Biography

Ashley Hawkes grew up in the rural seaside village of Matata, New Zealand, studied drama at Auckland's Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts and started making and touring theatre shows in 2005. He spent five years touring his multi award-winning stage show Apollo 13: Mission Control which has been enjoyed by thousands across the US, Australia and New Zealand, including a sell out season at the Sydney Opera House where it was named in the top ten theatre highlights of the year (2011) by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Ashley has returned to his drama school to co-direct the graduation show, Coram Boy, and directed Auckland productions of Niu Sila, The Needies and more recently The Case of Katherine Mansfield for the Sydney Fringe. He has appeared on stage for major theatre companies across New Zealand and Australia in productions of: Equus, The Glass Menagerie, Milo's Wake, The Wind in the Willows, Blood Brothers, Songs for the Fallen, King of Pigs, Apollo 13: Mission Control, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Cape, Ladies Night, Billy Liar, Facade and Niu Sila.

His 2008 short film Aphrodite's Farm won the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and continues to play on the Rialto Channel and at festivals.

His 2018 short Keynote took out Best Film in the global Straight 8 film competition.

Ashley leads an active lifestyle: he has played soccer at a semi-professional level, is a country boy at heart and an avid wildlife enthusiast. His recent TVC work has seen him travelling the globe filming a dramatic adventure piece for Hahn (Dir: Patrick Hughes) which was nominated at the Cannes Lions for best casting. In 2017 Ashley used his improvisational skills to shoot a medieval comedy TVC series for Kitkat (Dir: Trevor Clarence) which reached a global audience and spawned a number of follow-up skits. Ashley spends any spare time exploring the coast surfing, diving, spearfishing or snapping away with his old Nikon. His Instagram is smash_hawkes
- IMDb mini biography by: Kathryn Rawlings