Nicholas Hamilton has accomplished more than most at the age of 21 but there remains one ambition he is yet to fulfil.
The actor and musician, who spent his teens starring in titles such as It, The Dark Tower, and Danger Close, returned to his Northern NSW hometown of Alstonville last month after two and a half years in LA, and has his sights set on a nearby cultural hotspot.
“I’m excited about the prospect of being a Byron Bay musician,” he tells IF.
“I started writing music just before I went to LA and never got the chance to be that Byron busking and gigging musician which, in a weird way, I’m really excited about.”
Hamilton’s time away proved to be productive, even with last year’s pandemic disruption.
He will next be seen in Scott Speer’s romantic drama Endless, which will be available across global and local digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Fetch, Foxtel Store, and Google Play, from June 2.
Filmed in Vancouver during 2019, Hamilton stars as a high school graduate who becomes stuck in limbo after a tragic accident involving his girlfriend Riley (Alexandra Shipp).
The pair’s relationship ends up transcending life and death as they find a way to reconnect, before learning how to let go.
The film was written by Andre Case and O’neil Sharma, and produced by Basil Iwanyk (A Star is Born, Black Site,Hotel Mumbai).
Hamilton said the film’s emotional elements set it apart from some of his previous work.
“I have worked in a lot of full-on intense movies, so it feels nice to go into a teenage romantic drama for once.
“I feel like Endless is a good entry point into that part of the industry for me.”
After gaining attention in the 2014 short film Time, Hamilton’s profile has steadily risen both in Australia and overseas across the past decade, thanks to It and The Dark Tower, as well as Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic and Kim Farrant’s drama mystery Strangerland.
The young actor has just finished filming Snapchat coming-of-age drama series Action Royale and has been cast opposite Jared Harris (Chernobyl) in Brave The Dark, a Good Will Hunting-like drama directed by Harris’ brother Damian, slated to commence filming in Philadelphia before the end of the year.
While the film will likely prompt a move back to the US, he said there were no shortage of opportunities to further his career in Australia.
“Having returned after spending 2020 in LA, it just seems as though everything is filming here,” he said,
“There’s the very small Australians stuff that has always been filming here, but also massive shows and movies like the Marvel productions, so I feel that if I wanted to get into more teen romance drama, or anything else, I’m in the right place.”
Hamilton is also hoping to grow his music following while in the country, having released his debut single Different Year in January of this year.
He said he was looking forward to dividing his time between acting and music going forward.
“Both acting and music share an equal percentage of my brain,” he said.
“I’ve always said both my hobbies are tax deductible, which is just wild to me.”
“Hopefully, I can be one of those people that can do both.”