Travis Fimmel is an Australian actor. He played Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series Vikings (2013–2017), Marcus in HBO science fiction series' Raised by Wolves, Desmond Hart in Dune: Prophecy, and the leading role of James Cormack in Black Snow (2024).
Early life and education Fimmel was born in Echuca, Victoria, Australia and was raised in Lockington. The youngest of three brothers, he is the son of Jennie, a recreation officer for disabled people, and Chris, a cattle farmer.
Aspiring to be a professional Australian rules footballer, Fimmel moved to Melbourne to play for the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL, but a broken leg sidelined him before the season began.
He was accepted into RMIT University for an architecture course, but later deferred to travel abroad.Lee, Luaine 'The Beast's' Travis Fimmel is Happy Down on the Farm The Denver Post, 28 January 2009
Modelling Fimmel was spotted working out at a gym in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn by the flatmate of a talent scout for the Chadwick Models agency.Lewis, Felicity Model Hunter , The Age Magazine, 29 February 2008 He headed to the United States and was signed on the spot with agency LA Models in 2002, after walking into their office broke and barefoot. He became the first male model to secure a six-figure deal to model exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year, and the last to be personally contracted by the brand's eponymous designer.Epaminondas, George, Naked in New York, The Age, 27 January 2002Blasberg, Derek, In Conversation: Calvin Klein, Gagosian Quarterly, 23 February 2018 He fronted CK's Crave men's fragrance campaign and modelled the brand's underwear.Who magazine , Retrieved 9 April 2024 He was named one of the world's sexiest bachelors by America's People magazine in 2002, and was highly in demand as a male model.People magazine, 24 June 2002Herald Sun, Former Calvin Klein Model Travis Fimmel Films Horror Movie with Jessica Marais, Luke Wilson" 21 December 2009 He appeared on magazine covers, including Esquire, Rogue, Empire, At Large, Good Weekend, Numero Homme, and America's TV Guide.With Stars In Their Eyes, The Age, 20 August 2003. 21 August 2003
He turned down an offer from Australia's Seven Network to be a guest judge on the TV series Make Me a Supermodel in 2012.The Daily Telegraph Don't Make Me A Supermodel Judge: Travis Fimmel 6 July 2008
In March 2025, he became the face of the Saudi perfume brand Laverne.
Acting career 2001–2012: early work Fimmel began his acting career by appearing in the music videos for Janet Jackson's song "Someone to Call My Lover"Hello Magazine, Retrieved 25 March 2011 and "I'm Real" (original version) by Jennifer Lopez, both in 2001.
He studied under Ivana Chubbuck, the Hollywood acting coach of movie stars Brad Pitt and Jared Leto.Looper 24 May 2021 He took two years to pluck up the courage to audition for his first role.
He landed the title lead in The WB series Tarzan in 2003, in which he did most of his own stunts.Hello! Magazine Profile: Travis Fimmel Retrieved 9 May 2011CNN, Five of the Hottest Things Happening in Entertainment Right Now 18 September 2003McDaniel, Mike From Jockeys to the Jungle, 20 July 2003 The series was cancelled after eight episodes. In addition, he appeared in two television pilots: The WB's drama Rocky Point with Lauren Holly in 2005, and the Fox crime thriller Southern Comfort with Madeleine Stowe in 2006.
In 2008, he played a murderer in the Australian film Restraint, and a party boy in Surfer, Dude with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. In 2010, he portrayed a compassionate cowboy in Pure Country 2: The Gift and a forensic photographer in Australian horror film Needle, co-starring Ben Mendelsohn.The Telegraph, Ben Mendelsohn ties the knot with British writer and Hollywood 'it' girl Emma Forrest in Los Angeles 10 June 2012
He depicted a talented classical pianist in Ivory, an independent film that was an Official Selection in the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival and the Strasbourg International Film Festival.Official Website Retrieved 6 July 2012. The film was produced by Gray Frederickson and co-starred Martin Landau and Peter Stormare.Price, Matthew, The Oklahoman, Retrieved 6 July 2012.
Fimmel played Helweg, a prison guard, in the 2010 film The Experiment, in a role reportedly offered to Elijah Wood, who pulled out of shooting for reasons unknown.Sony Lockdown on 'Experiment' The Hollywood Reporter, 4 August 2009 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.Zimbardo, Philip Simulation Experiment of the Psychology of Imprisonment Conducted at Stanford University, Retrieved 18 March 2012
Fimmel starred opposite Patrick Swayze in A&E's 2009 series The Beast.Salem, Rob Watching, Waiting and Hoping for Swayze , 12 January 2009 He played rookie undercover FBI agent Ellis Dove partnered with a hardened veteran cop, Swayze's Charles Barker. Production ceased after 13 episodes due to Swayze's death from pancreatic cancer.Sydney Morning Herald Patrick Swayze Dead 15 September 2009 He played fugitive Mason Boyle in two episodes of NBC's 2010 action-adventure Chase, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
He appeared in FX's TV pilot crime drama Outlaw Country in 2011 with Luke Grimes.Kroll, Justin Travis Fimmel to Star in FX's 'Outlaw Country' , 9 September 2010
Fimmel played the lead in 2012's Harodim 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.
He co-starred with Billy Bob Thornton and Eva Longoria in the 2012 redneck Southern comedy flick The Baytown Outlaws, playing 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.McClintock, Pamela Billy Bob Thornton Redneck Comedy 'Baytown Disco' Adds Three New Stars Hollywood Reporter, 28 April 2011
2013–2019: breakthrough and film work Fimmel was signed as the lead character for four seasons in the critically acclaimed drama television series Vikings, co-starring Alexander Ludwig, Katheryn Winnick, Gabriel Byrne, Gustaf Skarsgard, and Linus Roache.Looper 21 January 2021 Premiering in 2013, the show gained a cult following and chronicles "the extraordinary and ferocious world of the mighty Norsemen who raided, traded and explored during The Middle Ages." He played a character 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.Goldberg, Lesley 'Glee's' Jessalyn Gilsig to Co-Star in History Channel's 'Vikings' Drama Hollywood Reporter, 28 June 2012Prudom, Laura Vikings On History: Travis Fimmel Previews The Journey Of Ragnar Lothbrok The Huffington Post, 4 March 2013Vikings Renewed for Season 2 by History , The Huffington Post, Retrieved 5 April 2013 USA Today described Fimmel's performance as "engaging", while The Huffington Post called it his "breakout role".Bianco, Robert Vikings takes the pillage, raises it to derring-do USA Today, 26 February 2013
Fimmel starred as military commander Anduin Lothar in Warcraft in 2016, a live-action film adaptation of the Warcraft video game franchise. It was reported that a horse spooked by a wind fan collapsed on Fimmel while performing one of his own stunts, but he emerged unscathed.
He was cast as a quirky hipster in the romantic comedy Maggie's Plan with Ethan Hawke, Greta Gerwig, Maya Rudolph, Bill Hader, and Julianne Moore, and a loving but irresponsible father in Lean on Pete with Charlie Plummer and Steve Buscemi.SBS Broadcasting Retrieved 27 January 2024The New York Times 5 April 2018
He was named as the Actor of the Year in GQ Australias 2017 Men of the Year Awards.
Fimmel was the lead actor in Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, playing the role of Major Harry Smith who led soldiers under his command against the Viet Cong during the Battle of Long Tan in the Vietnam War. It is based on the historic account of 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers who defeated an estimated 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers in a rubber plantation near Nui Dat on 17 August 1966.
He co-stars as a deputy sheriff opposite fellow Australian Margot Robbie in the indie film Dreamland. Set in the 1930s Dust Bowl, the story follows a teenage boy on his quest to beat out the FBI to capture a fugitive bank robber in order to claim a bounty and save the family farm.The Guardian 10 December 2020
2020–present: television and film balance
In 2020, Fimmel featured as a TV presenter in Here Are the Young Men, which was adapted from a novel about three Dublin high school graduates whose epic binge to mark the end of an era is blighted by catastrophe.Screen Daily 8 November 2019
From 2020 to 2022, he appeared in HBO Max's science fiction drama Raised by Wolves from director Ridley Scott and Scott Free Productions, which marked Fimmel's return to television.Decider 5 September 2020 It was a role that earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series at the Critics' Choice Super Awards.Deadline 19 November 2020 The dystopian narrative depicts him as an atheist soldier with a mysterious backstory in a new society created after a war sparked by religious differences decimates Earth.Rotten Tomatoes 3 September 2020
In a review of his role as a killer-for-hire in the 2021 action-crime thriller Die in a Gunfight, Forbes states that Fimmel "steals every scene he’s in and has what could be the most compelling and morally tangled [character] arc of anyone in the entire story".Forbes 15 July 2021
Fimmel played a genius, reclusive and kooky inventor in the science fiction, neo-noir film Zone 414. It co-starred Guy Pearce and was set in a colony of state-of-the-art humanoid robots and drew comparisons to Blade Runner.Polygon 3 September 2021
He also appeared in indie drama Delia's Gone, co-starring Marisa Tomei, based on a short story about a black man with an intellectual disability who is accused of his sister's murder and embarks on a journey to clear his name and find out who's responsible.Delia's Gone Official Website Retrieved 26 January 2024Deadline 21 October 2020
In One Way, Fimmel plays a mysterious passenger who meets a lifelong criminal played by Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly, who has stolen from the biggest mob boss in town and boards a bus to flee.Screen Rant Retrieved 2 September 2022 He also appeared in Fool's Paradise, a comedy by Charlie Day about a fool for love who becomes an accidental celebrity only to lose it all.Movie Web 24 January 2023
Featuring in AMC+ western series That Dirty Black Bag, he was credited as a producer, and co-starred with Dominic Cooper, Douglas Booth, and Aidan Gillen. It shows a clash between an apparently incorruptible sheriff with a dark past and a taciturn bounty killer trapped by a desire for vengeance that cannot be fulfilled.Rotten Tomatoes Retried 26 January 2024Coming Soon Dot Net 18 November 2021IMDB Retrieved 26 January 2024
Fimmel plays cold-case detective in the Stan Original mini-series Black Snow.Deadline 11 July 2022 His performance in Season 1 earned him a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama in the 2024 AACTA Awards.AACTA Retrieved 26 January 2024 In March 2024, Black Snow was renewed for a second series with Fimmel reprising the role. Season 2 aired from 1 January 2025, with Fimmel directing an episode.