Simon Baker

A Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actor, Australian-born Simon Baker has an impressive background that spans both film and television, capturing the attention of audiences worldwide.

Baker can currently be seen playing Patrick Jane in the hugely popular series The Mentalist on CBS. Currently in season 6, Baker plays a former ‘psychic’ scam artist who now uses his gifts of human observation to help the California Bureau of Investigation. His performance has earned him both Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

Baker was most recently seen in Margin Call, a thriller which revolves around the key players at an investment banking firm during a 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. The film features an ensemble cast including Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto and Demi Moore. The film won the 2011 Independent Spirit Award for Best Ensemble Cast and was named one of the Top Ten Independent Films of the year by The National Board of Review.

Baker and producer Mark Johnson recently acquired Tim Winton's novel Breath to adapt into a feature film which they will co-produce. Baker will also star in the film which follows a pair of teenagers in Western Australia as they look to escape the monotony of life in a small town by taking surfing lessons from Sando (Baker). He will next be seen in writer/director Dan Mazer’s I Give it a Year, alongside Anna Faris and Rose Byrne.

In 2010, Baker was seen in Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me opposite Casey Affleck. In 2006, Baker starred in the 20th Century Fox smash hit, The Devil Wears Prada, opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway; he also starred in Something New, a romantic comedy co-starring Sanaa Lathan.

Baker first gained attention in Curtis Hanson's Academy Award winning film LA Confidential opposite Kevin Spacey. Other early roles for Baker include Affair of the Necklace, Red Planet, Sunset Strip, Sex and Death 101, and Ang Lee's critically acclaimed Ride with the Devil, which screened at the 1999 Deauville Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival.

Other feature film credits include Universal's Land of the Dead, George Romero’s highly anticipated continuation of his famous zombie series, DreamWorks' horror sequel The Ring 2, and the independent feature film Book of Love, which screened in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

From 2001 to 2004, Baker starred in the highly rated CBS drama The Guardian, in which he portrayed a hardened corporate lawyer sentenced to work as a legal child advocate after being found guilty of drug possession. Baker’s standout performance garnered him his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Other television credits include the critically acclaimed CBS series, Smith, created by John Wells and also starring Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen.

More about Simon Baker at: IMDb Wikipedia