Boy Swallows Universe star Travis Fimmel makes bombshell admission about his thriving acting career
He is one of Hollywood’s biggest and rising stars.
But Australian-born Travis Fimmel has admitted he doesn’t like being in the spotlight.
The 45-year-old Viking actor has admitted that he could live happily without performing and being in front of the cameras.
I have never enjoyed [acting]”, not once,” Travis admitted in the latest edition of Squire.
The Boy Swallows Universe star described his work as “just a job,” adding: “I mean, it’s deep work – you have to be deep to keep working. But I don’t get caught up in it.”
The former model, who was born in the small town of Echuca in Victoria, also indicated that he would like to return to rural life, but that he has not yet earned enough money to retire.
Travis also admitted that he continued to focus on his acting career because he didn’t know “what else to do.”
“What makes a carpenter work all the time? What makes someone get up in the morning and go to work? What makes us keep doing it?” he asked.
Famed Australian actor Travis Fimmel (pictured) has admitted he has never ‘enjoyed acting’
‘I’m very happy for people who love their work – jealous and happy. But [acting] doesn’t do it for me. I’m not driven by it.’
Travis also said that he would rather be ‘home’ in Australia than spend time away from home, but he has continued to work overseas because it allows him to build a good reputation.
Travis broke through in 2002 as the first male model to land a six-figure contract to pose exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year.
He appeared on dozens of billboards throughout Los Angeles, causing traffic jams in the area due to the racy nature of his images.
Travis said he was going to ‘retire’ but hasn’t made enough money to stop. Pictured: Travis in Australian Netflix streaming hit Boy Swallows Universe
The character Jerry ‘Smith’ Jarrod from Sex and the City is said to have been inspired by Travis, who also appeared in spreads and on the covers of magazines such as W.
Since then, Travis has focused on acting.
He first made a splash in the acting world in 2003, when he landed the lead role in the Warner Bros. series Tarzan.
However, it wasn’t until 2013 that Travis really made his breakthrough, with the iconic role of Ragnar Lothbrok in the hit TV series Vikings, which aired from 2013 to 2017.
He subsequently played the role of Anduin Lothar in Warcraft (2016) and starred in the science fiction series Raised by Wolves (2020).
Travis made his name in 2002 as the first male model to land a six-figure contract to pose exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year
In 2023, he appeared in two Stan Original series: Black Snow and Caught.
Although Travis lives in LA, he spends a lot of time in Australia. He recently even started his own Australian lager brand, Travla, with MasterChef judge Andy Allen.
Travis also made a big impact in the Netflix hit series Boy Swallows Universe.
Boy Swallows Universe is an extraordinary tale based on Trent Dalton’s iconic novel, chronicling the trials and hardships of two brothers, Eli and August, growing up in suburban Brisbane in the 1980s.
Travis won a legion of fans in 2013 when he played the iconic role of Ragnar Lothbrok in the hit series Vikings. Pictured: Travis in the acclaimed series that ended in 2017
The Vikings actor plays drug dealer Lyle Orlik in the hit series and can be seen sporting a variety of sloppy ’80s-style outfits, including a shaggy salt-and-pepper beard, a mullet and an earring.
For this role he was nominated for a Logie Award for Best Supporting Actor.
The series, which was filmed in Brisbane, has entered Netflix’s global Top Five streaming chart, with 3.8 million people watching it in the first four days of its release after it debuted in January.
The drama reached the top ten in 47 countries, including America, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.
Travis will soon be seen in the second season of Stan’s crime drama Black Snow and in the HBO sci-fi drama Dune: Prophecy.