Travis Fimmel movies and TV shows: every role from Tarzan to Dune

Travis Fimmel came to acting from modelling. He grew up on a cattle farm in Victoria, Australia, was spotted in a Melbourne gym, and by 2002 was the face of Calvin Klein underwear and the CK Crave fragrance. A year later he was playing Tarzan on American network television. The full story of that switch, with his agencies, campaigns and what made him stand out as a model, is on our Travis Fimmel profile page.

This page is the screen side of his career: every film and television role in order, what each one is, which roles made his name and where a new viewer should start. The lists are checked against the filmography on Wikipedia and against trade press announcements (Variety, Deadline, IF Magazine), and were last updated in October 2026.

Travis Fimmel movies and TV shows at a glance

His career splits into four periods. From 2001 to 2006 he made music videos, the Tarzan series and two TV pilots. From 2008 to 2012 he worked in independent films and short-lived series such as The Beast. From 2013 to 2017 Vikings made him a star, and the films around it, Warcraft, Maggie's Plan and Lean on Pete, showed a much wider range. Since 2019 he has split his time between American productions and Australian ones, with lead roles in Danger Close, Black Snow and the HBO series Dune: Prophecy.

From model to Tarzan: the early TV years (2001–⁠2006)

His first screen work came straight out of fashion. In 2001 he appeared in two music videos, Janet Jackson's "Someone to Call My Lover" and the original version of Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real". He then studied with the Hollywood acting coach Ivana Chubbuck and, by his own account, needed two years to find the nerve to audition.

The first audition he took paid off. In 2003 The WB cast him as John Clayton in Tarzan, a modern version of the story set in New York, with Sarah Wayne Callies as detective Jane Porter. Fimmel did most of his own stunts. The series was cancelled after eight episodes, and it is still the role many American viewers first saw him in, which is why "Tarzan TV series 2003" remains a common search. After it came two pilots that were never picked up: Rocky Point (The WB, 2005) and Southern Comfort (Fox, 2006).

Models who want to try acting often ask how such a switch works in practice. Our guides on male models and how to become a model explain how agencies handle commercial and acting castings.

The Beast, Chase and the indie film years (2008–⁠2012)

After Tarzan Fimmel moved into smaller films, usually in supporting or character parts. In 2008 he played a party boy in Surfer, Dude with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and a killer in the Australian thriller Restraint. 2010 was his busiest year: the family film Pure Country 2: The Gift, the Australian horror film Needle, the independent drama Ivory, where he played a classical pianist, and The Experiment, a prison study drama with Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker in which he played the guard Helweg.

On television he co-starred with Patrick Swayze in A&E's The Beast (2009), as the young FBI agent Ellis Dove. The series ended after 13 episodes when Swayze died of pancreatic cancer. He then played a fugitive in two episodes of NBC's Chase (2010), led the action thriller Harodim (2012) with Peter Fonda and played one of the Oodie brothers in the comedy The Baytown Outlaws (2012) with Billy Bob Thornton and Eva Longoria.

Vikings: Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok (2013–⁠2017)

Vikings premiered on the History channel in March 2013 and Fimmel was its lead for the first four seasons, 45 episodes in total. He played Ragnar Lothbrok, a farmer who defies his chieftain, raids England and becomes king. The character is loosely based on Ragnar Loðbrók, a legendary figure from the Norse sagas whose life is only partly supported by historical sources. USA Today called his performance "engaging" and HuffPost described it as his breakout role.

The role made him recognisable around the world and gave the series its most copied look: the shaved sides, the long braided strip on top, the dark kohl around the eyes and a beard that grew longer every season. If that is what brought you here, we look at it in detail in two guides: Viking hairstyles and braids, including how to ask a barber for the Ragnar cut, and the Viking beard, with styles, growing time and care.

So who is the Ragnar Lothbrok actor? Travis Fimmel, for seasons 1 to 4. After Ragnar's death in season 4 the series continued until 2020 with his sons as the main characters, and the sequel Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix, 2022–⁠2024) is set about a hundred years later with a new cast.

Warcraft: Anduin Lothar and the films around Vikings

In October 2013 Variety reported that Legendary Pictures had cast Fimmel as the lead of Warcraft, the film adaptation of Blizzard's video game series. Released in 2016 and directed by Duncan Jones, it gave him the role of Anduin Lothar, commander of the human kingdom of Stormwind. The main Warcraft movie cast also included Paula Patton (Garona), Ben Foster (Medivh), Dominic Cooper (King Llane), Toby Kebbell (Durotan) and Ben Schnetzer (Khadgar). During filming a horse spooked by a wind machine fell on him during a stunt he was doing himself; he was not hurt. His habit of going barefoot was written into Lothar's character.

Between seasons of Vikings he also chose small, very different films: the New York romantic comedy Maggie's Plan (2015) with Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke and Julianne Moore, and Andrew Haigh's drama Lean on Pete (2017), where he played the loving but unreliable father of the teenage hero. GQ Australia named him Actor of the Year in 2017.

War films and Westerns: Danger Close, Dreamland and Rust (2019–⁠2024)

After Vikings he took several lead roles in Australian productions. In Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan (2019) he played Major Harry Smith, who led 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the 1966 battle in Vietnam. In the same year he played a deputy sheriff opposite Margot Robbie in the Dust Bowl drama Dreamland and appeared in the heist comedy Finding Steve McQueen.

The years after brought a run of genre films: the hitman in Die in a Gunfight (2021), an inventor in the science fiction noir Zone 414 (2021) with Guy Pearce, Delia's Gone (2022) with Marisa Tomei, the bus thriller One Way (2022) with Colson Baker, the CIA thriller Kandahar (2023) with Gerard Butler, and the Western Rust (2024), where he plays the bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang. Rust was finished years after the 2021 shooting on its New Mexico set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Raised by Wolves: Marcus (2020–⁠2022)

Fimmel returned to television in HBO Max's Raised by Wolves, produced by Ridley Scott, who also directed the first two episodes. He played Marcus, a soldier who takes a dead man's identity (his real name is Caleb) and becomes the self-declared prophet of a religious colony on a distant planet. He appears in all 18 episodes of the two seasons; the series was cancelled in 2022. The role earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series at the first Critics' Choice Super Awards.

The main Raised by Wolves cast: Amanda Collin (Mother), Abubakar Salim (Father), Travis Fimmel (Marcus), Niamh Algar (Sue), Winta McGrath (Campion) and Jordan Loughran (Tempest).

Black Snow, Dune: Prophecy and the newest work (2023–⁠2026)

Black Snow is the Australian crime series that brought him back to his home country. He plays James Cormack, a detective who reopens the 1994 murder of a teenage girl in a Queensland cane-farming town. The first season premiered on Stan on 1 January 2023 and earned him a 2024 AACTA nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Drama. The second season premiered on 1 January 2025 and its sixth and final episode was his first as a director. Outside Australia the series runs on AMC+, and in March 2026 it was renewed for a third season.

Dune: Prophecy (HBO, from November 2024) is set ten thousand years before the events of the Dune films. Fimmel plays Desmond Hart, a mysterious soldier who survived a sandworm attack on Arrakis and arrives at the imperial court with abilities nobody can explain. The role is one of the main drivers of the first season's plot.

In the same period he played Lyle Orlik, the drug-dealing stepfather, in Netflix's Boy Swallows Universe (2024), and a soldier in the Stan satire Caught (2023). His newest film is Pathetic Fallacy (2026), an independent supernatural thriller directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, with Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi, Jessica Rothe and Natasha Lyonne. In March 2025 he also became the face of the Saudi perfume house Laverne, a return to the campaign work he started with; the modelling side is covered on the Calvin Klein models page.

Full list of Travis Fimmel movies and TV shows

Movies

TV shows

Where to start: which Travis Fimmel show or film to watch first

The list is long and uneven, so here is a short guide by taste. Running times are approximate.

If you are interested in what came before the screen, the Travis Fimmel profile covers his Calvin Klein years, height and look as a model, and our list of the highest paid models shows how his six-figure deal compares with today's contracts.

FAQ

What are Travis Fimmel's best known movies and TV shows?

Vikings (Ragnar Lothbrok, 2013–⁠2017), Warcraft (Anduin Lothar, 2016), Raised by Wolves (Marcus, 2020–⁠2022), Black Snow (James Cormack, from 2023) and Dune: Prophecy (Desmond Hart, from 2024).

Who played Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings?

Travis Fimmel, in seasons 1 to 4 of the History series, 45 episodes in total. The character dies in season 4 and the story continues with his sons.

Was Travis Fimmel in the 2003 Tarzan TV series?

Yes. It was his first lead role. The WB series set Tarzan in modern New York, with Sarah Wayne Callies as Jane Porter, and was cancelled after eight episodes.

Who did Travis Fimmel play in Warcraft?

Anduin Lothar, the commander of the armies of Stormwind and the main human hero of the 2016 film directed by Duncan Jones.

Who does Travis Fimmel play in Dune: Prophecy?

Desmond Hart, a soldier who returns from Arrakis after surviving a sandworm attack and becomes an adviser at the emperor's court, with powers the Sisterhood cannot explain.

What is Travis Fimmel's newest movie?

As of October 2026 it is Pathetic Fallacy (2026), a supernatural thriller directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer. On television, Black Snow has been renewed for a third season.