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Alex Dimitriades

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Alexandros Dimitriades
Dimitriades with his AACTA Award, 2012
Born (1973-12-28) 28 December 1973 (age 50)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active1993–present

Alex Dimitriades (born 28 December 1973) is an Australian film and television actor.

Early life

Dimitriades was born in Sydney, as Alexandros Dimitriades. He is the son of first generation Greek immigrants, and is the youngest of three siblings. He has a brother, George, and a sister, Melinda. He grew up in Earlwood, a suburb of Sydney.[1] His parents divorced when he was twelve.[2] His mother worked as a legal secretary. She raised the children as a single mother.[3]

Career

Film

Dimitriades at the 2016 Logie Awards

Dimitriades first attracted national attention for his co-starring role in the 1993 Australian film The Heartbreak Kid, for which he received positive reviews and acclaim.[4]

In 1998, he played the protagonist Ari in the controversial Ana Kokkinos film Head On, based on the book Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas. Dimitriades' performance in the role was critically acclaimed and earned him an AFI Award nomination.[5] The film was controversial for its graphic violence, sex scenes and LGBT subject matter, though it earned mostly positive reviews.[6] It screened at dozens of festivals around the world, including the Director's Fortnight at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.[7]

His other film roles include the Australian comedies Let's Get Skase (2001) and La Spagnola (2001), the Greek film To Gamilio Party (English title Bang Bang Wedding, 2008), Wog Boy 2: Kings of Mykonos (2010), and Summer Coda starring alongside Rachael Taylor.[8] He has also had roles in the Hollywood films Ghost Ship (2002) and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005).[9]

In 2015, he co-starred in Ruben Guthrie alongside Patrick Brammall.

Television

After making his acting debut in the film The Heartbreak Kid, he starred in a television spin-off, Heartbreak High, in which he played Nick Poulos.[10] He went on to play underworld figure, Warren Lanfranchi, in the 1995 drama television series Blue Murder.[11] The following year, Dimitriades played estate agent Steve George in the television soap opera Neighbours.[12] In 1997, he took on a role in the police drama Wildside.

In 2002, he appeared in Young Lions. In years to follow, he had a small guest role in the Australian science fiction series Farscape. In 2008, Dimitriades starred in the drama series Underbelly.[13]

In 2011, he featured in The Slap, the TV adaptation of the novel of the same name by Christos Tsiolkas. He was awarded the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama for his role as the protagonist, Harry.[14] In 2015, he starred in The Principal, a SBS four-part crime drama screened over two weeks in October, for which he won a Logie Award.[15] The series has received positive reviews and various accolades, including several nominations from the Australian Film Institute in 2016. Subsequent to this, he appeared in the shows Secret City and Seven Types of Ambiguity.

In late 2018, Dimitriades had a recurring role in the BBC One drama The Cry, as Detective Peter Alexiades; and in the Netflix series Tidelands, again playing a police officer.

Dimitriades DJing at an event in 2012

DJ

Dimitriades, an avid collector of vinyl records, has stated that his love of music started in childhood.[16] He has a passion for both hip hop and dance music and has stated he is inspired by Kings Go Forth because of their "’70s sound."[17] He works as a DJ professionally across Australia, often referred to as DJ Boogie Monster.[18] Dimitriades has headlined and performed at numerous events, including Derby Day,[citation needed] and as the headline act for the relaunch of the popular South Melbourne nightclub, Motel.[19]

Although Dimitriades is primarily known as an actor, his DJ work actually predates his acting work:

It's partly my fault, I was a DJ before I was an actor, but I wasn't known and haven't been known as one. It's two sides of me that will never go away.”[17]

Theatre

In 1996 and 1997, Dimitriades, along with Nick Giannopoulos and Vince Colosimo, toured as part of the Wogboys comedy stage shows.[20][21]

Dimitriades has also appeared in many theatre productions, including two plays by Louis Nowra for Griffin Theatre Company, The Woman with Dog's Eyes (2004) and The Emperor of Sydney (2006); The Nightwatchman (2007) and Rain Man in 2010; and the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Glengarry Glen Ross in 2014.[citation needed]

Personal life

Dimitriades had an eight-year relationship with Terry Biviano in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[3][22]

In 2008, Dimitriades was arrested driving under the influence. It was reported that he had a blood alcohol reading of .11, more than twice the legal limit in Australia. The charge resulted in the suspension of his driver's licence.[23][24]

In September 2009, his mother, Betty Dimitriades, died after a long-time illness.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Alex the 'hunk' djs at Eve Nightclub". Neos Kosmos. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Alex Dimitriades Bio". Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
  3. ^ a b "Alex Dimitriades: I've had dark days". NewsComAu. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. ^ Stratton, David (4 June 1993). "Review: 'The Heartbreak Kid'". Variety. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Alex Dimitriades". IMDb. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  6. ^ Head On, retrieved 25 January 2017
  7. ^ "Screen Australia - Head On (1998)".
  8. ^ Hall, Sandra (21 October 2010). "Review". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  9. ^ Robb, Peter. "The Kid Grows Up: Meeting Alex Dimitriades". The Monthly. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  10. ^ Eames, Tom (3 May 2016). "Heartbreak High: What do they look like now?". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  11. ^ Roxburgh, Richard; Martin, Tony; Bastoni, Steve; Day, Gary (14 September 1995), Blue Murder, retrieved 23 January 2017
  12. ^ Knox, Malcolm (12 August 1996). "White slavery exists". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 63. Retrieved 23 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.Free access icon
  13. ^ "Underbelly star's ups and downs". Herald Sun. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Alex Dimitriades wins AACTA". 1 February 2012. ABC News. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Alex Dimitriades wins a Logie". ABC News. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Alex Dimitriades". Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  17. ^ a b Phillipson, Jessica. "Alex Dimitriades Just Plays The Funky Shit". scenestr.com.au. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  18. ^ Lex, Lady. "Alex Dimitriades: Hard soul". Inthemix.com.au. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  19. ^ Dennehy, Luke (23 October 2011). "Motel makes room for DJ Alex". Herald Sun. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  20. ^ Xavier Pons (2002). Departures: How Australia Reinvents Itself. Melbourne University Publish. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-522-84995-0. The most phenomenal commercial success in immigrant theatre has been Wogs Out of Work (1987) and its spin-offs, Wog-A-Rama (1993) and Wog Boys (1996)
  21. ^ Geoffrey Milne (1 January 2004). Theatre Australia (un)limited: Australian Theatre Since the 1950s. Rodopi. p. 269. ISBN 90-420-0930-6. Particularly significant for its extremely broad audience appeal is the Wogs out of Work phenomenon.
  22. ^ "Wildside: articles". Australian Television. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Alex Dimitriades was heartbroken and drunk, say friends". Herald Sun. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  24. ^ "Alex Dimitriades wins court battle". The Telegraph. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  25. ^ "Mum's death rocks Alex and family". Retrieved 23 January 2017.
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