Damon Herriman set a record at this year’s TV Week Logie Awards – it was 35 years between his first nomination for The Sullivans back in 1982 and this year’s win as Most Outstanding Supporting Actor for Secret City.
But Damon’s been getting very used to milestones and a changing of the times over recent years. For a man who literally grew up on Aussie TV, starting out in commercials at the age of eight, his success in recent years has marked a new chapter for the 47-year-old.
He’s in demand at home, having recently filmed the new season of Top Of The Lake and in last year’s No Activity.
But he’s also forging a busy career in Hollywood with breakthrough roles as Buddy in the favourite Quarry, Jonathan in Incorporated and Dewey in Justified.
“It all seemed to happen when I turned 40,” Damon revealed to TV WEEK on the Logies red carpet.
“It’s just one of those things – you grow into the type you’re meant to be as an actor, and I have tended to play a lot of character roles in recent times,” he said.
“These are the good ones that come along a little more as you get older. Whatever it means, I feel incredibly lucky.”
He says his dramatic Logie-winning turn as transgender Kim Gordon in Secret City was one of the best.
“That’s certainly one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever had,” he explained. “But at the end of the day, standing here now, I’m really happy I did it.”
For the time being, Damon is finishing filming on the new Aussie movie The Nightingale, being shot in Tasmania and co-starring Their Finest’s Sam Claflin.
The story, set in 1829, follows the saga of a young convict woman seeking revenge for the murder of her family.
“Once that’s done, I’ll head back to the States and see what the state of play is then.”
As a result of his US breakthrough roles, Damon now finds the doors of Hollywood’s top casting directors now open far more easily.
“It’s definitely a little bit easier,” he says. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, welcome – we want you in everything!’ But it’s definitely a case of each job you get makes every next job a bit easier.”
For now, Damon is anticipating the go-ahead for a second season of Quarry.
“We’re all just waiting right now to see if we are going again, but there’s no formal decision on that. So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed, as I’d love to go there again.”
For the man who has worked consistently in TV since he was a boy, it has been in the recent years that Damon has been seen in a new light.
His star turn as super-lawyer Chris Murphy in 2014’s INXS: Never Tear Us Apart showed him in an all new light, and there’s been no slowing down since.
