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Emmett Skilton

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Emmett Skilton
Skilton in 2018
Born (1987-09-23) 23 September 1987 (age 37)
Wellington, New Zealand
Other namesEmmett Couling Skilton
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
PartnerHolly Shervey (2014–present)[1]
Websitewww.emmettskilton.com

Emmett Skilton (born 23 September 1987) is a New Zealand actor and director.

He played the lead character, Axl Johnson, in the comedy-drama, The Almighty Johnsons, and most recently had roles in Avatar: The Way of Water and American comedy series Young Rock,[2] portraying Dwayne Johnson's real-life college football coach, Ed Orgeron.[3]

Early life

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Emmett was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He grew up in Titahi Bay and attended Mana College,[4] all in his home town of Titahi Bay. Emmett performed in the New Zealand Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival every year that he was at Mana College, and one year directed A Midsummer Night's Dream.[5] In 2005 he was selected to attend the New Zealand Schools Shakespeare Production.[5]

During high school, Emmett performed with improvisation troupe, Joe Improv, at Wellington's Capital E. New Zealand director Danny Mulheron saw Emmett perform and asked him to audition for the role of Willem in Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby. The following year he toured New Zealand and Sydney with the acting company The Ugly Shakespeare Company,[6] before attending Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School,[7] in 2007.

Career

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Film and television

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While studying at Toi Whakaari, Emmett starred in the feature film Home By Christmas, based on Gaylene Preston's family during WW2. He graduated at the end of 2009 with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Acting[8] and began starring as Axl Johnson in The Almighty Johnsons from 2010.

Emmett played real-life figures Sam Giancana in US series The Making of the Mob: Chicago in 2016 and Victor Lownes in American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story in 2017. He went on to star in James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, The Sounds, New Zealand and Canadian co-production, Together Forever Tea, Amazon Prime's American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story,.[9]

Emmett recently starred in NBC's new single-camera comedy series, Young Rock, based on the life of Dwayne Johnson.[10] Emmett portrays Johnson's former position coach at the University of Miami, former LSU head coach, Ed Orgeron.

Directing

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From 2015 to 2017, Emmett produced and directed the comedy web series Auckward Love[11] which centres around a young heartbroken girl in Auckland, New Zealand, in her quest to find love again from her not-so-useful best friends. He also directed the award-winning[12] comedy series, Millennial Jenny,[13] exclusively for Instagram TV in 2019 to present. Emmett co-directed Stan Harrington's Australian series, Legends, released in 2019.

He is a screen tutor[14] at leading drama school The Actors Program and directed their 2017 and 2018 graduation films, Ripple and 13 Suspects, the latter written by The Almighty Johnsons co-creator Rachel Lang.[15]

Most recently, Emmett has directed over 100 episodes of Shortland Street for TVNZ.

Filmography

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Film

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Television

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Web

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Theatre

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Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Harvey, Kerry (22 November 2018). "Shortland Street actor Holly Shervey thankful for 'boring life' after dramatic role". Stuff.
  2. ^ "Kiwi actors love being part of The Rock's younger years". NZ Herald. 31 January 2021.
  3. ^ Barrasso, Justin. "'Young Rock' Dives Deep into Dwayne Johnson's Football Career at Miami". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  4. ^ Dallas, Matthew (20 March 2012). "Playing god a hectic but rewarding job". Kapi Mana. Dominion Post.
  5. ^ a b "Emmett Skilton (SGCNZ NSSP 2005) :: Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ". www.sgcnz.org.nz. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  6. ^ Dekker, Diana (4 November 2012). "Sky's the limit for Emmett". Dominion Post. Stuff.
  7. ^ "Past Graduates 2009". Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. Toi Whakaari.
  8. ^ "Graduate". toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  9. ^ "TV Shows Starring Emmett Skilton". Next Episode. 18 April 2018.
  10. ^ Elber, Lynn. "Dwayne Johnson's 'surreal' look back in TV's "Young Rock"". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Twelve Questions With Emmett Skilton". NZ Herald. 18 October 2016.
  12. ^ "Millennial Jenny awards". IMDb.
  13. ^ "Emmett Skilton and Holly Shervey's creative bubble". NZ Herald. 12 April 2020.
  14. ^ "The Program". theactorsprogram.co.nz. The Actors Program.
  15. ^ "Alumni Films". theactorsprogram. The Actors' Program.
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