An NZ Pākehā of Irish heritage, Peter Feeney has been a professional actor since 1994, working in UK, US, Australian and NZ theatre, TV and film. He runs his own Auckland screen acting school, the Actors Lab Studio, and is a guest teacher at drama schools and for organisations such as MEAA, NZ Equity and SDGNZ. Peter is also a published author, with numerous articles, screenplays and books to his name. His handbook on acting, 'Acting and How to Survive It,' was published in 2020 to great acclaim.
Peter's first novel, 'Blind Bitter Happiness,' was published by Harper Collins. Since 2020 he has written, produced, directed and acted in a limited TV series based on it, now screening on RNZ. In 2005 and 2006 he directed and played the title role in the Auckland seasons and national tour of Michael and Margery Forde's stage play 'Milo's Wake,' which he is now adapting as a TV series.
Peter has performed at the Fortune, Court and Circa theatres in New Zealand and the QTC in Australia, alongside numerous independent productions. His acclaimed one-man show 'A Night with Beau Tyler' toured to 25 theatres, festivals and venues around New Zealand in 2008 and 2009. He has worked or trained with Cicely Berry (Royal Shakespeare Company), Bob Benedetti, Rob Marchand and Dean Carey. Notable credits include the Kiwi zombie hit 'Black Sheep,' Australian mini-series 'A Difficult Woman,' UK TV 'Dark Knight' and 'Cold Feet,' and US TV including 'Spartacus,' '30 Days of Night' and 'Ash vs Evil Dead,' as well as playing Rose Noelle skipper John Glennie alongside Dominic Purcell in 'Abandoned' (best tele-feature, 2017 NZ Film Awards).
Peter has a 1st Class Honours degree in Politics & History from the University of Melbourne (1991) and a Diploma in Drama from the University of Auckland (1993). He was a Best Actor nominee at the 2003 NZ Film Awards for 'The Platform.' He is represented in NZ by Kathryn Rawlings & Associates and in Australia by Lisa Mann Creative Management.
"Peter is a very gifted actor who will always be genuinely interested in exploring his work and finding new approaches to it, and opening this out to his fellow actors." — Cicely Berry, OBE, Voice Director, Royal Shakespeare Company
