About Me

I think stories are like dreams. We don’t really know why we have them, but without them, we’d go insane. Whether I’m acting or writing, I see myself first as a storyteller.

The best stories shift the kaleidoscope in our mind to reveal fresh patterns and they do that other welcome thing – make us realize we aren’t alone; the person next to you is just as scared and jealous and egotistical and shy as you are. That’s why I make art – to forge deeper connections.

I grew up in a small Australian town called Quirindi. It means “nest in the hills” in the language of the Kamilaroi. On top of the highest neighboring hill, there’s a lookout called, “Who-A-Thought-It”. I used to love standing up there, turning in a circle imagining the exotic lives being lived in great cities beyond the hills, on the far side of vast oceans.

At 18, I traveled beyond the hills to a great city, Sydney, where I trained as an actor and worked for 13 years in theatre, film and TV. I then crossed a vast ocean to study writing in another great city, New York, where I met my wife and collaborator, the composer, SoHee Youn.

While I pursue acting, SoHee and I are working on our new full-length musical, Thunderbolt. 

I like to say I’m not insane, I’m just a New Yorker. 

---

News

• Jamie played the role of Judge Turpin in the highly acclaimed Broadway production of Sweeney Todd,  starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford. 

•  Jamie and his wife and collaborator, SoHee Youn, are currently working on their new musical, Thunderbolt based on the life of Australian outlaw, Fred Ward and his First Nations wife, Birrpai woman, Mary Ann Bugg. 

•  He played Nelson Ruddy in a recent episode of The Good Fight on CBS.

•  He appeared as Ian Rae alongside Russell Crowe and Seth MacFarlane in the first episode of The Loudest Voice on Showtime.

• I Spy a Spy, the original, full-length musical written and composed by Jamie and SoHee, played off-Broadway at St. Clement's Theatre in New York, in the summer of 2019.