Early career Hemmings then moved on to acting in films. He made his first film appearance in the drama film
The Rainbow Jacket (1954). He also appeared in
Saint Joan (1957). Hemmings had bigger roles in
Five Clues to Fortune (1957),
The Heart Within (1957) and
No Trees in the Street (1959), directed by
J. Lee Thompson. He also had roles in
Men of Tomorrow (1959),
In the Wake of a Stranger (1959),
Sink the Bismarck! (1960) and
The Wind of Change (1961). Hemmings began to be known for playing young men, for example in
The Painted Smile (1962) and
Some People (1962). His first lead role was in the low budget teen musical
Live It Up! (1963), He sought a fresh young face for the lead in the film. He found Hemmings, at the time acting in small-stage theatre in London, although at their first meeting Antonioni told Hemmings, "You look wrong. You're too young." Hemmings was offered the part of the protagonist, a London fashion photographer who accidentally photographs evidence of a murder, after
Sean Connery turned the role down because Antonioni would not show him the full script but only a seven-page treatment stored in a cigarette packet. The resulting film was a critical and commercial sensation for
MGM, which financed it, and helped turn Hemmings and
Vanessa Redgrave into stars. "I've been discovered half a dozen times," said Hemmings. "This time I think I've made it." After
Blowup Hemmings accepted an offer from
Warner Bros to play
Mordred in the big-budget film of the Broadway musical
Camelot (1967). Hemmings costarred with
Richard Attenborough in the crime comedy,
Only When I Larf (1968), then was the sole star of an anti-war film, ''
The Long Day's Dying (1968). Both films flopped. More financially successful was the science fiction sex comedy Barbarella (1968), starring Jane Fonda in which Hemmings had a key supporting role. He played the lead in two period films for MGM: a comedy, The Best House in London (1969), and the historical epic Alfred the Great (1969), in which Hemmings had the title role. Neither film did well at the box office, with Alfred the Great'' being a notable flop. Hemmings was cast in further lead roles at the start of the 1970s :
The Walking Stick (1970) with
Samantha Eggar for MGM;
Fragment of Fear (1970), a thriller; and
Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971). Hemmings directed
David Bowie and
Marlene Dietrich in the drama film
Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (also known as
Just a Gigolo) (1978). The film was poorly received, with Bowie describing it as "my 32
Elvis Presley films rolled into one". On David Bowie's Stage tour in 1978 Hemmings filmed two of the three concerts at the Earls Court Arena in London on 30 June and 1 July. The rough cut was shown to Bowie, who didn't like it and the footage is since then unpublished. Later, after relocating to Hollywood, he directed a number of television films and series episodes.
Character actor From the mid-1970s on, Hemmings's acting work was mainly in supporting roles. In 1977 he appeared as Eddy in the film
Islands in the Stream, an adaptation of Hemingway's novel of the same name, starring
George C Scott. He also had support roles in
The Squeeze (1977),
The Prince and the Pauper (1977),
The Heroin Busters (1977),
The Disappearance (1977),
Swindle (1977),
Blood Relatives (1978),
Power Play (1978) and
Murder by Decree (1979). He also returned to television in 1978 with a film for Granada TV directed by Ken Russell and written by Melvyn Bragg:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, about Samuel Taylor Coleridge (played by Hemmings), was the second of two films in the
Clouds of Glory series about poets.
Australia and New Zealand In 1979, Hemmings received an offer to play a supporting role in an Australian vampire film,
Thirst. He starred in a TV film,
Charlie Muffin then returned to Australia to feature in
Harlequin (1980). Hemmings then received an offer from
Antony I. Ginnane to direct the Australian horror film
The Survivor (1981), based on
James Herbert's
1976 novel of the same name, starring
Robert Powell and
Jenny Agutter. Hemmings directed
Race for the Yankee Zephyr shot in New Zealand. While in New Zealand Hemmings played roles in
Prisoners (1981) and
Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1982).
Hollywood Hemmings then moved to Hollywood. He played supporting roles in
Man, Woman and Child (1983) and
Airwolf (1984). He also worked extensively as a director of television programmes, including the action-adventure drama series
Quantum Leap (e.g. the series’ premiere); the crime series
Magnum, P.I. (in which he also played characters in several episodes); and two action-adventure series,
The A-Team and
Airwolf (in which he also played the role of Doctor Charles Henry Moffet, twisted creator of Airwolf, in the pilot and the second-season episode "Moffett's Ghost"a typographical error by the studio's titles unit). He once joked "People thought I was dead. But I wasn't. I was just directing
The A-Team." Hemmings also directed the puzzle-contest video
Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link (1984). He directed (and acted in) the television film
The Key to Rebecca (1985), an adaptation of
Ken Follett's
1980 novel of the same name. He also briefly served as a producer on the
NBC crime-drama television series
Stingray. He directed the drama film
Dark Horse (1992) and as an actor returned to the voyeuristic preoccupations of his
Blowup character with a plum part as the
Big Brother-esque villain in the series-three opener for the television horror
anthology series Tales From the Crypt.
Later years In later years he had roles that included Cassius in the
historical epic film
Gladiator (2000), with
Russell Crowe, and in the drama film
Last Orders (2001) and the
spy film Spy Game (2001). He appeared as Mr Schermerhorn in the historical film
Gangs of New York (2002), directed by
Martin Scorsese. His last screen appearances included the science-fiction action film
Equilibrium (2002), , the
superhero film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), with
Sean Connery, and as
Frank Sinatra's attorney in the 2003 Australian film
The Night We Called It a Day, a comedy based on true events. He also appeared in the horror film
Blessed (2004) with
Heather Graham, which was dedicated to his memory after a fatal heart attack while on set. ==Recording career==