Hamish Davies - Actor/Creator

I played Toto the dog at the age of four, so I guess I’ve been barking mad about acting from a young age.

Resumé & Headshots.

Resumé

Watch.

SHORTLAND STREET (TV) Showreel 2023

PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (Film) Scene - Drama

BARRY (TV) Scene - Dark Comedy/Drama

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY (Film) Scene - Drama (English regional accent)

GIRLS (TV) Scene - Dark Comedy/Drama

FLEABAG (TV) Scene - Drama

Mission.

To create work that truthfully explores the shared human experience, embracing that within this experience can sometimes live difficult and uncomfortable personal growth.

Bio.

As a child, I used to play a game with my siblings where we would each select six random things from the house and then create a play from what we chose- It was the ‘6-Thing Game’. As someone who grew up on a New Zealand dairy farm, I’m grateful to still have been encouraged to use my imagination as a form of play. While my interest has evolved to the intricate nature of people, I can’t help but connect my love for storytelling to the original stories such as the legend of the paperclip and the tennis ball.

My on-stage debut came when my sister was Dorothy in our primary school’s production of The Wizard of Oz and needed a Toto. Thankfully, as a four year old, all I had to do was bark; my only downfall was knowing when to do it. One could say I was a badly trained pup.

Since Toto pawed the boards, I continued finding myself through some form of creativity at school and beyond. I became obsessed with music, and I can happily give credit to my pianist mother. I picked up the trumpet at nine and continued playing right through high school in whatever capacity I could. As a kid, I used to watch my sister in dance class and while I knew all the steps, I was too afraid to join in. I kicked myself (metaphorically) when I finally got the courage to start jazz ballet at fifteen. Learning to use my body as a form of expression was liberating. I then added ballet and tap to my dancer training.

During high school, I developed a passion for musical theatre which led to starring in various local productions such as Mamma Mia, Evita, The Phantom of the Opera and Hairspray.

After training with Sutton Foster, Andréa Burns, Carmel Dean and Peter Flynn, at the Christchurch International Musical Theatre Summer School (CIMTSS) in 2016, I applied for Stella Adler’s Summer Conservatory which led me to New York that same year. With no word of exaggeration, living in New York changed my entire outlook on life. Not only was it a completely different experience to living on a farm (especially in the summer), but the energy of the city and people inspired me. Always moving, working and driving for something. In New Zealand it’s contrastingly very laid back and easy-going.

Following my New York experience, I gained some experience on television, film and commercial sets, and also enjoyed working behind the scenes on some productions. I landed a leading role on an independent short film, Down, directed by Mikey Collins, which was an incredible experience as the team was small but the passion was huge. After relocating to Auckland, New Zealand, I certainly enjoyed city life, but yearned to be back in the Big Apple, where the inspiration for creativity seemed endless.

Unsurprisingly I jumped at the opportunity to move back to New York when I was accepted into Atlantic Acting School’s rigorous full time conservatory in 2018. It was at this point in my life that I defined for myself, and others, that I was serious about my career goals.

I have recently graduated from Atlantic’s training programme, where in my second year I originated the role of Kevin in Amy Staat’s one-act play, No Entrance, directed by Naomi Livingstone and in my final semester played Oscar Hubbard in a filmed interpretation of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, directed by Ryan Purcell as part of our final showcase. I am excited by all the knowledge and tools I have honed over the years as I now forge my way into the industry as an actor and creator.

As a dairy farmer’s son, I don’t think anyone, least of all my parents, expected actor to be on my list of career aspirations; but in hindsight, I think it was a secret I kept to myself because I knew the steps, but I was afraid to join in. Thankfully, I didn’t wait ten years to realise what I should’ve been doing in the first place and I am proudly pursuing my ambitions I wrote in a journal all those years ago. I am looking forward to creating a second draft of the legend of the tennis ball and the paperclip because I don’t think we ever figured out how it ended. Probably an argument over whose turn it was to milk the cows.

-HD.