Xavier Samuel is an Australian actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films September, Further We Search, and Newcastle, and played Riley Biers in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third movie in Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga film series. Samuel was born in Hamilton, Victoria, the son of Maree and Clifford Samuel. He grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and graduated from Rostrevor College in 2001. Xavier has younger brother, Benedict Samuel, who is a writer, producer and actor. He also has an older sister Bridget Samuel who is a stage manager. Despite completing his... senior secondary years at Rostrevor College, Samuel undertook final year drama at Christian Brothers College under the tutelage of Amanda Portus. During the same year, he played the part of Tom Snout in Rostrevor College’s production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as playing the part of Belvile in CBC’s production of Aphra Behn’s The Rover . Samuel attended Flinders University Drama Centre in 2005 where he studied under renowned acting teacher Professor Julie Holledge. He played Hamlet in the graduate production.
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