Dean O'Gorman Biography

Fast Facts

• Was nominated for a 2005 Logie Award in the Most Popular New Talent - Male category for his performance on "McLeod's Daughters․"
• His portraits have been exhibited at the prestigious Page Blackie Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand
• His performance in "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" earned him a nomination for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor at the 2011 New Zealand Film and TV Awards
• Attended Rangitoto College in Auckland, New Zealand
• Earned a black belt in karate by the time he was 10 years old
• Originally planned to study graphic design, but was discovered by a casting agent at a school speech contest when he was only 12 years old
• Quote: "[on "The Hobbit"] "There's no job you can compare this to․ Maybe next time I'll work on an indie movie, and I'll have to bring my own costume․""
• A professional photographer, some of his best known photographs are staged to appear as if they were taken during the Vietnam War, a project he underwent in order to play with the idea of how people feel about things that aren't real but seem so
• First became known in New Zealand for playing the title role "Bonjour Timothy," but gained more international fame playing Fili the Dwarf in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" film trilogy
• Originally auditioned to play Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit," trilogy with little hope of receiving the role, and was surprised to hear that he was being considered for the part of Fili