Originally from Southern California, Austin Hayden came to Sydney in 2018. He has acted in numerous theatre, television, film, and online projects in the US and the UK.

His work in film and TV has seen him work with award-winning directors Andy Stewart (Split and INK) and Keir Siewert (Wasteland 26, In Deep, Jesse Functions, Moscow, and Let's Have a Threesome). He starred in the BBC pilot Second Opinion; and he worked alongside Garry Marshall and Martin Kove in the Quan Phillips film Devil’s Knight.

Austin was awarded a Best Acting Award at the Edinburgh 48-hour Film Festival for his work in Let’s Have a Threesome (Dir. Keir Siewert).

His theatre credits include Rent (Roger) at the Perth Theatre in Scotland, Spring Awakening (Melchior) at Bonar Hall, Three Sisters (Andrei) at Oran Mor Theatre, Damn Yankees (Rocky) at the Covina Valley Playhouse, Tom Sawyer (Mr. Walters) at the Excalibur Theater in Hollywood, a highly-praised run of Jean-Paul Sartre's Dirty Hands (Hugo) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2021 Austin made his Australian theatre debut in the Sam Shepard classic True West at Flight Path Theatre in Sydney (directed by Georgina Symes). His performance of Lee drew praise for his "astounding performance" and "alarming honesty" (Broadway World), and that led John Shand of Sydney Morning Herald to write that "Hayden's ferocious performance won't be quickly forgotten."

Austin has also produced many film and online projects. His work with the popular YouTube channel Wisecrack (2.9 million subscribers) has been viewed by millions, and his experimental documentary Inventing the Future has courted both praise and controversy, and was heralded as one of the best films of the decade. An adaptation of the international best-selling book Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work, Inventing the Future presents a vision of the world beyond inequality and exploitation, and asks us to boldly consider how we might collectively and imaginatively invent futures that benefit all of humanity and nature.

He hosts the popular Wisecrack film podcast "Show Me the Meaning," as well as the philosophy and culture podcast "Owls at Dawn." He was the frontman for the popular local Orange County punk band Dumfounded.

Austin has a PhD in philosophy and has authored numerous articles and essays, as well as a book on the philosophy of French Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre.

Austin Hayden - Showcast