He began acting at age 16 and has appeared in projects such as Freddy vs. Jason, X-Men 2, Blade: The Series, Poison Ivy and The Strain. Mawson was awarded the RBC Award for Best Emerging Canadian Artist at Toronto's Inside Out LGBT Film Festival in 2016. He won Best Horror Short at Flickers' Rhode Island Vortex for his directorial debut, PYOTR495. The film, which can be found on Pecadello's Boy On Film 16: Possession compilation, was also nominated for the 2016 Iris Prize and Sitges International Film Festival’s Award for The Brigadoon - Paul Naschy Short Film Award.