Theatre
Schmitz has performed in numerous stage productions for Sydney Theatre Company, Company B at Belvoir St Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company. His STC credits include The School for Scandal directed by Judy Davis and the premiere and national tour of David Williamson's The Great Man directed by Robyn Nevin. He has also had leading roles in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara, Andrew Upton's Hanging Man, Tony McNamara's The Great, Nina Raine's Rabbit and Tom Stoppard's Travesties. Several of these productions toured interstate.
Schmitz appeared in the 2000 premiere of Brendan Cowell's Men for Rogue Star Productions at Sydney's Old Fitzroy Theatre. Cowell, on the search for a “suave and cocky” actor, cast Schmitz in the play after encountering him at an STC audition, marking the beginning of regular collaborations, including Schmitz appearing in a lead role in Cowell's Self Esteem in 2007 and playing the title role in Ruben Guthrie for Company B in 2008 and 2009.
For Griffin Theatre Company, Schmitz played the central role of Luke Boyce in Louis Nowra's The Boyce Trilogy – The Woman with Dog's Eyes (2004), The Marvellous Boy (2005) and The Emperor of Sydney (2006), all directed by David Berthold.
In 2009, Schmitz played the role of Coleman in The Lonesome West at Belvoir. He then played the eponymous character Hamlet in the successful 2010 La Boite Theatre production in Brisbane, directed by David Berthold.
Schmitz played the lead role of Elyot Chase in Noël Coward's Private Lives, to packed audiences in Sydney and Canberra in 2012. The same year, he appeared in Strange Interlude, before once again playing the title role in Hamlet in 2013. That same year, he appeared opposite Tim Minchin in a Sydney Theatre Company production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The pair had previously appeared together in a 1996 university production of the play, albeit in minor roles.
In 2015, Schmitz appeared in Andrew Upton's adaptation of Chekhov's play Platonov, titled The Present, for Sydney Theatre Company, opposite Cate Blanchett, Jacqueline McKenzie, Marshall Napier and Richard Roxburgh. In 2016, the production moved to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York City for the Broadway debut of Schmitz and the rest of the cast.
In 2022, Schmitz took on the role of Benedick in Bell Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Later that year and into 2023, he began playing Emperor Joseph II, alongside Michael Sheen as Salieri, in a production of Amadeus at the Sydney Opera House. For one performance in January, he played the role of Salieri.
Schmitz played the dual roles of Dad and Crow in his adaptation of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers for Belvoir. It won awards for Best New Australian Work and Best Mainstage Production at the Sydney Theatre Awards. while Schmitz was also nominated for Best Performance in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production. In February 2026, Schmitz began appearing opposite Damon Herriman and Richard Roxburgh, as Yvan in the comic Yasmina Reza play Art, for a national tour.
