# Toby Schmitz
**Toby Schmitz** (born 1977) is an Australian actor, playwright, and director known for playing the pirate Jack Rackham in the Starz series *Black Sails* and for a substantial career in Australian theater, including two productions of *Hamlet*, the Broadway transfer of *The Present*, and an award-winning adaptation of *Grief Is the Thing with Feathers*.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977, Perth, Western Australia[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/) |
| Training | Graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a degree in Performing Arts (Acting) in 1999[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/bio/) |
| Best-known screen role | Jack Rackham in *Black Sails* (Starz, 2014–2017, 37 episodes)[3](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/) |
| Other screen work | Tim Cotton in *Boy Swallows Universe* (2024); Captain Burns Lee in *The Pacific* (2010)[4](https://www.metacritic.com/person/toby-schmitz/) |
| Playwriting awards | Patrick White Playwrights' Award for *Lucky*; Australian National Playwrights' Centre/New Dramatists Award for *Chicks Will Dig You*[5](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/toby-schmitz.html) |
| Recent stage work | Yvan in the Australian touring production of Yasmina Reza's *Art* (2026)[6](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/features/chaos-ego-and-a-white-canvas-toby-schmitz-on-art/) |
## Early life and training
Schmitz was born in Perth, Western Australia, where he grew up around his father's second-hand bookstore; he has traced his love of language to the cheap Signet Shakespeare editions he carried in his back pocket as a child[7](https://theurbanite.com.au/toby-schmitz-interview-art-play-brisbane/). He attended Perth's Scotch College and then began a law degree at the [University of Western Australia](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-western-australia), where university revues intervened: performing sketch comedy alongside a young [Tim Minchin](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-minchin), he decided on a stage career[7](https://theurbanite.com.au/toby-schmitz-interview-art-play-brisbane/). He then trained as an actor at NIDA, graduating in 1999[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/bio/).
## Theatre career
**A stage-first actor.** Schmitz's principal body of work lies in Australian theater, with credits spanning [Sydney Theatre Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-theatre-company), Belvoir, Griffin Theatre Company, Bell Shakespeare, and the Melbourne Theatre Company[6](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/features/chaos-ego-and-a-white-canvas-toby-schmitz-on-art/) • [8](https://mtc-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/File/9961.pdf). He has described theater as the spine of his working life, telling an interviewer in 2008 that he had been doing it since age five and that any stretch away from a play left him restless[9](https://www.australianstage.com.au/200804251374/features/sydney-interview/toby-schmitz.html).
His leading roles include the title part in [Brendan Cowell](https://www.edgepedia.org/brendan-cowell)'s *Ruben Guthrie* at Belvoir (2008–2009), Elyot Chase in [Noël Coward](https://www.edgepedia.org/noel-coward)'s *Private Lives* (2012), and Benedick in Bell Shakespeare's *Much Ado About Nothing* (2022)[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz). For Griffin Theatre Company he played Luke Boyce across all three plays of [Louis Nowra](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-nowra)'s *The Boyce Trilogy* (2004–2006)[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz).
**Hamlet and Stoppard.** Schmitz has twice played the title role in *Hamlet*: in David Berthold's 2010 La Boite production in Brisbane, and again in 2013 at Belvoir under Simon Stone, in what *The Spectator Australia* called a jaw-dropping performance by a Hamlet "whose anguish frequently explodes into hysteria"[11](https://www.spectator.com.au/2013/11/good-night-sweet-prince/). In the same year he played Guildenstern opposite Tim Minchin's Rosencrantz in [Tom Stoppard](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-stoppard)'s *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead* for Sydney Theatre Company, directed by Simon Phillips; the Guardian review noted his "highly strung" Guildenstern built on old-school British comedy[12](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/australia-culture-blog/2013/aug/12/rosencrantz-guildenstern-dead-minchin). The two had appeared together in minor roles in a 1996 university production of the same play[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz). Schmitz's own play *I Want to Sleep with Tom Stoppard* premiered at Sydney's Bondi Pavilion in 2012[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz).
**Broadway.** In 2015 Schmitz appeared in [Andrew Upton](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-upton)'s adaptation of Chekhov's *Platonov*, staged as *The Present*, opposite [Cate Blanchett](https://www.edgepedia.org/cate-blanchett), Jacqueline McKenzie, and Richard Roxburgh for Sydney Theatre Company; in 2016 the production moved to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York for Schmitz's Broadway debut, and he was in the original Broadway production as Nikolai (and understudy for Mikhail)[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz) • [13](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Toby-Schmitz/).
**Adaptation and awards.** In 2025 Schmitz co-adapted and starred in *Grief Is the Thing with Feathers* at Belvoir, playing both the father and the crow in Max Porter's novella about a widowed [Ted Hughes](https://www.edgepedia.org/ted-hughes) devotee[14](https://musicaltheatre.au/2025/08/01/review-toby-schmitz-stars-in-belvoirs-grief-is-the-thing-with-feathers/). The production won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Mainstage Production and the award for Best New Australian Work, with Schmitz nominated for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production[10](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz) • [15](https://belvoir.com.au/about/this-is-belvoir/).
## Playwriting and directing
Schmitz's plays include *Lucky*, *Chicks Will Dig You!*, *Capture the Flag* (with a regional Australian tour), and *This Blasted Earth*, co-written with Travis Cotton and Tim Minchin[8](https://mtc-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/File/9961.pdf). *Lucky* won the Sydney Theatre Company's Patrick White Playwrights' Award, and *Chicks Will Dig You* won the Australian National Playwrights' Centre/New Dramatists Award[5](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/toby-schmitz.html). In 2018 he wrote and directed *Degenerate Art* at Sydney's Old Fitz Theatre, an experimental piece about the art dealers, architects, and collectors who served the Nazi regime[16](https://nightwrites.com/2018/10/25/degenerate-art-red-line-productions/). His directing credits also include *Boy's Life*, *This Is How It Goes*, *Shakespearialism*, *Howie the Rookie*, and *This Much Is True*[8](https://mtc-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/File/9961.pdf).
## Screen career
On television, Schmitz is best known as Jack Rackham in *Black Sails*, the Starz pirate drama with [Michael Bay](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-bay) as executive producer, set in the early 1700s[17](https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tv/no-plain-sailing-ng-ya-376425). He appeared in the role for the series' full 2014–2017 run of 37 episodes[3](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/). He told *The West Australian* in 2017 that his theater commitments, booked a year in advance, made fitting in Australian screen work difficult during those four years[18](https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tv/perth-raised-actor-sails-into-new-legal-role-ng-b88366642z).
His film work began with *The Rage in Placid Lake* (2003, as Bull) and includes *Three Blind Mice* (2008, as Dean), *Griff the Invisible* (2010), and the 2018 comedy *Book Week*, which Rotten Tomatoes lists as his highest-rated film at 83 percent[19](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/toby_schmitz). On television he played Captain Burns Lee in the 2010 miniseries *The Pacific*, which carries Metacritic's highest score of his screen credits at 86, Tim Cotton in *Boy Swallows Universe* (2024), and roles in *Reef Break*, *DOTA: Dragon's Blood*, and the 2023 series *The Artful Dodger* as Ludwig Leichhardt[4](https://www.metacritic.com/person/toby-schmitz/).
## Recent work
From February 2026 Schmitz played Yvan, the peacemaker of the trio, in Yasmina Reza's *Art* opposite [Richard Roxburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roxburgh) (Marc) and [Damon Herriman](https://www.edgepedia.org/damon-herriman) (Serge), a State Theatre Company South Australia production touring Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide[6](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/features/chaos-ego-and-a-white-canvas-toby-schmitz-on-art/) • [20](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/feb/20/art-review-richard-roxburgh-comedy-delivers-on-laughs-but-not-much-more). Reviewers singled out his wedding monologue; one called the performance scene-stealing[20](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/feb/20/art-review-richard-roxburgh-comedy-delivers-on-laughs-but-not-much-more). He also co-created and starred in *Hamlet Camp* with Modern Convict Films, which returned to Sydney after a sold-out world premiere season[21](https://glamadelaide.com.au/interview-toby-schmitz-writing-directing-and-performing-a-life-in-the-arts/).
## References
1. [Toby Schmitz, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/)
2. [Toby Schmitz Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/bio/)
3. [Toby Schmitz, IMDb (mobile)](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1070252/)
4. [Toby Schmitz, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/toby-schmitz/)
5. [Toby Schmitz, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/toby-schmitz.html)
6. [Chaos, Ego, and a White Canvas: Toby Schmitz on ART, AussieTheatre](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/features/chaos-ego-and-a-white-canvas-toby-schmitz-on-art/)
7. [Toby Schmitz Interview: On the Play 'ART', The Urbanite](https://theurbanite.com.au/toby-schmitz-interview-art-play-brisbane/)
8. [Cast & Creative Team, Melbourne Theatre Company (PDF)](https://mtc-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/File/9961.pdf)
9. [Toby Schmitz interview, Australian Stage Online](https://www.australianstage.com.au/200804251374/features/sydney-interview/toby-schmitz.html)
10. [Toby Schmitz reference record, VALÉORINE](https://www.valeorine.com/reference/toby-schmitz)
11. [Good night, sweet prince, The Spectator Australia](https://www.spectator.com.au/2013/11/good-night-sweet-prince/)
12. [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/australia-culture-blog/2013/aug/12/rosencrantz-guildenstern-dead-minchin)
13. [Toby Schmitz, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Toby-Schmitz/)
14. [REVIEW: Toby Schmitz stars in Belvoir's Grief is the Thing with Feathers, MusicalTheatre.au](https://musicaltheatre.au/2025/08/01/review-toby-schmitz-stars-in-belvoirs-grief-is-the-thing-with-feathers/)
15. [This is Belvoir, Belvoir St Theatre](https://belvoir.com.au/about/this-is-belvoir/)
16. [Degenerate Art review, Night Writes](https://nightwrites.com/2018/10/25/degenerate-art-red-line-productions/)
17. [No plain sailing, The West Australian](https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tv/no-plain-sailing-ng-ya-376425)
18. [Perth-raised actor sails into new legal role, The West Australian](https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tv/perth-raised-actor-sails-into-new-legal-role-ng-b88366642z)
19. [Toby Schmitz, Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/toby_schmitz)
20. [Art review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/feb/20/art-review-richard-roxburgh-comedy-delivers-on-laughs-but-not-much-more)
21. [Interview: Toby Schmitz, Glam Adelaide](https://glamadelaide.com.au/interview-toby-schmitz-writing-directing-and-performing-a-life-in-the-arts/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames O to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license