Damon Herriman (born 31 March 1970) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Dewey Crowe on the FX neo-western crime series Justified (2010–15), and Romeo on the Starz drama miniseries Flesh and Bone (2015). He is also known for having played cult leader Charles Manson twice, first on the second season of the Netflix psychological crime thriller series Mindhunter, and later in the comedy drama film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (both 2019).
Herriman won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Punch in the black comedy film Judy and Punch (2019), and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as Ruse in the historical psychological thriller film The Nightingale (2018).
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Early life and education
Herriman was born in Adelaide, South Australia to parents Noel and Margaret. When he was three, the family relocated to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory for five years, when his father, an insurance manager, was transferred for work. While there, his father dabbled in amateur theatre and radio commercials. When a father and son opportunity for a radio advertisement arose, the pair landed the job.
Herriman's parents split when he was five, and the family soon moved back to Adelaide, where Herriman lived with his father and brother Steven in the suburb of Vale Park, attending Marden High School.
Herriman's father, recognising his son's acting potential, wrote to director Peter Weir (the 'most famous person he could think of') and Weir wrote back, suggesting he sign with an agent. Soon thereafter, Herriman began appearing in TV commercials. On a trip to Melbourne, the pair visited several production houses to try to secure an audition for Herriman.
Career
After auditioning for Crawford Productions, Herriman was cast as Frank Errol in drama series The Sullivans at the age of ten. The role lasted over a period of two years and saw him nominated for three Logie Awards, including Most Popular New Talent and Best Performance by a Juvenile.
All before the age of 12, Herriman went on to secure regular work in television, including children's miniseries The Patchwork Hero (1981) alongside Steve Bisley, period drama miniseries Sara Dane (1982) and For The Term of His Natural Life (1983), an adaptation of Marcus Clarke's 1894 novel, featuring Colin Friels. He also had a role in Grundy's soap opera Taurus Rising.
In his teen years, Herriman lost his confidence, and began working full-time as an insurance clerk alongside his father, relocating to Sydney. During this time however, he continued to undertake television, stage and radio voiceover work, and at 18, scored a guest role in The Flying Doctors, for which he won the Penguin Award for Excellence in a Performance by a Juvenile. He also played neighbour Liam in children's miniseries Elly & Jools, before being cast as Mark Jorgensen, the bespectacled best friend of Ben Mendelsohn's Danny Clark in his first feature, the Australian cult comedy classic The Big Steal (1990).
When his appearance in The Big Steal didn't lead to further film work, Herriman began scripts and plays, including Soar. He took his play to newly-formed theatre group, Tamarama Rock Surfers, gaining the attention of other creative up-and-comers including Joel and Nash Edgerton. Intent on acting and writing full time, he quit his insurance job at the age of 27 and made two short films, the Tropfest finalists They and The Date.
In 1999, Herriman won the United States green card lottery and relocated to Los Angeles in 2000, to further his career. Having no luck, he returned to Sydney 10 weeks later. In 2003, he eventually landed a role in critically acclaimed Foxtel series Love My Way, as George Wagstaffe, workmate and friend of Frankie Page (played by Claudia Karvan). His play Soar was also developed as a short film and in 2004, won him the Best Screenplay award at Flickerfest.
A role in Nash Edgerton's Blue-Tongue Films short film Fuel (2003) was Herriman's first foray into playing creepy, inbred characters and led to his casting as Lester, the roadkill truck driver in 2005 American horror film House of Wax, alongside Paris Hilton. After returning to the States for the film's premiere, Herriman signed with an agent and began looking for work there once more. After a couple of years, he finally scored a guest role in David Mamet's action-drama series The Unit in 2006 and worked with Heath Ledger on Australian film Candy the same year.
Personal life
Herriman had a girlfriend when he embarked on his first trip to the US in 2000, to further his career. Although the US stint only lasted 10 weeks before his return to Sydney, the pair broke up.
In 2020, Herriman shared that constantly travelling for work makes long-term relationships difficult, saying: "I started spending half the year in two different countries right around the time I was expecting I would settle down, so, 15 years of that lifestyle hasn't helped." In 2024, he told The Australian: "I had a girlfriend recently for a couple of years and that probably did suffer partly because of the distance."