Rhys Wakefield
Wakefield at the 2013 Tropfest
Born
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active2000–present

Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor and director, known for his roles in Australian TV series Home and Away, the feature film The Black Balloon (2008) and in season 3 of HBO's True Detective in 2019.

Wakefield's debut feature film as director, Berserk, was released in American cinemas on 5 April 2019. He is also the director and co-creator of sci-fi podcast series, From Now, which is being developed into a TV Series with Amazon Studios.

Early life and education

Wakefield was born in Cairns, Queensland, to a medical standards officer mother and a father who serves in the navy.[1] Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield had been acting for more than six years. He attended classes at McDonald College of Performing Arts where he won the acting scholarship in 2003,[2] during which time he performed in numerous Shakespeare festivals, working with both Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet.[3] Wakefield graduated in 2006.[4]

Career

His first professional acting role was on the Australian TV series Don't Blame Me, where he appeared in two episodes.

In August 2005, Wakefield was cast as Lucas Holden in the long-running Australian soap opera Home and Away. His character was the youngest child of the Holden family until his father Tony and stepmother Rachel had his baby brother Harry. His performance on the series led to a Logie nomination for 'Best New Talent' in 2006. During his time on the show he was involved in a controversial storyline which led the Australian broadcasting regulator (ACMA) to conclude that scenes had breached the Australian broadcasting code, a finding which was responsible for the series being re-classified as PG.[5]

Wakefield played his first leading role in a feature film in The Black Balloon as Thomas Mollison which led to a nomination for Best Actor by the Australian Film Institute and the Australian Film Critics Circle. The film opened on 6 March 2008 in Australia after premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, where it received the Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the Generation 14plus category.[6]

Wakefield has played the lead in Sanctum, the Polite Leader in The Purge franchise, and as Dick Cheney in The First Lady.

As a filmmaker, Wakefield co-wrote and directed the short film A Man Walks Into a Bar which was a finalist at the 2013 Tropfest International Short Film Festival in Sydney.[7] His screenplay, entitled Please Close the Gate was a feature finalist at the 2016 Cinequest Film Festival Screenwriting competition[8] and was officially selected for the Beverly Hills Film festival that same year.[9]

Wakefield plays Freddy Burns in season 3 of HBO's True Detective.[10]

Wakefield's first directed feature film, Berserk, was released in American cinemas on 5 April 2019. It stars Nick Cannon, James Roday, Nora Arnezeder, Erin Moriarty and Jack Falahee and was executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The film was partially based on someone trying to break into Wakefield's home.[11] Wakefield also co-wrote and produced the film with William Day Frank.[12]

Wakefield was listed by TVLine as one of their 'Breakout Stars to Watch' for his leading performance as Matty in Reprisal on Hulu.[13]

In 2021, it was announced that Amazon Studios won rights to adapt QCode sci-fi podcast series, From Now, as a TV series. Golden Globe winners Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) and Brian Cox (Succession) will serve as executive producers. The podcast series, which stars Cox and Madden, debuted in late December 2020 and peaked at number two overall in the Apple Podcast global charts. The podcast was created by Wakefield and William Day Frank. The duo will adapt the series for TV.[14][15][16][17] In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Wakefield said that from the beginning they had planned for the podcast "to come to the screen eventually".[17]

Accolades

Wakefield was nominated for Best Actor in a Feature Film by the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia for his performance in The Black Balloon.[18] His AFI nomination for Best Actor in The Black Balloon is Australia's equivalent of the Academy Awards. Wakefield was nominated against Guy Pearce, William McInnes and David Roberts. The Australian Film Institute is now known as the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2000 Bootmen Dancing kid
2008 The Black Balloon Thomas Mollison Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2009 Broken Hill Scott Price
2011 Sanctum Josh McGuire
2012 Nobody Walks David
2013 The Purge Polite Leader Fright Meter Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013 +1 David
2013 After the Dark James
2014 Endless Love Keith Butterfield
2015 Echoes of War
2015 Cardboard Boxer J.J.
2016 Paint It Black Michael
2017 You Get Me Chase
2018 The Grand Son Todd also associate producer
2019 Berserk Evan also director, writer, producer
2019 Bliss Actor also producer

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Don't Blame Me Brad Episodes 11 & 12
2005–08 Home and Away Lucas Holden Regular role
2013 Rita TV movie
2019 True Detective Freddy Burns Regular role
2019 Reprisal Matty Regular role
2022 The First Lady Dick Cheney Recurring role

Short films

Title Year Role
"An Actor Prepares" 2006 Himself
"The Mirror" 2008
"Clearing the Air" 2008 David
"A Man Walks Into a Bar" 2013 Man, also director, writer, producer

References

  1. ↑ "Rhys Wakefield". Mattmueller.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Matrics Management: Rhys". Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  3. ↑ "Rhys Wakefield profile". Home and Away Official Site. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  4. ↑ "Rhys Wakefield (Year 12 – 2006)". The McDonald College website. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  5. ↑ "'Home and Away' rapped by regulator". Digital Spy. 6 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  6. ↑ "Berlin Film Festival – Awards & Prizes" (in German). Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  7. ↑ "Tropfest International Short Film Festival-2013". Archived from the original on 23 March 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "Cinequest Screenplay Submissions". Archived from the original on 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Cinequest Film Festival-2016". Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (14 February 2018). "'True Detective': Ray Fisher Joins Cast of HBO Anthology Series As Regular; Three More Set To Recur On Season 3". Archived from the original on 19 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Q&A: BERSERK Director/Co-Writer/Co-Star Rhys Wakefield on the Film's Real-Life Inspiration and Working with Nick Cannon & James Roday". 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  12. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (27 October 2016). "Nick Cannon Moves Into Hollywood Hills Feature". Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  13. ↑ Roots, Kimberly (20 September 2019). "Fall TV Breakout Stars: Actors to Watch in the 2019-2020 Season". Archived from the original on 18 January 2021.
  14. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (6 May 2021). "Amazon Lines up TV Adaptation of Sci-Fi Podcast 'From Now' with Richard Madden & Brian Cox Aboard as Exec Producers". Archived from the original on 7 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (4 May 2021). "Amazon Lines Up TV Adaptation Of Sci-Fi Podcast 'From Now' With Richard Madden & Brian Cox Aboard As Exec Producers".
  16. ↑ Dibdin, Emma (24 April 2021). "7 Fiction Podcasts Ready Made for Vacation".
  17. 1 2 Kornelis, Chris (28 December 2020). "Screen Stars Are Turning to Podcasts" (PDF).
  18. ↑ "Black Balloon". Australian Film Commission. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  19. ↑ "The Black Balloon wins 11 AFI nominations". 29 October 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
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