Scott Major

Scott Ian Major (born 4 July 1975) is an Australian actor and TV and film director, known for his roles as Peter Rivers in the 1994 television teen drama series Heartbreak High and Lucas Fitzgerald in soap opera Neighbours. After leaving Neighbours in 2013, Major returned to direct over 200 episodes of the serial. He has since gone on to direct episodes of Playing for Keeps, and two miniseries Lie With Me and Riptide. Major reprised his role as Rivers in the 2022 reboot of Heartbreak High.

Early life and education
Scott Ian Major was born on 4 July 1975. His father was Melbourne radio sports broadcaster Ian Major.

Career
Major's acting debut came in the 1990 TV Movie More Winners: His Master's Ghost. He played Oates, a student in the comedy series Late For School in 1992, and then joined the cast of Neighbours for three months in 1993 as Darren Stark.

Major appeared in the 1993 Australian romantic comedy film The Heartbreak Kid, with Alex Dimitriades and Claudia Karvan. Major reprised his role as Peter Rivers in Heartbreak High from 1994 to 1995. In 1998, he appeared in an episode of All Saints (Season 2 – "If these walls could talk"). Major also guested on Home and Away that year as Murray, a criminal, for five episodes. In 1999 he was cast in the Aussie film Envy (titled as The New Girlfriend in the United States). Two years later he had a small role as a welfare officer in the book to film production He Died with a Felafel in His Hand, the novel was written by John Birmingham.

Major had a major role the Australian drama, Always Greener as Tom Morgan, which was shown on the Seven Network between 2001 and 2003. He also wrote, produced, directed and starred in his own play called Both Sides of the Bar at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Spending two years in the UK, he appeared in an episode of the BBC soap Doctors in 2007 and also starred in the first episode of the second series of Love Soup, a BBC comedy starring Tamsin Greig.

After Major returned to Australia, he was cast as Lucas Fitzgerald in the soap opera Neighbours in July 2008. After five years in the role, Major quit the serial and filmed his exit in June 2013. During his time in Neighbours, Major directed the 2009 production of The Subtle Art of Flirting, which starred his former co-stars Caitlin Stasey and Fletcher Humphrys. The following year, he directed his first episode of Neighbours, which aired in November 2010.

In December 2010, Major told Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy that he had directed further episodes of Neighbours with the help of an existing television director. Major admitted that he finds the directing part of his job "very tough to fit it in with the acting" because he is "running from location to location and getting the scene shot and then putting a different hat on and directing a scene." Of his decision to take on the new role, Major has said "I want to do it all. I also do a lot of writing. I write my own plays and put them on, direct and produce them. Australia is a very small industry acting-wise. I've been doing it professionally for 21 years and you just have to have more strings to your bow than acting." In 2019, Major won Best Direction in a TV or SVOD Drama Serial for his work on "Episode 7776A" at the Australian Directors' Guild Awards. He was nominated in the same category for "Episode 7776B". He directed over 200 episodes of Neighbours.

Major directed episodes of the 2018 drama series Playing for Keeps. He also directed the 2021 miniseries Lie With Me created by Neighbours' executive producer Jason Herbison. The following year, he directed Herbison's psychological thriller series Riptide. He also directed the Stan indie thriller film Darklands, which was nominated for the 2022 AACTA Award for Best Indie Film.

Major reprised his role of Rivers in Netflix's 2022 reboot of Heartbreak High. Of the changes to his character, Major said "Rivers was a horrible, racist, sexist human being. But by the time he left, he was no longer that person and in this new series, he's on a whole new journey." Rivers is the father of Darren Rivers, one of the main characters, who is queer and non-binary. Major was adamant that Rivers would not be a homophobe and instead accepted Darren for who they were. Major has a part in the upcoming film Residence, playing Cormac the Shepherd.

Personal life
Major is also a musician and plays bass guitar.

He supports the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League.