Simon Baker

Acting

Simon Baker

Born 1969-07-30 · Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Simon Baker (born July 30, 1969) is an Australian actor and director. In his television acting career, he is best known for his lead role in the CBS television series The Mentalist as Patrick Jane and as Nicholas Fallin in The Guardian. In his film acting career, he is best known for the lead role of Riley Denbo in Land of the Dead and Christian Thompson in the film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, based on the 2003 novel of the same name. Simon Baker was born to a high school English teacher, Elizabeth Labberton, and a groundskeeper/mechanic, Barry Baker, on 30 July 1969, in Launceston, Tasmania. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. His parents divorced while he was still young. His mother later married Tom Denny, a butcher. Simon Baker also has a sister, currently a doctor in Australia, and three younger half brothers. By 1972, the family had moved from Launceston to Ballina, New South Wales, where Baker's parents hoped to secure better paying jobs. In 1986, he graduated from Ballina High School as Simon Baker-Denny, after completing his primary school education at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School, also in Ballina.

Acting credits

The Devil Wears Prada poster
7.4

A young woman from the Midwest gets more than she bargained for when she moves to New York to become a writer and ends up as the assistant to the tyrannical, larger-than-life editor-in-chief of a major fashion magazine.

The Devil Wears Prada

2006

Margin Call poster
6.9

Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, involving the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. An entry-level analyst unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm.

Margin Call

2011

L.A. Confidential poster
7.8

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

L.A. Confidential

1997

The Ring Two poster
5.8

After the ordeal with Samara, Rachel and Aiden move to a rural town. But soon Rachel learns about the death of a girl in a similar fashion. To save Aiden, she must dig into Samara's past even further.

The Ring Two

2005

Land of the Dead poster
6.3

The living dead have taken over the world, and the remaining humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they cope with the situation.

Land of the Dead

2005

Red Planet poster
5.7

Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.

Red Planet

2000

Something New poster
6.4

Kenya McQueen thought she had it all: a successful career, good friends and family. There was just one thing she didn't have under control: her love life. All that changes when she meets sexy, free-spirited Brian Kelly. But when her ideal man arrives on the scene, Kenya must decide between the relationship everyone expects and the romance no one expected.

Something New

2006

The Killer Inside Me poster
5.8

Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford is a pillar of the community in his small west Texas town, patient and apparently thoughtful. Some people think he is a little slow and maybe boring, but that is the worst they say about him. But then nobody knows about what Lou calls his "sickness": He is a brilliant, but disturbed sociopathic sadist.

The Killer Inside Me

2010

Most Wanted poster
5.4

A Marine on death row is recruited by a shadowy U.S. military officer as part of a top-secret ops team, then gets framed for murder when the team and its officer set him up as the fall guy for the assassination of the First Lady.

Most Wanted

1997

Sex and Death 101 poster
6.1

A guy's life is turned around by an email, which includes the names of everyone he's had sex with and ever will have sex with. His situation gets worse when he encounters a femme fatale who targets men guilty of sex crime.

Sex and Death 101

2007

I Give It a Year poster
5.5

After a quick courtship, two lovers hastily decide to tie the knot. As their first year of marriage unfolds, temptation and incompatibility put their relationship in jeopardy.

I Give It a Year

2013

Breath poster
6.6

A pair of teenagers in Western Australia looking to escape the monotony of life in a small town take up surfing lessons from a guy named Sando.

Breath

2017

Judas Kiss poster
5.7

The shooting of a U.S. senator's wife raises the stakes for kidnappers seeking a hefty ransom for a computer magnate.

Judas Kiss

1998

Ride with the Devil poster
6.3

Friends Jake and Jack Bull join up with Civil War guerrilla fighters, yet after the realities of war set in, they must decide what honor truly means.

Ride with the Devil

1999

Here and Now poster
5.3

On the eve of a major performance, singer Vivienne receives life-altering news that causes her to reevaluate her priorities. Crisscrossing the busy streets of New York City, she tries to balance her upcoming tour, family, and friends. Through interaction with her overbearing mother, Jeanne, her long-time manager, Ben, and her ex-husband, Nick, Vivienne strives to make peace with the decisions and sacrifices she's made along the way.

Here and Now

2018

Limbo poster
6.1

Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the detective gains a new insight into the unsolved case.

Limbo

2023

High Ground poster
6.3

In a remote corner of the wild country, a bloody war rages. Travis is a bounty hunter with one last hope of redemption. Gutjuk is a young Indigenous man trying to save the last of his family. Together they embark on a manhunt, which unravels a secret that ultimately pits them against each other.

High Ground

2021

The Affair of the Necklace poster
5.6

In pre-Revolutionary France, a young aristocratic woman left penniless by the political unrest in the country, must avenge her family's fall from grace by scheming to steal a priceless necklace.

The Affair of the Necklace

2001

Women in Trouble poster
5.1

Several women (and one girl) in L.A. are hiding something from someone else, or discovering something hidden from them. Maxine, a therapist, discovers her husband cheating on her with the mother of Charlotte, a 13-year old patient. Addy (the other woman) and her sister Doris have withheld from the girl the truth of her parentage. Holly, an adult film actor, isn't telling her friend Bambi how she feels about her, and another actor, Elektra, who discovers she's pregnant, hasn't told the baby's father that she loves him. A stuck elevator, a car crash, mid-air turbulence, a flight attendant, a shotgun-wielding bartender, and her roommate, who's a masseuse, help these women communicate.

Women in Trouble

2009

Restaurant poster
5.0

A few young waiters at a popular New Jersey restaurant are dreaming of becoming actors or otherwise getting into the artistic community.

Restaurant

1999

Not Forgotten poster
5.0

Set in a Tex-Mex border town, Not Forgotten is a classic psychological thriller about Jack and Amaya Bishop, a couple who must come to terms with their tortured pasts in order to save their kidnapped daughter. It is a tale taut with intrigue and steeped in Latino mysticism, where the line between what's real and what's imagined becomes hopelessly blurred.

Not Forgotten

2009

The Lodger poster
5.7

Follows a seasoned detective on the trail of a ruthless killer intent on slaughtering prostitutes along West Hollywood's Sunset Strip. It appears that the murderer's grisly methods are identical to that of London's infamous 19th century psychopath Jack the Ripper – a relentless serial killer who was never caught by police. To make matters worse, the detective soon notices the parallels between the crimes committed by the West Hollywood stalker and those of a serial murderer incarcerated years ago. Could the wrong man be behind bars?

The Lodger

2009

Sunset Strip poster
4.8

A day in Hollywood, 1972, with young people looking for the 24 hours that will change their lives. Zach will open that night for a British rocker at Whisky a Go-Go; he lives in a canyon and plays impromptu duets with a mysterious guitarist he doesn't see. Tammy is a costume designer, open to quick sex with the various rockers she works with and loved from afar by Michael, a photographer recovering from a case of the clap. His good friend is Felix, a morose, alcoholic songwriter. On hand for comic relief is Marty Shapiro, a fast-talking record producer. Getting ready for the gig at the club, Zach's performance, and the early-morning aftermath comprise the film.

Sunset Strip

2000

Book of Love poster
4.6

Living among fusty academics, an unusual young man gets between a high school history teacher and his wife.

Book of Love

2004

Behind the camera