Michael Dorman

Michael Dorman is a New Zealand actor, resident in Australia. He is best known for his starring roles as Tom Wilcox in Wonderland (2013–2015), John Tavner in Patriot (2015–2018), NASA astronaut Gordo Stevens in For All Mankind (2019–2021), and the title character in Joe Pickett (2021–2023).

Michael Dorman
Dorman in 2017
Born	Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present

Early life and education

Michael Dorman was born in Auckland, New Zealand. His mother's side of the family is Māori (specifically, Ngāti Porou people from the east coast of the north island), and his father's ancestors are Pākehā.^[a][1]

He moved to Australia with his family at the age of ten, and settled in Bundaberg, Queensland, where he attended Bundaberg State High School.^[1] He subsequently studied for a degree in drama at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane.^[2]

Career

Dorman's first role was as Christian on The Secret Life of Us. He was a fan of the show when it premiered in 2001 and he was in his final year of university. He landed the role in 2002 after having moved to Sydney.^[2]

One of Dorman's breakthrough performances came in the Australian film Suburban Mayhem (2006).^{[citation needed]} Other lead roles followed in the Australian films Prime Mover (2009) and Needle (2010), as well as supporting work on further Australian films such as West (2007), Acolytes (2008), Triangle (2009), Daybreakers (2009) and Killer Elite (2011).^{[citation needed]} He also featured in a main role as Tom Wilcox in the Australian television comedy-drama Wonderland for the entirety of its run (2013–2015).^{[citation needed]}

After befriending Russell Crowe while working on The Water Diviner (2014), Crowe paid for Dorman's flight to the United States to further his acting career there.^[1] He picked up significant roles in TV series For All Mankind and Patriot, and a small role in blockbuster film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).^{[citation needed]}

He returned to Australia and was living there as of 2018.^[1]

Dorman went on to star as Tom Griffin in the horror film The Invisible Man and as Jesse in Hard Luck Love Song (both 2020).^{[citation needed]}

In 2021, it was announced that he would star as the title character of the American TV series Joe Pickett, based on the books by C. J. Box. The show premiered for viewing on the Spectrum Network in December 2021 and Paramount+ streaming service in February 2022.^{[citation needed]}

He was cast as Gol D. Roger in the 2023 Netflix series One Piece, US/UK/Japan co-production,^{[citation needed]} and played Graham Lawson in the 2024 Netflix Australian series Territory.^[3]

Music

Dorman is also a musician. He has performed live supporting musicians such as Alex Lloyd, The Beautiful Girls, and Abbe May, as well as at festivals, including Peats Ridge, Woodford, and Homebake Festivals.^[4]

Recognition and awards

Dorman was nominated for a Silver Logie for Best Lead Actor in a Drama in the 2025 Logie Awards, for his performance in Territory.^[3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Spudmonkey	Trent
2005	50 Ways of Saying Fabulous	Jamie
2006	Suburban Mayhem	Rusty
2007	West	Mick
2008	Acolytes	Gary Parker
2009	Prime Mover	Thomas
	Triangle	Greg
	Daybreakers	Frankie Dalton	[5]
2010	Needle	Ben Rutherford
2011	Killer Elite	Jake
	Sleeping Beauty	Cook	[6]
2014	The Water Diviner	Greeves
2016	Goldstone	Patch
2017	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales	First Officer Wade
2020	The Invisible Man	Tom Griffin
	Hard Luck Love Song	Jesse

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002–2005	The Secret Life of Us	Christian Hayden	Main cast
2005	Small Claims: White Wedding	Sean	Television film
2006	The Silence	Eddison	Television film
2011	Sea Patrol	Travis	Episode: "The Hunted"
	Rescue: Special Ops	Will Pike	Episode: "True Romance"
	Wild Boys	Dan Sinclair	10 episodes
	Blood Brothers	Jeff Gillham	Television film
2012	Underbelly: Badness	Paul Leaske	Episode: "Strike Force Tuno"
2013	The Time of Our Lives	Joel	3 episodes
	Reef Doctors	Scottie	Episode #1.11
	Serangoon Road	Conrad Harrison	Miniseries, 10 episodes
2013–2015	Wonderland	Tom Wilcox	44 episodes
2015–2018	Patriot	John Tavner	18 episodes
2016	Black Comedy	Guest Cast	Episode #2.6
2019–2021	For All Mankind	Gordo Stevens	20 episodes[7]
2020	The Secrets She Keeps	Jack O'Shaughnessy	6 episodes
2021–2023	Joe Pickett	Joe Pickett	20 episodes
2023	One Piece	Gol D. Roger	Episode: "Romance Dawn"
2024	Territory	Graham Lawson	6 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean	Joe	QUT
2001	The Taming of the Shrew	Lucentio	QUT
	The Art of Success	Frank	QUT
	48 Shades of Brown	Dan	La Boite Theatre Company

^[8]

Footnotes

1. The Māori term for non-Māori, but most commonly applied to New Zealanders of European descent.