JOSH MERTEN is a passionate performer for stage and screen dedicated to bringing a rich perspective on the Australian experience to his work. Most of his school years were spent in South-East Asia, growing up constantly on the move and readjusting to new environments. Here, he developed a keen interest in performance as a means of discovering identity and reflecting the world, which he learnt to harness at one of Australia’s top acting institutions, Actors Centre Australia. There, he played world-famous roles such as Andrey in Three Sisters (dir. Anthony Skuse), Jedediah Schultz in The Laramie Project (dir. Adam Cook), Orestes in Electra (dir. Holly Mazzola) and King Charles II in The Libertine (dir. Lizzie Schebesta).

Josh has since toured nationally and internationally with Poetry in Action, bringing his warmth, ease and unique presence to over 300 heartfelt and hilarious performances across Australia and Hong Kong. After making his touring debut, he performed as the deliciously bold and arrogant Capitano in Venice in Love with Melbourne-based Make a Scene theatre company, and then made his Sydney debut as Gabriel and Christopher in Foam at Qtopia. Josh recently starred as the passionate, misguided Yossi in the darkly comedic short film, Mezuzah Man (2025), shown in theatres across Australia as part of the Jewish International Film Festival. Josh is set to appear in the upcoming feature film, Mad Extravagant City.

Josh is also a published poet, musician and theatre director. He has co-directed and produced two original works with ACA, No Feedback Please (2022), and Paper Cuts (2023), was assistant director to Anthony Skuse for Gravity at Qtopia (2025), and co-directed Concord Floral at Barker College. His debut collection of poetry, Harnett Lane (2023), was published by Ginninderra Press, and he has since had poems included in Telling Australia’s Truth (2024), collated by Stephen Matthews, Diptych’s Transience, as well as Ginninderra Press’s quarterly magazine, The Crow.

Highly competent skills: Fencing, Singing, Piano Highly proficient accents: RP, General American, General London

See photos of celebrities before they hit the big-time.

Josh Merten

Actor