Cody Simpson is more than a triple threat — he’s an unstoppable multi-hyphenate.
The 28-year-old Aussie had hit singles, appeared on Dancing With The Stars US, performed in Guys & Dolls at the Sydney Opera House and even added ‘elite swimmer’ to his resume after competing in the Commonwealth Games in 2022 in the Australian Swimming Team. Now, the bona-fide quadruple threat is sharpening his acting chops by appearing in the upcoming Aussie series He Had It Coming.
While his pivot from swimming to behind the camera is a big one, Cody welcomes the change of pace — even if it a complete lifestyle shift.
“Acting is a lot less routine-based, so you have to kind of create your own way,” Cody tells TV WEEK.
“Whereas with swimming, you pretty much know where you’re going to be all year at any given moment, because every nine, ten, eleven months of the year, you’re usually doing the exact same thing in the same place every week. So acting is a very different lifestyle, but in a weird way. I’ve had my fair share of both and so I kind of know how to handle it. They’re both fun.
“Don’t miss the 5 a.m. mornings though,” he added with a chuckle.
The Stan original series is about two feminist best buds who are determined to make a statement about gender politics. However, after defacing a male statue on their University Campus for their “Kill All Men” art project, they’re horrified to discover that there is, in fact, a dead man at the foot of their political statement — and he has “kill all men” carved into his chest.
Meanwhile, Cody Simpson plays a character named Scott, the university’s star rugby player and the epitome of everything that the main characters, Barbara (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Elise (Lydia West) despise.
“He’s a polarising figure and that’s what he had to be, that’s what they wanted him to be,” Cody explains.
“He kind of sets the tone for the way a lot of the female characters in the show think about men and their relationship to men and to the male characters in the series. So really he did have to be bad and polarising and misogynistic and unlikable. I like to think — and hopefully, and others think this too, he’s a contrast to my actual character, my actual self and character in my own life.”
He Had It Coming is Cody’s first ever role in an Aussie series, and to celebrate the milestone, he plans on watching it alongside his girlfriend, elite swimmer and eight time world record holder Emma McKeon.
“We’re going to be watching it together,” Cody shares. “I’ve only seen episode one, so I get to experience it with audiences for the first time. And she’s only seen small snippets that I’ve got to watch of some of my parts, and so she’ll be seeing it all for the first time as well, along with my family.
Emma and Cody first met when he joined the Australian Swim Team and the pair began training for the Commonwealth Games together in 2022. Now, they live together on the Gold Coast and couldn’t be happier.
After being launched into the spotlight as a teen, Cody is used to being in the public eye. Despite finding his name in worldwide headlines over the years (he has previously dated Miley Cyrus and Gigi Hadid, after all), Cody says that it’s simply part of the game when you’re in the entertainment world.
“I was first thrown into the public eye very, very young, and that’s something that has become the norm for me and that I’ve had to navigate throughout most of my upbringing,” he admits.
“I’m very used to it now. A lot of my personal life has been public since high school, so it’s one of those things that is just par for the course and have to embrace and accept. You know, people are naturally interested, and I can’t sort of deny that or be mad about it.”
While Cody is certainly a busy bee, fans of his music will be pleased to hear that Cody is well and truly planning his musical comeback in 2026.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in LA this year working on a new project, and that’s very close to being done. So I’m headed back over in a few weeks to kind of put the finishing touches on, and then next year will be full steam ahead,” he shared excitedly.
“I’m very excited to make my return to music. I feel like in a roundabout way, I kind of needed the break from it, from Hollywood, and just to be able to come back into it with fresh eyes and ears and feel like a kid again.
“To still know that there are a large group of people out there that are really excited for me to come back is really nice.”
You can watch He Had It Coming on Stan.
