Ben O'Toole

Ben O'Toole is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as Rex Coen in Bloody Hell, his recurring roles in several Australian TV series such as Amazing Grace, as well as for his supporting roles in films such as Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and 12 Strong (2018).

Ben O'Toole
Ben O'Toole during an interview about Everybody Loves Somebody in 2017
Born	Cairns, Queensland, Australia[1]
Education	Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) (2009–2011)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2011–present
Known for	Bloody Hell Amazing Grace Hacksaw Ridge 12 Strong Nekrotronic Caught

Early life

O'Toole was born in Cairns and grew up in Brisbane.^[2][1] He began performing in the theatre while he studied acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)^[3] near Perth.

Career

After graduating in 2011, O'Toole's first screen appearance was in a web series titled Sintillate Studios.^[4] He eventually relocated to Sydney where he continued his work in theatre^[5] and acted in several short films. His first appearance in an internationally released film was in The Water Diviner in 2014, alongside Russell Crowe.^[5] That same year, he was cast in the role of Pete in the first three seasons of the TV series Love Child. In 2016, he played the role of Corporal Tom (second in command to drill sergeant Howell played by Vince Vaughn) in the award-winning biographical war film Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson.

O'Toole moved to Los Angeles in early 2016.^[6] He acted in commercially successful Hollywood films that provided more international exposure and showcased broader recognition of his acting abilities.^[7][8] His first leading role was the romantic comedy, Everybody Loves Somebody (2017), which was well received by critics.^[9][10] In 2018, he performed as main actor in the Australian film Nekrotronic, which was nominated for Best Makeup at the 9th AACTA Awards, but otherwise was rather poorly received both by audiences and critics.^[11][12]

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Toole has almost exclusively appeared in Australian productions. In addition to his performances in series television, he landed the lead role in the horror comedy Bloody Hell, where he assumed the role of protagonist and also embodied the hallucinations of his alter ego.^[13]

O'Toole has also appeared regularly in theatre. In 2022 he appeared in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.^[14] In 2024, he reprised his 2013 role of Happy in Death of a Salesman.^[15]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2014	The Water Diviner	Henry Connor	supporting role	[5]
2016	Hacksaw Ridge	Corporal Jessop		[7]
2017	Everybody Loves Somebody	Asher	lead role	[16]
	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales	British Soldier	supporting role	[17]
	Detroit	Flynn Marko		[8]
2018	12 Strong	Scott Black		[7]
	Nekrotronic	Howard North	leading actor	[18]
2020	Bloody Hell	Rex Coen	leading actor	[13]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2011	Sintillate Studios	Justin	Web series, 6 episodes	[4]
2014-2016	Love Child	Pete	17 episodes	[5]
2019	Catalina Aguilar Mastretta Project	Mack	Pilot episode (unreleased)	[19]
2020	Halifax: Retribution	Jarrod/Daniel	6 episodes
2021	Amazing Grace	Max Shaw	8 episodes	[20]
2022	Pieces of Her	Young Ali Wexler	2 episodes
	Barons	Snapper Webster	Lead role, 8 episodes	[21]
2023	Caught	Rowdy Gaines	6 episodes
2024	Boy Swallows Universe	Teddy Callis	3 episodes

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2011	Blood Will Have Blood	Macbeth / Oberon	WAAPA
	The Laramie Project	Rulon Stacey / Father Roger Schmidt / Jonas Slonaker
	Ruben Guthrie	Ruben Guthrie
	Nana	Marquis de Chouard
2012	Boy Gets Girl	Mercer	Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth with Black Swan State Theatre Company
2013	Death of a Salesman	Happy Loman
2014	Mojo		STC
	The Sublime	Liam	MTC	[22]
2015	Freak Winds	Henry Crumb	Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney
	Men	Crazy Bob		[5]
2022	The Tenant of Wildfell Hall	Arthur Huntington	Roslyn Packer Theatre with STC
2023	On the Beach	Peter Holmes
	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stanley Kowalski	Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney with STC	[23]
2024	37	Joe	Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane with MTC & Queensland Theatre
	Death of a Salesman	Happy Loman	Theatre Royal, Sydney, Crown Theatre, Perth	[24]

Source: ^[25]