Nathan Phillips

Nathan Scott Phillips (born 13 March 1980) is an Australian actor.

Early life Phillips was born on 13 March 1980 in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. at La Trobe University in Melbourne, with the intention of becoming a teacher, before he turned to acting as a career.

Career Phillips' professional acting career began in 1999, with a role in long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours. His television career was later followed by roles in Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story, Blue Heelers, Something in the Air and The Saddle Club.

In 2002, Phillips made his feature film debut with a role in Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao (also starring Kevin Smith, Shedrack Anderson III and Nina Liu). His next role, the lead in Australian Rules, earned him a nomination for the Film Critics Circle of Australia’s Best Actor award, alongside David Gulpilil, Guy Pearce and Vince Colosimo.

Phillips's film career has seen him star in both Australian productions, such as Take Away (with Rose Byrne), One Perfect Day (with Abbie Cornish) and Under the Radar, as well as Hollywood productions such as Chernobyl Diaries, Redline and Surfer, Dude and most notably Snakes on a Plane. He is perhaps most known for his role as backpacker Ben Mitchell in the 2005 hit horror film Wolf Creek. After the success of this film, Phillips moved to Los Angeles, where he was based for several years.

Although tipped for big things in Hollywood after the success of Wolf Creek, Phillips chose to go travelling for long periods of time, rather than focus on his career as an actor. Phillips' career has, to date, consisted mostly of roles in low budget films and television work, such as his role as Tom Wills, Australia's first significant cricketer and father of Australian rules football. In 2020, Phillips appeared in the Nine Network series Halifax: Retribution.

From 2019, Phillips has been back living in his native Australia, working on television and film projects. In addition to acting, Phillips was a producer of 2019's Blood Vessel.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2002 Australian Rules Gary "Blacky" Black Feature film Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao Ryan Jeffers Feature film 2003 Take Away Dave Feature film 2004 Under the Radar Brandon Feature film One Perfect Day Trig Feature film 2005 Wolf Creek Ben Mitchell Feature film You and Your Stupid Mate Philip Feature film 2005 The Opposite of Velocity Kevin Short film 2006 Snakes on a Plane Sean Jones Feature film 2007 West Jerry Feature film Redline Carlo Feature film 2008 Surfer, Dude Baker Smith Feature film Dying Breed Jack Feature film 2009 Balibo Malcolm Rennie Feature film Message from the CEO Eric Short film 2010 Summer Coda Joey Feature film Quit Benji Feature film 2012 Satellite of Love Samuel / Catherine's ex-boyfriend Feature film Chernobyl Diaries Michael Feature film Degenerate Young Blair Feature film 2013 These Final Hours James Feature film 2014 The Amateur Jimmy Feature film 2019 Blood Vessel Sinclair Feature film Tuscaloosa Deputy Feature film 3 Day Weekend Schnappsie Feature film 2021 The Devil Below Cain Feature film 2023 Kane Frankie Feature film 2024 Kid Snow Billy Feature film 13th Summer Ben Trainor Feature film 2024 Accident Mick Short film TBA Homeward Morgan In post-production TBA Spines Logan In production

Television Year Title Role Notes 1999 Neighbours John "Teabag" Teasdale TV series, 13 episodes 2000 Eugénie Sandler P.I. Leo 2 episodes 2001 Frontline Phoenix 1 episode Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story Hugh TV movie Blue Heelers Cameron Sharpe 1 episode The Saddle Club Red O'Malley TV series, 26 episodes 2002 The Saddle Club: Adventures at Pine Hollow Red O'Malley Direct-to-video movie Something in the Air Angus Moore 12 episodes 2004 Stingers Charlie Sanderson 1 episode 2012 Outlaw Country TV movie 2013 Tiny Commando CJ Miniseries, 2 episodes 2014 The Bridge Jack Dobbs 7 episodes 2016 Hunters Flynn Carroll TV series, 13 episodes 2016 Tom Wills Tom Wills TV movie 2020 Halifax: Retribution Jack McCarthy 2 episodes 2021 RFDS Mikey 1 episode 2025 NCIS: Sydney Finn 1 episode Good Cop/Bad Cop Tommy Boucher Season 1, episode 8: "Skeleton"

Awards and nominations Year Work Award Category Result 2002 Australian Rules Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Actor – Male 2002 Australian Rules IF Awards Best Actor 2014 These Final Hours Sitges Film Festival Best Actor 2015 These Final Hours AFCA Awards Best Actor 2019 Blood Vessel FilmQuest Cthulhu Best Actor – Feature 2019 Blood Vessel FilmQuest Cthulhu Best Ensemble Cast – Feature 2019 Blood Vessel FilmQuest Cthulhu Best Feature Film