Travis Fimmel is an Australian actor. He played Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel television series Vikings (2013–2017), Marcus in HBO science fiction series' Raised by Wolves, Desmond Hart in Dune: Prophecy, and the leading role of James Cormack in Black Snow (2024).
Fimmel was born in Echuca, Victoria, Australia and was raised in Lockington. The youngest of three brothers, he is the son of Jennie, a recreation officer for disabled people, and Chris, a cattle farmer.
Aspiring to be a professional Australian rules footballer, Fimmel moved to Melbourne to play for the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL, but a broken leg sidelined him before the season began.
He was accepted into RMIT University for an architecture course, but later deferred to travel abroad.
Fimmel was spotted working out at a gym in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn by the flatmate of a talent scout for the Chadwick Models agency. He headed to the United States and was signed on the spot with agency LA Models in 2002, after walking into their office broke and barefoot. He became the first male model to secure a six-figure deal to model exclusively for Calvin Klein for a year, and the last to be personally contracted by the brand's eponymous designer. He fronted CK's Crave men's fragrance campaign and modelled the brand's underwear. He was named one of the world's sexiest bachelors by America's People magazine in 2002, and was highly in demand as a male model. He appeared on magazine covers, including Esquire, Rogue, Empire, At Large, Good Weekend, Numero Homme, and America's TV Guide.
He turned down an offer from Australia's Seven Network to be a guest judge on the TV series Make Me a Supermodel in 2012.
In March 2025, he became the face of the Saudi perfume brand Laverne.
Fimmel began his acting career by appearing in the music videos for Janet Jackson's song "Someone to Call My Lover" and "I'm Real" (original version) by Jennifer Lopez, both in 2001.
He studied under Ivana Chubbuck, the Hollywood acting coach of movie stars Brad Pitt and Jared Leto. He took two years to pluck up the courage to audition for his first role.
He landed the title lead in The WB series Tarzan in 2003, in which he did most of his own stunts. The series was cancelled after eight episodes. In addition, he appeared in two television pilots: The WB's drama Rocky Point with Lauren Holly in 2005, and the Fox crime thriller Southern Comfort with Madeleine Stowe in 2006.
In 2008, he played a murderer in the Australian film Restraint, and a party boy in Surfer, Dude with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. In 2010, he portrayed a compassionate cowboy in Pure Country 2: The Gift and a forensic photographer in Australian horror film Needle, co-starring Ben Mendelsohn.
He depicted a talented classical pianist in Ivory, an independent film that was an Official Selection in the 2010 Montreal World Film Festival and the Strasbourg International Film Festival. The film was produced by Gray Frederickson and co-starred Martin Landau and Peter Stormare.
Fimmel played Helweg, a prison guard, in the 2010 film The Experiment, in a role reportedly offered to Elijah Wood, who pulled out of shooting for reasons unknown. The film is based on a real-life experiment on volunteers by Stanford University that was cut short after spinning out of control, with "guards" exhibiting sadistic behaviour and "prisoners" suffering depression.
Fimmel starred opposite Patrick Swayze in A&E's 2009 series The Beast. He played rookie undercover FBI agent Ellis Dove partnered with a hardened veteran cop, Swayze's Charles Barker. Production ceased after 13 episodes due to Swayze's death from pancreatic cancer. He played fugitive Mason Boyle in two episodes of NBC's 2010 action-adventure Chase, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
He appeared in FX's TV pilot crime drama Outlaw Country in 2011 with Luke Grimes.
Fimmel played the lead in 2012's Harodim with Peter Fonda as a former intelligence officer trained in black ops tracking down the world's most wanted terrorist, who is compromised by his own chain of command.
He co-starred with Billy Bob Thornton and Eva Longoria in the 2012 redneck Southern comedy flick The Baytown Outlaws, playing one of the three hapless Oodie brothers who bites off more than he can chew when he agrees to help a woman get her godson back from her deadbeat ex-husband.
2013–2019: breakthrough and film work