Damon Herriman (born 31 March 1970) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Dewey Crowe on the FX neo-western crime series Justified (2010–15), Romeo on the Starz drama miniseries Flesh and Bone (2015), and Freddy on the FX crime comedy-drama Mr Inbetween (2018-21). He is also known for having played cult leader Charles Manson twice, first on the second season of the Netflix psychological crime thriller series Mindhunter, and later in the comedy drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (both 2019).
Herriman won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Punch in the black comedy film Judy and Punch (2019), and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as Ruse in the historical psychological thriller film The Nightingale (2018).
Early life and education
Herriman was born in Adelaide, South Australia to parents Noel and Margaret. When he was three, the family relocated to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory for five years, when his father, an insurance manager, was transferred for work. While there, his father dabbled in amateur theatre and radio commercials. When a father and son opportunity for a radio advertisement arose, the pair landed the job.
Herriman's parents split when he was five, and the family soon moved back to Adelaide, where Herriman lived with his father and brother Steven in the suburb of Vale Park, attending Marden High School.
Herriman's father, recognising his son's acting potential, wrote to director Peter Weir (the 'most famous person he could think of') and Weir wrote back, suggesting he sign with an agent. Soon thereafter, Herriman began appearing in TV commercials. On a trip to Melbourne, the pair visited several production houses to try to secure an audition for Herriman.
Career
After auditioning for Crawford Productions, Herriman was cast as Frank Errol in drama series The Sullivans at the age of ten. The role lasted over a period of two years and saw him nominated for three Logie Awards, including Most Popular New Talent and Best Performance by a Juvenile.
All before the age of 12, Herriman went on to secure regular work in television, including children's miniseries The Patchwork Hero (1981) alongside Steve Bisley, period drama miniseries Sara Dane (1982) and For The Term of His Natural Life (1983), an adaptation of Marcus Clarke's 1894 novel, featuring Colin Friels. He also had a role in Grundy's soap opera Taurus Rising.
In his teen years, Herriman lost his confidence, and began working full-time as an insurance clerk alongside his father, relocating to Sydney. During this time however, he continued to undertake television, stage and radio voiceover work, and at 18, scored a guest role in The Flying Doctors, for which he won the Penguin Award for Excellence in a Performance by a Juvenile. He also played neighbour Liam in children's miniseries Elly & Jools, before being cast as Mark Jorgensen, the bespectacled best friend of Ben Mendelsohn's Danny Clark in his first feature, the Australian cult comedy classic The Big Steal (1990).
When his appearance in The Big Steal didn't lead to further film work, Herriman began scripts and plays, including Soar. He took his play to newly-formed theatre group, Tamarama Rock Surfers, gaining the attention of other creative up-and-comers including Joel and Nash Edgerton. Intent on acting and writing full time, he quit his insurance job at the age of 27 and made two short films, the Tropfest finalists They and The Date.
In 1999, Herriman won the United States green card lottery and relocated to Los Angeles in 2000, to further his career. Having no luck, he returned to Sydney 10 weeks later. In 2003, he eventually landed a role in critically acclaimed Foxtel series Love My Way, as George Wagstaffe, workmate and friend of Frankie Page (played by Claudia Karvan). His play Soar was also developed as a short film and in 2004, won him the Best Screenplay award at Flickerfest.
A role in Nash Edgerton's Blue-Tongue Films short film Fuel (2003) was Herriman's first foray into playing creepy, inbred characters and led to his casting as Lester, the roadkill truck driver in 2005 American horror film House of Wax, alongside Paris Hilton. After returning to the States for the film's premiere, Herriman signed with an agent and began looking for work there once more. After a couple of years, he finally scored a guest role in David Mamet's action-drama series The Unit in 2006 and worked with Heath Ledger on Australian film Candy the same year.
Over the next couple of years, Herriman had guest roles in American and Australian series alike, including The Loop, Cold Case, Chandon Pictures, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Satisfaction, Offspring and Rake. In 2008, he also had roles in several films – David Mamet's martial arts feature Redbelt, psychological drama Winged Creatures, and Australian thriller The Square.
Herriman then landed his breakthrough role as redneck Dewey Crowe in crime drama series Justified in 2010, going on to work on the show for six years. He also had a guest role as a drug addict in Breaking Bad and played the convicted kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby, Bruno Hauptmann, in the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar in 2011.
In 2012, Herriman co-starred as Reg in Australian comedy-horror film 100 Bloody Acres alongside Angus Sampson and had a recurring role in Australian comedy series Laid, playing Marcus Dwyer, before taking on another recurring role as hitman Mr. Jones on the CBS crime series Vegas. He also appeared as Ray, a member of the Cavendish gang in Gore Verbinski's 2013 film The Lone Ranger, opposite Johnny Depp.
In demand back in Australia, Herriman played the main role of titular bushranger in 2013 ABC telemovie, The Outlaw Michael Howe. That same year, he was also a performer and contributing writer on the ABC sketch comedy series The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting. In 2014, he had a main role in Josh Lawson's debut feature The Little Death. He also played music executive Chris Murphy in biographical miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart and Father McIntyre in drama film The Water Diviner, alongside Russell Crowe.
In 2015, Herriman appeared in the CBS series Battle Creek, played the homeless Romeo in Starz miniseries Flesh and Bone and also the violent hitman Buddy in the first season of the HBO/Cinemax series, Quarry. In 2016, he appeared in Australian feature film Down Under and played transgender character Kim Gordon in the series Secret City, opposite Anna Torv, earning a Logie Award for his performance in the latter.
In 2018, Herriman played the lead role of unionist Lance Gowland in ABC TV movie, civil rights drama Riot, winning an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for his portrayal. From 2018 to 2021, he had a main role in Australian black comedy miniseries Mr Inbetween, playing Freddy the sleazy owner of a strip club. He also played a role in 2018 Australian film, The Nightingale.
2019 saw Herriman play Charles Manson twice, beginning with an episode of crime series Mindhunter, followed by Quentin Tarantino's feature film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie. Nicholas Hammond (Freidrich from The Sound of Music) who was also appearing in the film, had previously played Herriman's father in a stage production of Lost in Yonkers in 1992. When he learned that Herriman was playing Manson in Mindhunter, he put forth his name for the role of the cult leader in the film. After seeing Herrimann's name written down, Timothy Olyphant, who'd played opposite him in Justified also recommended him to Tarantino, leading to an audition that secured Herriman the role.
Herriman had several other roles in 2019, including playing Paul Allen Brown in Steven Conrad's neo-noir thriller series Perpetual Grace, LTD, opposite Ben Kingsley. He appeared as a menacing priest in Australian drama series Lambs of God…