Mark Coles Smith
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Mark Coles Smith

Mark Coles Smith (also known as Kalaji) is an award-winning Aboriginal Australian actor, writer, producer, and sound designer, born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, in 1987. He is a proud Nyikina man whose family background also includes German, Polish, English, Scottish, and Indonesian heritage. Growing up on a cattle station near the Fitzroy River, the traditional land of his mother's family, he debuted in the children's TV show Ocean Star at the age of 14. Coles Smith is most widely recognized for his starring role as the younger Detective Jay Swan in the television prequel "Mystery Road: Origin" (2022), a performance which earned him the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Drama and made history by making him the first Indigenous Australian actor to be nominated for the prestigious Gold Logie in 2023. His notable film credits include receiving the FCCA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "Last Cab to Darwin" (2015), and a Helpmann Award for his stage work in The Drover's Wife. His other key roles include appearances in "Picnic at Hanging Rock," the Canadian series "Hard Rock Medical," and an episode of the American sitcom "Modern Family." Beyond acting, Coles Smith, who holds a Certificate in Aboriginal Theatre and a Bachelor in Indigenous Studies, works as a sound designer and composer under the name Kalaji (a Nyikina word for 'whirlwind'), exploring his cultural connection to the Martuwarra/Fitzroy River. He has also been a narrator for the documentary Keeping Hope, which explores well-being in Indigenous communities in the Kimberley region.

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