Jules Billington
Jules Billington is a non-binary theatre maker living on Gadigal land. They work as a director, actor, and performance & movement coach in theatre and film, with a special passion for nurturing emerging artists.
A NIDA graduate, Jules has worked as an actor, director, and performance and movement coach in the Australian theatre and film industry for twenty years.
Their directing credits include: World Premiere of award-winning play People Will Think You Don’t Love Me by Joanna Erskine at KXT Theatre produced by Little Trojan (2024), Australian Premier of The Swell by Isley Lynn at The Old Fitz Theatre produced by Akimbo & co (2024); and We'll Dance On The Ash Of The Apocalypse by Melissa-Kelly Franklin as part of Desert Festival (2021). Jules was also the Associate Director on A Midsummer Night's Dream (2024) for Bell Shakespeare, directed by Peter Evans.
Jules is passionate about nurturing emerging artists, and is proud to be directing Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare for Actors Centre Australia (2025), and has previously devised a new Australian work EVOL written by Joanna Erskine for the Sydney Actors School (2023). Jules is also a regular director for Bell Shakespeare’s theatre-in-education program 'The Players', having directed over twenty emerging actors in five shows for the company.
Jules was the Drama Coach on the internationally acclaimed childrens’ television series First Day (ABC & Hulu) assisting newcomer actress Evie Macdonald and twenty other youth cast (with multiple members from the trans community) in shaping their captivating performances. The show received the Rose d’Or Award and won at the International Children’s Emmys.
Jules has extensive training in physical theatre, having been part of Zen Zen Zo’s inaugural Internship while in high school during 2003, and then continuing to study and perform with New York based SITI Company in their adaption of The Bacchae, as part of the 2018 Summer Intensive. Jules is an Associate Artist with Chopt Logic, and regularly teaches workshops in Viewpoints, Composition and Devising, Laban and Suzuki. They are currently teaching movement (Suzuki Method) at the Actors Centre Australia. Jules was also the Movement Coordinator on Fierce, a Red Line Production at the Old Fitz Theatre directed by Janine Watson (2019).
As an actor, Jules’ cinematic presence includes Buckley’s Chance starring Bill Nighy (2019). Jules has also enjoyed touring with two queer Australian Feature films to multiple International Film Festivals: firstly with Louise Wadley’s and All About E (2015) and more recently with Monica Zanetti’s Ellie & Abbie (and Ellie’s Dead Aunt) in 2020.
Television credits include: Strife and Bali 2002 (Stan); Janet King (ABC); Catching Milat, (Shine Productions); East West 101 and Starting From Now (SBS); as well as Tricky Business and In Your Dreams (Southern Star).
Theatre credits include: For STC - Embers; Gallipoli; For Belvoir St - Baghdad Wedding; For MTC Neon – The Myth Project: TWIN; For Bell Shakespeare – Coriolanus (2025), Macbeth (2023); The Comedy Of Errors (2022); Romeo and Juliet (2012); For La Boite – My Name Is Rachel Corrie for which Jules received a Greenroom Groundling Award for Best Performance in an Independent Production; For Siren Theatre Company – COWBOIS (2025) and The Past Is A Wild Party (2024).
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For a list of work Jules has acted in, download their Acting CV here.
Testimonials
Will Bartow, Such Sweet Sorrow,
Bell Shakespeare 'The Players'
"Jules Billington is a supportive, prepared, rigorous, and inspiring director. They are excellent at their job and I would highly recommend any actor to take part in a process with Jules, and any company would be lucky to have them involved.
​Being directed by Jules felt deeply inspiring as they encouraged a love for story, and an attention to detail in the content, that supported us as actors to delve deeper into our choices with confidence.
They created a space that was safe and supportive where I felt heard, and able to bring up any concern/creative thought. After being in many rooms where this is not the case, I can truly acknowledge the care, preparation and love that they put into the rehearsal process. ​
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Jules brings an embodied understanding of text to the process. ​Their love of actors is palpable, and their ability to direct multiple actors with different processes is truly a thing to behold. When navigating a room of actors with different experiences, I witnessed Jules switch between different entry-points and techniques and language choices seamlessly, all whilst always deeply respecting the artists they were working with."