johnny Doran
Restraint Ron

TV series

Year Title Role Notes
2013 VikingsRagnar Lothbrok 2013-present
2012 Outlaw Country Feron TV Movie
BlackBoxTV Ted
2010 Chase Mason Boyle
The Experiment Helweg
2009 The Beast Ellis Dove / Carlson
2006Southern Comfort BobbyTV Movie
2005Rocky Point Taj Walters
2003Tarzan John Clayton / Tarzan

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Prudom, Laura Vikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The Journey Of Ragnar Lothbrok The Huffington Post, 4 March 2013
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vikings Renewed for Season 2 by History, The Huffington Post, Retrieved 5 April 2013
  3. ↑ People Magazine official website, , 3 November 2003
  4. ↑ Kee, William K.C. Talents from Down Under The Star, 14 June 2010
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 SPE Networks-Asia, Sony Entertainment official website, , Retrieved 25 March 2011
  6. ↑ Official Website Retrieved 5 May 2011
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lee, Luaine 'The Beast's' Travis Fimmel is Happy Down on the Farm The Denver Post, 28 January 2009
  8. ↑ Lewis, Felicity Model Hunter, The Age Melbourne Magazine, 29 February 2008
  9. ↑ Hello magazine,, Retrieved 26 March 2011
  10. ↑ Epaminondas, George, Naked in New York, The Age, 27 January 2002
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Internet Movie Database official website , Retrieved 25 March 2011
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Tai, Elizabeth Partners in Crime Drama 10 May 2009
  13. ↑ People Magazine, 24 June 2002
  14. ↑ Herald Sun, Former Calvin Klein Model Travis Fimmel Films Horror Movie with Jessica Marais, Luke Wilson" 21 December 2009
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Daily Telegraph Travis Fimmel Shows Off His Body at Hollywood Ashes 11 May 2009
  16. ↑ The Age, With Stars In Their Eyes 21 August 2003
  17. ↑ Hello Magazine, Retrieved 25 March 2011
  18. ↑ ShareTV official site, Retrieved 8 April 2011
  19. ↑ The Daily Telegraph Don't Make Me A Supermodel Judge: Travis Fimmel 6 July 2008
  20. ↑ Hello! Magazine Profile: Travis Fimmel Retrieved 9 May 2011
  21. ↑ CNN, Five of the Hottest Things Happening in Entertainment Right Now 18 September 2003
  22. ↑ McDaniel, Mike From Jockeys to the Jungle, 20 July 2003
  23. ↑ The Telegraph, Ben Mendelsohn ties the knot with British writer and Hollywood 'it' girl Emma Forrest in Los Angeles 10 June 2012
  24. ↑ Official Website Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  25. ↑ Price, Matthew, The Oklahoman, Retrieved 6 July 2012]
  26. ↑ IMDB trivia The Experiment Retrieved 6 May 2011
  27. ↑ Sony Lockdown on 'Experiment' The Hollywood Reporter, 4 August 2009
  28. ↑ Zimbardo, Philip Simulation Experiment of the Psychology of Imprisonment Conducted at Stanford University, Retrieved 18 March 2012
  29. ↑ Salem, Rob Watching, Waiting and Hoping for Swayze, 12 January 2009
  30. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald Patrick Swayze Dead 15 September 2009
  31. ↑ TV Guide Retrieved 29 April 2011
  32. ↑ Access Hollywood NBC Announces Jerry Bruckheimer's 'Chase' for Fall Lineup 10 May 2010
  33. ↑ David, Greg Killer Conversation: An Old Face From Annie's Past Resurfaces on 'Chase' TV Guide, 16 November 2010
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Kroll, Justin Travis Fimmel to Star in FX's 'Outlaw Country', 9 September 2010
  35. ↑ McClintock, Pamela Billy Bob Thornton Redneck Comedy 'Baytown Disco' Adds Three New Stars Hollywood Reporter, 28 April 2011
  36. ↑ Terra Mater Factual Studios Retrieved 13 March 2012
  37. ↑ Horn, Andrew Red Bull Charges Into Theaters Variety, 8 December 2011
  38. ↑ BlackBox TV Retrieved 7 June 2012
  39. ↑ UPI Retrieved 29 June 2012
  40. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley 'Glee's' Jessalyn Gilsig to Co-Star in History Channel's 'Vikings' Drama Hollywood Reporter, 28 June 2012
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Irish Film Board Retrieved 24 January 2013
  42. ↑ Bianco, Robert Vikings takes the pillage, raises it to derring-do USA Today, 26 February 2013
  43. ↑ Irish Film & Television Network, Aussie Actor Travis Fimmel Lands Lead Role In 'Vikings' Retrieved 28 June 2012
  44. ↑ Justin Kroll. "‘Vikings’ Actor Travis Fimmel Joins ‘Warcraft’ (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety". Variety.
  45. ↑ "TRAVIS FIMMEL - STAR OF HISTORY CHANNEL'S 'VIKINGS'". travisfimmel.com.
  46. ↑ Ellis, James Travis Fimmel Metro UK, Retrieved 2 May 2011
  47. ↑ Aussies Defeat England in Hollywood Ashes 2009 14 May 2009

External links