Jackson Gallagher is an Australian actor and professional photographer from Victoria, Australia. Gallagher began his career starring in the Nine Network children's series The Saddle Club and later ventured into film playing the titular character in the 2013 horror film Patrick. He gained wider recognition for his role as Josh Barrett in the soap opera Home and Away. He left the series in 2016 and soon secured more television roles including AFL player Connor Marrello in the Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps. He has also completed additional film roles scheduled for release in 2019. Aside from acting Gallagher has worked as a stills photographer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network.

Jackson Gallagher
Born
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present

Early life

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Gallagher was born in Melbourne and his family moved to Daylesford, Victoria.[1][2] They made home on a one-hundred-acre farm which allowed Gallagher to practise horse riding.[2] When he finished school Gallagher went to New York City and found work in a circus and later as a photography assistant. There he developed a liking for photography. He also studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory.[3] He secured a pre-med course at Melbourne University which he opted to quit in favour of completing a Bachelor of Arts in film and anthropology.[4] He graduated from the university in 2012.[3] In 2014, Gallagher was caught up in two rockfalls while on a climbing expedition at the Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand. He escaped without any injuries.[5]

Career

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Gallagher began his career starring in the Nine Network children's series The Saddle Club as Ashley 'Chewie' Becker.[4] The actor later went onto secure his first film role in the 2013 horror genre film Patrick.[4] He played the titular character, but spent most of the film shoot bedbound. Film director Mark Hartley praised Gallagher's performance for bringing "inner menace" to the role.[6]

In 2013 Gallagher worked as a professional photographer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation network. He has stated that being a still photographer for the network allowed him to learn on-set technique.[3][2] That year Gallagher joined the cast of the Australian soap opera Home and Away, playing the role of Josh Barrett. He was joined by Tai Hara who played his on-screen brother Andy Barrett.[7] The two characters appeared in their own stand-alone webisodes titled Home and Away Extras, before making their debuts in the main show.[7] Gallagher was hesitant about auditioning for the role of a sixteen-year-old because he thought he looked too old which could ruin his chances of success.[8] He auditioned for the role on a Friday and was offered the role the following Monday.[8] At the time Gallagher said "whatever idea they had in their heads of Josh, I happened to fit that image."[8] The actor relocated to Sydney for filming and recalled being "terrified" about completing his first day on set.[4][8] Jackson remained in the role for three years before he was written out in 2016.[9]

In 2016, the actor played the part of gay character Kyle in Josh Thomas' comedy series Please Like Me.[10] Gallagher also travelled to refugee camps located in the Middle Eastern country Jordan, where he worked as a photographer for the charity Act of Peace.[3] His next project was a guest role of Tamas Lupei in the ABC drama The Doctor Blake Mysteries.[11] In May 2018, it was announced that he had secured the regular role of Connor Marrello in the Network Ten drama series Playing for Keeps. The show is about a group of AFL players and their wives' personal lives.[12] He also starred as Clay in the comedy series Back In Very Small Business.[3]

In 2019, Gallagher filmed a main role in the Dee McLachlan directed film The Wheel, playing the role of Matthew Allen Mills. The film focuses on a group of prisoners who are forced to participate in scientific experiments.[13] In August 2020, the film was released in the United Kingdom under the new title 2099: The Soldier Protocol.[14]

Gallagher then began filming for a television series tentatively titled Ocean City.[15] He also secured another film role in This Time, Maybe and appeared as Raf in the third series of ABC drama Glitch.[3] In 2020, he appeared as Travis Kelly in the prison drama Wentworth and he later joined the cast of the soap opera Neighbours, playing the role of Nathan Packard.[3][16]

In 2022, he played Reuben Knox in the film Girl at the Window.[17] Also that year he joined Netflix teen drama series Surviving Summer, playing the character Trav Morphett.[18] In 2023, Gallagher played the role of Winston Strong in Amazon Freevee show Almost Paradise in the episode titled "Uncoupled".[19]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2008–2009 The Saddle Club Ashley 'Chewie' Becker Regular role
2013–2016 Home and Away Josh Barrett Regular role
2016 Please Like Me Kyle Guest role
2017 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Tamas Lupei Guest role
2018 Wine: A Bottle Shared Is a Problem Halved Bartender Guest role
Back in Very Small Business Clay Recurring role
2018–2019 Playing for Keeps Connor Marrello Regular role
2019 Glitch Raf Guest role
2020 Wentworth Travis Kelly Guest role
Neighbours Nathan Packard Guest role
2022 Surviving Summer Trav Morphett Guest role
2023 Almost Paradise Winston Strong Guest role

Film appearances

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Year Title Role Notes
2023 Six Months Harrison Short film
2022 Girl at the Window Reuben Knox Film
2019 2099: The Soldier Protocol Matthew Allen Mills Film
This Time, Maybe Jamie Film
2013 Patrick Patrick Film
2011 Lie Awake He Short film
Sources:[3][4][13][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ Thomas, Lucy (16 December 2014). "Jackson Gallagher Gives Gender Inequality a Run for its Money". SheRa Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Jackson Gallagher plays Josh Barrett". Yahoo!7. 30 October 2013. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Jackson Gallagher". Creative Representation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Young Daylesford star off to Summer Bay". Hepburn Advocate. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Home and Away star Jackson Gallagher caught up in two rockfalls on New Zealand's Franz Josef Glacier". News.com.au. (News Corp Australia). 29 September 2014.
  6. ^ Condit, Jon (7 September 2014). "Exclusive: Mark Hartley Talks Patrick: Evil Awakens' Chilling Tone, Thrilling Finale, Crack Cast, and Much More". Dread Central. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  7. ^ a b Schipp, Debbie (3 August 2013). "Home and Away introduces new bad boys Tai Hara and Jackson Gallagher with innovative webisodes". The Daily Telegraph. (News Corp Australia). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Downie, Stephen; Richards, Holly (30 May – 5 June 2015). "Hitting a home run". TV Week (22). (Bauer Media Group): 109.
  9. ^ Dainty, Sophie (27 June 2016). "Home and Away spoilers: Josh Barrett's explosive Summer Bay exit revealed". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  10. ^ Bastow, Clem (9 November 2016). "Josh Thomas on Please Like Me season four: 'We're doing so many sex scenes'". The Guardian. (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  11. ^ Knox, David (19 August 2017). "Returning: The Doctor Blake Mysteries". TV Tonight. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Ten announce cast for new drama Playing For Keeps". TV Blackbox. 27 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  13. ^ a b Groves, Don (18 September 2018). "Umbrella Entertainment keeps faith in Oz films and documentaries". If Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  14. ^ "2099: The Soldier Protocol". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  15. ^ a b Murphy, Alice (4 February 2019). "Everything you need to know about Jackson Gallagher from Home and Away". New Idea. (Pacific Magazines). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Arrivals & departures lounge". TV Soap. No. 23. (nextmedia). 9 November 2020. p. 40.
  17. ^ Valentin, Mel (3 November 2022). "Review: Girl at the Window, a down under read window". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  18. ^ Young, Liz (4 June 2022). "Surviving Summer: Plot, Cast, and Everything Else We Know". MovieWeb. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Uncoupled - Almost Paradise (Series 2, Episode 8) - Apple TV (UK)". Apple TV . 21 July 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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