Rhys Wakefield

Rhys Wakefield (born 20 November 1988) is an Australian actor and director. Wakefield starred in season 3 of HBO's True Detective as Freddy Burns [1] after starting out on the Australian TV series Home and Away where he starred in 363 episodes. Wakefield has played the lead in James Cameron's thriller Sanctum, the Polite Leader in The Purge franchise and 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.[2] 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, Jack Falahee and was executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones.[3]

Rhys Wakefield
Wakefield at the 2013 Tropfest
Born (1988-11-20) 20 November 1988
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
OccupationActor, director
Years active2000–present

Early life

Wakefield was born in Cairns, Queensland, to a medical standards officer mother and a father who serves in the navy.[4] 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,[5] during which time he performed in numerous Shakespeare festivals, working with both Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet.[6] Wakefield graduated in 2006.[7]

Career

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 & David Roberts. The Australian Film Institute is now known as The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.[8]

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 dad 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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11] His screenplay, entitled Please Close the Gate was a feature finalist at the 2016 Cinequest Film Festival Screenwriting competition[12] and was officially selected for the Beverly Hills Film festival that same year.[13]

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, Jack Falahee and was executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Midnight Special, Insidious, Take Shelter). The film was partially based on someone trying to break into Wakefield's home.[14] Wakefield also co-wrote and produced the film with William Day Frank.[15]

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

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, director

References
  1. "'True Detective': Ray Fisher Joins Cast of HBO Anthology Series As Regular; Three More Set To Recur on Season 3".
  2. "Black Balloon". Australian Film Commission. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  3. "Q&A: BERSERK Director/Co-Writer/Co-Star Rhys Wakefield on the Film's Real-Life Inspiration and Working with Nick Cannon & James Roday". Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  4. "Rhys Wakefield". Mattmueller.co.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  5. "Matrics Management website". Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  6. "Rhys Wakefield profile". Home and Away Official Site. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
  7. "Rhys Wakefield (Year 12 – 2006)". The McDonald College website. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  8. "The Black Balloon wins 11 AFI nominations". Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  9. "'Home and Away' rapped by regulator". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 October 2007.
  10. Staff. "Berlin Film Festival – Awards & Prizes" (in German). Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  11. "Tropfest International Short Film Festival-2013". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  12. "Cinequest Screenplay Submissions". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  13. "Cinequest Film Festival-2016". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  14. "Q&A: BERSERK Director/Co-Writer/Co-Star Rhys Wakefield on the Film's Real-Life Inspiration and Working with Nick Cannon & James Roday". Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  15. "Hollywood Hills Project". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
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