Kathleen Simmonds is a New York / LA bicoastal based actor (and reformed attorney).  Born in Australia and raised all over the world, she holds an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School in New York, and is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio.  Kathleen appeared in a recurring role on the Australian hit primetime TV show The Strip and her latest work can be seen in the multi award-winning webseries Woe is She (currently streaming on ROKU), the Refinery29 x Kate Spade pilot “Coat Check” and upcoming feature film Exp.36. She is featured in commercials (in both the US and Australia) for brands such as Adidas, Who Gives a Crap!, Connecticut Lotto and Subway, and has a broad NY theatre repertoire including the lead in Paul Schwartz’s “A Measure of Doubt”, Lorna in "Golden Boy" directed by Aaron Latham, and Olivia in "Twelfth Night" and Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for The Drilling Company and Bryant Park Shakespeare.

Kathleen has improv training from The PIT in New York (for which she earned a full scholarship thanks to the amazing MVRP program), a background as a dance teacher, is proficient in Southern US, British RP, Irish and Australian accents, and is SAG-eligible.

As a filmmaker, Kathleen is focused on films which have women’s issues and stories at their centre. In 2018, she attended the 90th Oscars with a short film on diversity in Hollywood. Her producer credits also include Line Producer, Associate Producer and Casting Director on documentary features and series for Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Lifetime, History Channel and Sundance AMC. “Reversing Roe” is currently streaming on Netflix and was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards in 2019.

Kathleen also travels internationally conducting acting workshops and seminars on the “business of acting and filmmaking” and has been a moderator, panelist and jury member at the Chelsea Film Festival, NYC2Paris Film Festival and NYC WebFest.

CONTACTS:

Commercial US: Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates (KMR Talent)

Australia: Management 11

  • Tracy LeMin: tracy@management11.com

"I was most taken by the performance of Kathleen Simmonds as Helena - scorned, desperate, wooed, embraced, skeptical, wounded, puzzled, relentless, triumphant, she is acrobatic in her transformations,

emotionally and physically, a dazzling display."

- The Front Row Center