Simon Baker

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Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor and director. He first gained prominence on the Australian soap opera E Street (1992–1993). He later starred in the CBS legal drama The Guardian (2001–2004), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama in 2002. From 2008 to 2015, he portrayed Patrick Jane in the drama series The Mentalist, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2009. Baker has also appeared in several films, including L.A. Confidential (1997), Restaurant (1998), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and Margin Call (2011).

Early life

Simon Lucas Baker<ref name=":3" /> was born in Launceston, Tasmania. His father, Barry, was a mechanic and school caretaker, and his mother, Elizabeth, was a high school English teacher.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He has an older sister, two half-brothers and a half-sister.<ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Baker's family moved to New Guinea when Baker was nine months old. His parents' marriage ended when he was two, and his father did not get in touch until Baker was an adult.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> His mother remarried to Tom Denny, a butcher, but Baker did not get on well with his stepfather.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref name=":0" /> His mother and stepfather later divorced.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref>

Baker spent part of his childhood living in the suburbs of Sydney<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but he mainly grew up in the Northern Rivers coastal town of Lennox Head, New South Wales.<ref name=":0" /> He attended high school at Ballina High School and Trinity Catholic College.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Baker has been an avid surfer since his youth and he considers surfing and the relationships with his surfing friends an important part of his upbringing.<ref name=":0" />

Career

Baker's first acting role was in a commercial. He got the role while waiting for a friend to audition when he himself was asked to audition for it.<ref name=":0" /> Before working in Hollywood, he acted in various Australian television shows such as E Street (as Sam Farrel: 1992–1993), Home and Away (as James Hudson: 1993–1994), and Heartbreak High (as Tom Summers: 1996).<ref name=":1" /> In 1993, Baker won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent.<ref name=":0" />

File:Simon-baker-mentalista.jpg

Baker at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2013.

Baker relocated to the United States in the mid-1990s.<ref name=":0" /> In 1997, Baker appeared in a supporting role in L.A. Confidential.<ref name=":1" />

He is known for his portrayal of Patrick Jane in the television series The Mentalist, and Nick Fallin in The Guardian.<ref name="Rigg">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2010, he was earning US$350,000 per episode of The Mentalist. Shortly after, he signed a contract that delivered a payment of US$30 million for his role as Patrick Jane.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In film, he is known for his roles as Max Rourke in the remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring Two, Riley Denbo in Land of the Dead and Christian Thompson in the film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada.

Baker made his directorial debut with the 2017 film Breath, which he also starred in, co-wrote and co-produced. The film is based on the Tim Winton novel.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Honours

In June 2012, Baker was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences along with 175 other individuals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 14 February 2013, Baker was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the entertainment industry. Baker's star can be found at 6352 Hollywood Blvd.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Baker married Australian actress Rebecca Rigg on 2 October 1998, after five years of living together.<ref name=":1" /> Baker told The Ellen Degeneres Show that one of their two weddings was held on the beach at Carmel.<ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref> They have a daughter, Stella, and two sons.<ref name="Rigg"/> Baker and Rigg separated in April 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Baker was raised Catholic, but became agnostic.<ref name=":4" />

Baker follows the rugby league club, the Parramatta Eels in the National Rugby League.<ref> https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_MRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnewslocal%2Fparramatta%2Fthe-mentalist-star-simon-baker-at-parramatta-eels-v-st-george-dragons-match%2Fnews-story%2F0ca7d0249655fe0b9af2493c09848599&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPA-Segment-2-NOSCORE</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	L.A. Confidential	Matt Reynolds
	Most Wanted	Stephen Barnes
1998	Restaurant	Kenny
	Judas Kiss	Junior Armstrong
	Love from Ground Zero	Eric
1999	Ride with the Devil	George Clyde
2000	Sunset Strip	Michael Scott
	Red Planet	Chip Pettengill
2001	Template:Sortname	Rétaux de Villette
2004	Book of Love	David Walker
2005	Template:Sortname	Max Rourke
	Land of the Dead	Riley Denbo
2006	Something New	Brian Kelly
	The Devil Wears Prada	Christian Thompson
2007	Sex and Death 101	Roderick Blank
	The Key to Reserva	Roger Thornberry	Short film
2009	The Lodger	Malcolm Slaight
	Not Forgotten	Jack Bishop
	Women in Trouble	Travis McPherson
2010	The Killer Inside Me	Howard Hendricks
2011	Margin Call	Jared Cohen
2013	I Give It a Year	Guy Harrap
2017	Breath	Bill 'Sando' Sanderson	Also director, co-producer and co-writer
2018	Here and Now	Nick
2020	High Ground	Travis	Also executive producer
2022	Blaze	Luke
2023	Limbo	Travis Hurley	Also executive producer
TBA	Klara and the Sun	Paul	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Shades of Love: Midnight Magic	Template:N/a	Television film
1989	Tales from the Crypt	Party Guest	Episode: "Only Sin Deep"
1992–1993	E Street	Constable Sam Farrell	112 episodes
1993	A Country Practice	Stewart Waterman	2 episodes
	GP	Ben Miller	Episode: "A Family Affair"
1993–1994	Home and Away	James Hudson	19 episodes
1994	Which Way to the War	Private Stan Hawke	Television pilot
1995	Naked	Template:N/a	Television pilot
1995–1996	Heartbreak High	Mr. Thomas 'Tom' Summers	8 episodes
1996	Naked: Stories of Men	Gabriel	Episode: "Blind-Side Breakaway"
	Sweat	Paul Steadman	Episode: "Episode 3"
1999	Secret Men's Business	Andy Greville	Television film
2001–2004	The Guardian	Nick Fallin	67 episodes; also director
2006	Smith	Jeff Breen	7 episodes
2008–2015	The Mentalist	Patrick Jane	151 episodes; also director and producer
2022	Roar	Adam	Episode: "The Woman Who Ate Photographs"
2024	Boy Swallows Universe	Robert Bell	7 episodes
2025	The Narrow Road to the Deep North	Keith Mulvaney	4 episodes
	Ten Pound Poms	Sidney Skinner	Episode: "Episode 2"
TBA	Scarpetta	Benton Wesley	Post-production

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1993	Logie Awards	Most Popular New Talent	E Street	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2000	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Telefeature or Mini-Series	Secret Men's Business	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2002	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama	The Guardian	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2004	Logie Awards	Most Popular Overseas TV Star		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2005	PRISM Awards	Performance in a Drama Series Storyline		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2009	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	The Mentalist	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2010	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Actor		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2011	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Crime Fighter		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Gotham Awards	Best Ensemble Performance	Margin Call	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2012	Independent Spirit Awards	Robert Altman Award		Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Crime Drama TV Actor	The Mentalist	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2017	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Trailblazer Award		Template:Honored	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2018	Australian Directors Guild Awards	Best Direction in a Feature Film	Breath	Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Seattle International Film Festival	Best Feature Film		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Won	<ref name="AACTA8TH">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Adapted Screenplay (Shared with Gerard Lee and Tim Winton)		Template:Nom	<ref name="AACTA8TH"/>
		Best Direction		Template:Nom	<ref name="AACTA8TH"/>
		Best Film (Shared with Mark Johnson and Jamie Hilton)		Template:Nom	<ref name="AACTA8TH"/>
2019	Australian Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Nom	<ref name="AFCA19">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Screenplay (Shared with Gerard Lee)		Template:Nom	<ref name="AFCA19"/>
		Best Director		Template:Nom	<ref name="AFCA19"/>
	Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Won	<ref name="FCCAA18">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Best Script (Shared with Gerard Lee and Tim Winton)		Template:Won	<ref name="FCCAA18"/>
		Best Director		Template:Nom	<ref name="FCCAA18"/>
		Best Film (Shared with Mark Johnson and Jamie Hilton)		Template:Nom	<ref name="FCCAA18"/>
2021	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Best Lead Actor in Film	High Ground	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2022	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Best Supporting Actor in Film	Blaze	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2023	Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Best Lead Actor in Film	Limbo	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards	Best Actor		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Logie Awards	Best Lead Actor in a Drama	Boy Swallows Universe	Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Asian Academy Creative Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role		Template:Won	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2025	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama		Template:Nom	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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