Cody Fern (born July 6th, 1988) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. Following his feature debut in The Tribes of Palos Verdes (2017), he portrayed murder victim David Madson in the FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018). Later that year, Fern had his breakthrough performance as the Antichrist Michael Langdon in American Horror Story: Apocalypse. He also appears in the final season of the Netflix drama House of Cards as Duncan Shepherd.

Early life and education

Fern was born in Southern Cross, in rural Western Australia. He attended boarding school at Merredin Senior High School, and graduated from Curtin University of Technology with an Honours Degree in Commerce in 2009.

Career

In 2011, Cody played Romeo in Shakespeare WA’s production of Romeo and Juliet, Lindsay in the Black Swan Theatre Company’s Jandamarra, and the Earl of Southampton in the world premiere production of The Enchanters at the State Theatre of Western Australia. He has appeared in a number of short films, including the Western Australian Screen Award-winning picture Still Take You Home (2010) and The Last Time I Saw Richard (2014).

Cody has trained with well known acting coaches, including: Ellen Burstyn, Larry Moss, and Susan Batson. Cody played the lead role of Albert in the National Theatre of Great Britain’s production War Horse, which received critical acclaim.

In 2014, Fern was the winner of the Heath Ledger Scholarship.

He appeared as Jim Mason in The Tribes of Palos Verdes and wrote, directed and starred in the short film Pisces opposite Keir Gilchrist in 2017.

In 2018, Cody made his television debut in the acclaimed FX true crime anthology series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as David Madson. He was later announced to star in the series regular role of Duncan Shepherd on the final season of House of Cards. Fern portrays the Antichrist Michael Langdon in the eighth season of FX horror anthology series American Horror Story, titled Apocalypse.