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Felix Mallard

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Felix Mallard
Mallard in 2022
Born
Felix Cooper Mallard

(1998-04-20) 20 April 1998 (age 26)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active2014–present

Felix Cooper Mallard (born 20 April 1998) is an Australian actor, musician, and model.[1] He began his career playing Ben Kirk in the soap opera Neighbours (2014–2019). He has since starred as Cooper in the CBS comedy Happy Together (2018–2019) and Marcus Baker in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia (2021–present).

He had recurring roles as Lucas Caravaggio in Locke & Key (2020–2021), also on Netflix, and Aiden in the second season of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (2021) on NBC.

Early life

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Mallard grew up in Melbourne, Australia. He has a sister.[1] He attended the all-boys school Christian Brothers College, now St Mary's College, where he was a College Prefect. He completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in 2015,[2] as well as a course in Technical Production.[3] Mallard took up fencing at the age of ten.[4] He competed at state and national levels, winning two bronze medals in the team events at the 2012 Victorian National Champions and 5th place in the under-15 National Sabre Championships in 2013.[2][5] When he was 13, Mallard was scouted by a modelling agent and signed with Vivien's Models.[6][7][8] He featured in several campaigns, including an editorial spread in Yves Magazine.[2] Mallard is a musician and plays the guitar, piano and drums.[9] He is a guitarist and singer in punk rock band Enemies Alike.[10] The band has played in venues around Melbourne, at school music events, and Associated Catholic Colleges' Battle of the Bands competitions.[3]

Career

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Mallard made his acting debut in 2014 at the age of 15, taking over the role of Ben Kirk in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours for a three-week, six episode guest stint.[11][12] He obtained an audition through his modelling agent, which he unexpectedly won. He had never previously considered acting but this experience made him realise this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.[7][13] He returned the following year for a further 4-month guest stint, while still at school.[14] After finishing Year 12, Mallard chose to pursue acting full-time and he re-joined Neighbours as a permanent cast member in 2016.[15] Mallard's interest in music was incorporated into his character and he frequently played music on the show.[2][16] That same year, he starred in Xanthe ♥ Ben, a 20-episode online spin-off released on Instagram,[17] as well as the webisode series Summer Stories, broadcast during the 2016 Christmas period.[18] Mallard filmed his final scenes for Neighbours in late 2017. His final storyline as Ben saw him move to his late father's home town of Oakey, Queensland to start over.[19] His final episode aired on 10 April 2018.[20] He made two return appearances by video link, airing on 31 December 2018 and 7 January 2019.[21][22] He also featured in the music video of Melbourne band Maefire's "Without You" in 2016.[23]

Following his departure from Neighbours, Mallard starred in his former co-star Travis Burns's short film Money Is Just a Barbell, which he also produced and did the music.[24] He moved to the United States at the start of 2018 and quickly secured the role of popstar Cooper James in the CBS comedy series Happy Together, alongside Damon Wayans Jr. and Amber Stevens West. Happy Together is loosely based on the experiences of English singer Harry Styles, who moved in with television producer Ben Winston and his family to escape the spotlight when the pop band One Direction exploded in popularity.[25][26][27] After being offered the role by the television show's producer Winston, Mallard received telephone calls from Harry Styles and James Corden, who convinced him to accept the role.[27] Mallard initially auditioned with an American accent, but was asked to switch to his native Australian accent.[28] The show debuted on 1 October 2018, but after mediocre ratings, it was announced on 28 November 2018, that CBS had declined to order additional episodes of the series beyond the initial order of thirteen.[29] CBS cancelled the show on 10 May 2019.[30]

Mallard went on to play the recurring role of Lucas Caravaggio in the Netflix horror series Locke & Key: a 17-year-old friend of Rendell Locke, who died 25 years earlier, after being possessed by a demon. Filming took place in the first half of 2019.[31] It was released on 7 February 2020.[32] He appeared in the romantic drama film All the Bright Places, which began filming in October 2018 and was also released by Netflix in February 2020. The film is an adaptation of Jennifer Niven's 2015 young adult novel of the same name.[33]

In 2021, Mallard began a recurring role in the second season of the musical comedy-drama series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist on NBC, as Zoey's neighbour – an Australian musician, who recently graduated college and has returned from backpacking in Thailand. The role included performing a number of songs and dancing.[9][34][35]

Mallard plays series regular Marcus, an edgy 15-year-old, in the Netflix dramedy Ginny & Georgia.[36] Mallard was required to learn American Sign Language for the role, as his character's father is deaf.[35] Filming took place in Toronto during the second half of 2019 and the series was released on 24 February 2021.[37] Ginny & Georgia was renewed for a second season, after season one was watched by 52 million viewers within 28 days, making it Netflix's tenth most watched series.[38] It aired on January 5, 2023.[39] The popularity of the show saw Mallard's following on Instagram increase from 90,000 to over 3 million, after its release.[40]

Later in 2021, he returned to the second season of Locke & Key, appearing in the final episode.[41]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2014–2019 Neighbours Ben Kirk Recurring (2014–2015), Main cast (2016–2018), Guest (2018–2019)
2016 Xanthe ♥ Ben Web series
2016 Pipe Up Web series; Episode: "Sheep"
2016 Summer Stories Web series
2018 Money Is Just a Barbell Homeless guy Short film. Also Producer and Music.
2018–2019 Happy Together Cooper James Main cast
2020 All the Bright Places Roamer
2020–2021 Locke & Key Lucas Caravaggio Recurring role
2021 Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Aiden Recurring role, Season 2
2021–present Ginny & Georgia Marcus Baker Main cast
2024 Turtles All the Way Down Davis Picket Main cast[42]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Who Is Felix Mallard? Everything You Need to Know About The 'Happy Together' Actor". Capital FM. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Felix Mallard | Neighbours". 10 play.
  3. ^ a b "Happy in Hollywood". stmaryscollege.vic.edu.au. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Mallard, Felix". Australian Fencing. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  5. ^ "2012 State and National Champions". SportsTG. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  6. ^ "10 Things You Need To Know About The Aussie Actor Playing Harry Styles". MTV. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b Mantai, Joshen (25 May 2021). "Felix Mallard – The 'Ginny and Georgia' star discusses pandemic pressures and toxic masculinity". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ^ @itsfelixwot (2 January 2019). "WHATS UP 2019 HERES A LIL INTERVIEW I DID WITH @NKDmag GET AROUND IT" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ a b Bucksbaum, Sydney (2 February 2021). "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist star Felix Mallard teases Aiden and Zoey's 'connection'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Enemies Alike". Triple J Unearthed. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  11. ^ Lazarus, Susanna (13 March 2014). "Libby Kennedy to return to Neighbours for three-week guest role". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  12. ^ Knox, David (11 March 2014). "Kym Valentine returns to Neighbours in guest role". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  13. ^ Xidias, Angelica (13 May 2021). "Meet Felix Mallard, the Aussie actor Harry Styles cast to play Harry Styles". GQ Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  14. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (17 May 2015). "All change for Neighbours: Four new regulars join the soap's cast". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  15. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (20 January 2016). "Ben Kirk is back! Neighbours star Felix Mallard returns to set as a regular". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  16. ^ Neighbours Backstage - Felix Mallard (Ben Kirk) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0FKHzOyq-E
  17. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (6 April 2016). "Neighbours is going experimental as Xanthe and Ben land their own drama series... on Instagram". Digital Spy. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  18. ^ Dainty, Sophie (29 November 2016). "Neighbours to air over Christmas for the first time ever as the show releases special episodes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  19. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (26 February 2018). "Neighbours reveals exit plot for Ben Kirk as he gets an intriguing new job offer". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  20. ^ Dainty, Sophie (11 April 2018). "Neighbours star Felix Mallard speaks out after Ben Kirk's final scenes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  21. ^ https://www.facebook.com/Neighbours/posts/10156826703733351 [user-generated source]
  22. ^ "Xanthe and Ben scene ep 8011" – via www.youtube.com.
  23. ^ "Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Maefire "Without You" (2016)". 22 June 2016.
  24. ^ Dainty, Sophie (2 March 2018). "Neighbours star Travis Burns and Felix Mallard team up for short film after show exits". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  25. ^ Petski, Denise (28 February 2018). "Australian Actor Felix Mallard To Star In CBS' Tim McAuliffe/Austen Earl Comedy Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Harry Styles to produce One Direction sitcom in America". BBC News. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  27. ^ a b Pedrosa, Marina (18 October 2018). "Felix Mallard Reveals What it Was Like to Get 'The Call' From Harry Styles For 'Happy Together' Role". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  28. ^ Gidlow, Steve (4 October 2018). "Felix Mallard of 'Happy Together' on How Harry Styles Pointed Him in a New Direction". MediaVillage. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  29. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (28 November 2018). "'Murphy Brown,' 'Happy Together' to End After Initial Orders on CBS". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  30. ^ Ausiello, Michael (10 May 2019). "Happy Together Cancelled at CBS". TVLine. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  31. ^ "Current Productions | IATSE 873". 23 June 2019. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019.
  32. ^ Thorne, Will (25 February 2019). "Felix Mallard Joins Netflix's 'Locke & Key' (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  33. ^ Galuppo, Mia (4 October 2018). "Alexandra Shipp, Keegan-Michael Key Join Elle Fanning in 'All the Bright Places' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  34. ^ Petski, Denise (29 October 2020). "'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist': Jee Young Han & Felix Mallard To Recur On Season 2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  35. ^ a b "interview | felix mallard". Schön! Magazine.
  36. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (13 August 2019). "Netflix Orders New YA Series 'Ginny & Georgia', Antonia Gentry and Brianne Howey Topline Main Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
  37. ^ "'Ginny & Georgia' Season 1: Netflix Release, Plot, Cast, Trailer". What's on Netflix. 10 February 2021.
  38. ^ "Netflix: 'Mind-boggling' 142 million accounts have tuned in to Squid Game".
  39. ^ "'Ginny & Georgia' Season 2 on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far". What's on Netflix. 9 September 2021.
  40. ^ "Felix Mallard on Skincare, Sunlight, and the Spirituality of Surfing". Byrdie. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  41. ^ "Locke and Key season 2: release date, cast, trailer and latest news". Radio Times. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  42. ^ Kiesewetter, John (26 April 2022). "'Turtles All The Way Down', based on John Green's bestseller, films in Cincinnati this week". WVXU. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
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