Michael Hurst

In a career spanning over forty years, Michael Hurst has worked as both actor and director across theatre, film and television. Major roles include Hamlet, Macbeth, Mozart, Mark Rothko in Red by John Logan, Koko in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, Macheath in Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera and most recently with ATC, Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus (2017). Michael has directed many acclaimed productions including Chicago, Lysistrata (his own adaptation), Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Twelfth Night, Cabaret, Brel, The Threepenny Opera, Pleasuredome and The Changeling. In 2018, he toured New Zealand with his solo show No Holds Bard, and performed the role of The Poet in An Iliad by Lisa Petersen and Dennis O’Hare, which was recognised as the performance of the year at the annual Dunedin Theatre Awards. Internationally renowned for his performance as Iolaus in the long running US TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Michael has also directed a number of television dramas, including Westside, The Almighty Johnsons, Spartacus, 800 Words and Legend of the Seeker. He has just completed shooting The Dead Lands for AMC, a series based on the New Zealand feature film of the same name. Michael is an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, a New Zealand Arts Laureate, and a proud member of Actors’ Equity.