Angus McLaren (born 3 November 1988) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series Packed to the Rafters as Nathan Rafter and H2O: Just Add Water as Lewis McCartney.

Early life

McLaren was born the youngest of three boys, for mother Kerena, growing up with brothers Rhett and Aidan in Wonthaggi, Victoria, and grew up on a dairy farm near Loch, belonging to his ancestors from Scotland (his family still lives there). He attended Mary Mackillop Catholic National College in Leongatha, Victoria. He was the drummer of the Sydney-based indie band Rapids (Ballet Imperial) and also played bass guitar in the punk band Bogey Lowensteins.

Career

2000–2013

He appeared in a number of school and amateur productions for the Leongatha Lyric Theatre. He made his professional debut when he was 12 years old with a recurring role on the ABC series Something in the Air. Further TV credits followed, including the children's series Worst Best Friends, The Saddle Club and Fergus McPhail, along with guest roles on Blue Heelers, Comedy Inc. and a recurring role on Neighbours. McLaren's first main cast role came in 2004 with the children's series Silversun, which aired on both the Seven Network and the ABC. His feature film debut followed in 2005 with the low budget Melbourne feature Court of Lonely Royals, directed by Rohan Michael Hoole. 2005 also saw McLaren work on Last Man Standing, and achieve a solid footing on the advert voiceover circuit. In 2006, McLaren began working on the children's series H2O: Just Add Water, appearing from series one through midseason of series three as the character Lewis McCartney (he also briefly appeared at the end of season three, in the finale). From 2008, he appeared in Packed to the Rafters in the role of Nathan Rafter. He appeared in 102 episodes over the show's six seasons.

2013–present

Through 2013 and into 2014 he took a variety of master classes in New York, LA, Sydney and Melbourne. He then studied a Bachelor of Acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Western Australia. While at WAAPA, Angus appeared in eight WAAPA stage productions. He was The Marquis De Sade in WAAPA's production of Marat/Sade, The Man in Tender Napalm and, in his graduating year, received great reviews playing the title role in Shakespeare's Coriolanus. In 2016, he played the character of William "The Crimson Fiddler" Graham in Quartermaine. He won the Nine Network Channel 9 Best Actor Award at the WA Screen Academy Awards for his portrayal of Will in this short film. In 2018, it was announced that McLaren had joined the cast of Seven Network soap opera Home and Away as recurring character Lance Salisbury during the show's thirty-first season. He made his first appearance in episode 6860, broadcast on 17 April 2018. McLaren has now been seen working at Amaze n’ Things on Phillip Island about 2 hours away from Melbourne.

Filmography

Films

Television

Theatre