Brendan Cowell

Brendan Cowell
Brendan Cowell in February 2013
Born	Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)	Actor, screenwriter, playwright
Years active	1986–present

Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor and writer. He is known for his lead role in 2024 television series Plum that he created, based on his 2021 novel of the same name.

Early life and education

Brendan Cowell was born in Sydney and grew up in the beachside suburb of Cronulla. He credits his mother and high school drama teacher with encouraging him to explore his creative side. ^[1]

He attended Charles Sturt University in Bathurst to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre/Media. ^[1]

Career

Stage

Cowell won the Patrick White Playwrights' Award for his third play, Bed ^[2] along with a collection of other awards. His play Ruben Guthrie showed at the Belvoir St Theatre in 2009 to sell-out houses. ^[3] It had a new production at La Boite Theatre in 2011, starring Gyton Grantley and directed by David Berthold. ^[4]

He won some acclaim for his portrayal of the title role in Bell Shakespeare's 2008 Production of Hamlet ^[5] and acted in Sydney Theatre Company's production of True West , directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, in 2010. ^[6]

The Sublime (Melbourne Theatre Company) was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 2015. ^[7] His play Happy New was performed in London in 2013, starring Joel Samuels, Lisa Dillon and William Troughton. It had previously premiered in Australia. ^[8]

In 2017 he starred as Galileo Galilei in the Young Vic's production of Bertholt Brecht's Life of Galileo . ^[9]

Television

Cowell played the enigmatic Tom on Australian cable TV's Love My Way , for which he also wrote several episodes, and played Todd for the first two seasons on Life Support on SBS TV, for which he also wrote sketches.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2017 Cowell joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in season 7 as Harrag, an Ironborn sea captain allied to Theon Greyjoy.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2024 it was announced that Cowell had begun filming for ABC drama Plum based on his novel of the same name. ^{[10] [11]} The series aired on 20 October 2024.

On 27 March 2025, Cowell was named in the cast of Apple TV+ series The Dispatcher. ^[12]

Film

Cowell's acting work in film include roles in the 2007 crime drama Noise , the World War 1 war film Beneath Hill 60 , the romantic comedy I Love You Too .^{[ citation needed ]} and a notable role in Avatar: The Way of Water as Captain Mick Scoresby.

Other writing

In 2010 Cowell published his first novel, How it Feels . ^[13]

Personal life

Cowell dated Rose Byrne for six years until they parted ways amicably in early 2010. ^[14]

Performances and works

Film

Key

†	Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	The Siege of Barton's Bathroom	Dominic Barton	Short film [15] [16]
1999	Kick	Macca
2000	Bored Olives	Robert
	The Monkey's Mask	Hayden
2001	To End All Wars	Wallace Hamilton
2004	Floodhouse	Herringbone John
2005	Deck Dogz	Kurt
2006	Suburban Mayhem	Interviewer	Voice role
2007	Noise	Graham McGahan
2008	Three Blind Mice	Glenn Carter
	Ten Empty	Shane Hackett
2010	Beneath Hill 60	Oliver Woodward
	I Love You Too	Jim
2012	Save Your Legs!	Rick
2013	The Darkside
2015	Last Cab to Darwin	Publican
	Observance	Employer
2016	Broke	Kirk
2017	National Theatre Live: Yerma	John
	The Current War	Confederate Soldier
2022	Avatar: The Way of Water	Captain Mick Scoresby
2025	Avatar: Fire and Ash

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Monster!	Nate	TV film
2001	Water Rats	Jonathan Freeman	Episode: "Family Matters"
2001–2002	Life Support	Todd	Series regular
2002	Young Lions	Jason Doone	2 episodes
	White Collar Blue	Daniel Hudson	1 episode
2003	Fat Cow Motel	Jack Green	Mini-series
2004	Salem's Lot	Dud Rogers	Mini-series
2004–2007	Love My Way	Tom Jackson	Series regular
2008	Review with Myles Barlow	As himself	Season 1 Episode 3
2010	Rush	Blake Fincher	Episode: "Cooked"
2011	The Slap	Craig	Episode: "Richie"
	Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away	Benny O'Connell	TV film
2012	Howzat! Kerry Packer's War	Rodney Marsh	Mini-series
2013	The Borgias	Mattai the Hebrew	5 episodes
	The Outlaw Michael Howe	British Soldier	TV film
2014	Wastelander Panda	Isaac	6 episodes, voice role
	Soul Mates	Harry Cunston	Episode: "Self Destruction"
2014–2016	Black Comedy	Various roles	4 episodes
2016	Brock	Allan Moffat	Mini-series
	Comedy Showroom: The Letdown	Harry	TV film
2017	Game of Thrones	Harrag	3 episodes
2017–2019	The Letdown	Harry	3 episodes
2018	Press	Peter Langley	Series regular
2020	The End	Christopher Brennan	4 episodes
2022	The Twelve	Garry Thorne	10 episodes
2023	The Castaways	Mike Brasse	5 episodes
2024	Plum	Peter 'The Plum' Lum	6 episodes
	Dune: Prophecy	Duke Ferdinand Richese	2 episodes
TBA	The Dispatcher	TBA	TBA

Theatre

Year	Play	Role	Venue	Notes
2000	The Recruit	Jimmy	Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Sydney Theatre Company
	Men	Guy	Old Fitzroy Theatre, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales
2001	Happy New	Lyle	Old Fitzroy Theatre, Woolloomooloo, Sydney, New South Wales
2003	The Shape of Things	Adam Sorenson	Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Sydney Theatre Company
2004	Far Away	Todd	Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Sydney Theatre Company
2006	Dissident, Goes Without Saying	Phillipe	Wharf 2Loud Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Sydney Theatre Company
2008	Hamlet	Prince Hamlet	Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales	with Bell Shakespeare
2010	True West	Austin	Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Sydney Theatre Company
2011	The Dark Room	Stephen	Downstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Company B
2013	Miss Julie	Jean	Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Belvoir Sydney
	The Wild Duck	Hjalmar Ekdal	Vienna Festival & Holland Festival	with Belvoir Sydney
2014	Once in Royal David's City	Will Drummond	Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales	with Belvoir Sydney
	The Wild Duck	Hjalmar Ekdal	Barbican Centre, London & UK Tour	with Belvoir Sydney
2016	Yerma	Juan	Young Vic, London
2017	Life of Galileo	Galileo Galilei	Young Vic, London
2018	Dance Nation	Dance Teacher Pat	Almeida Theatre, London
	Yerma	Juan	Park Avenue Armory, New York City
2022	The Crusible	John Proctor	Olivier Theatre, London
2025	The Lady from the Sea	Finn Marcet	Bridge Theatre, London

Writing

Year	Title	Format	Notes
2000	Men	Play
2001	Bed	Play	Won the Patrick White Playwrights Award and Fellowship in 2001 [17]
	Happy New	Play
2001–2002	Life Support	TV series. Satire. Comedy	Writer (with others) in 4 episodes
2002	Sweet Dreams	Short film	Co-written with Anthony Hayes
	Running Down These Dreams	Short film. Drama
	Free	Short film. Drama
	Wasted on the Young	Short film. Comedy
	I Love U	Short film. Drama
	Baggage Claim	Short film. Drama
	The Doppelgangers	Short film. Sci-Fi
	Chrono-logic	Short film. Drama
2003	Rabbit	Play	Won the 2003 Griffin award. [18]
2004	Morph	Play
2004-2007	Love My Way	TV series	8 episodes [19] [20] [21]
2005	Europe	Short film. Romance	[22]
2007	Ten Empty	Film. Drama
2009	Ruben Guthrie	Play ISBN   9780868198590	Cowell adapted this as a film script for the 2015 feature film with the same title
2010	How It Feels	Debut novel ISBN   9781405039291	[23]
2011	The Slap [22]	TV series based on Christos Tsiolkas' novel	2 episodes: #1.3 Harry, #1.8 Richie
2012	Save Your Legs!	Feature film. Comedy	[24]
2013	The Outlaw Michael Howe	TV film. Historical drama. Western
2014	The Sublime	Play
2015	Ruben Guthrie	Feature film. Dark comedy, drama, romance
2021	Plum	Second novel ISBN   9781460760505	Audiobook read by Cowell ( ISBN   9781460789377). Adapted as a TV series, released in 2024.
2024	Plum	TV series	Writer / Exec producer; 6 episodes

Directing

Year	Title
2005	Europe
2013	The Outlaw Michael Howe
2015	Ruben Guthrie

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2005	Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor	Love My Way	Nominated
2006	Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor	Love My Way	Nominated
2007	AFI Awards	Best Lead Actor	Noise	Nominated
	AWGIE Awards	Television - Series	Love My Way	Nominated
	Inside Film Awards	Best Actor	Noise	Nominated
	Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor	Love My Way	Nominated
2008	ASTRA Awards	Most Outstanding Performance by an Actor	Love My Way	Nominated
	Film Critics Circle of Australia	Best Actor	Noise	Won
2010	AFI Awards	Best Lead Actor	Beneath Hill 60	Nominated
2011	Film Critics Circle of Australia	Best Actor	Beneath Hill 60	Nominated
	Sydney Theatre Awards	Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production	The Dark Room	Nominated
2012	AACTA Awards	Best Screenplay in Television	The Slap	Won
	AWGIE Awards	Television Mini-Series - Adaptation (with Emily Ballou, Alice Bell, Kris Mrksa & Cate Shortland)	The Slap	Won
2015	AACTA Awards	Best Adapted Screenplay	Ruben Guthrie	Nominated
	AWGIE Awards	Feature Film - Adaptation	Ruben Guthrie	Won
	ZOOM Awards	Best Director	The Outlaw Michael Howe	Won

References

1. "Brendan Cowell – Actor-writer-director-producer". Alumni.csu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
2. "Sydney Theatre Company – Patrick White Playwrights' Award". Sydneytheatre.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
3. "Ruben Guthrie, Productions | Belvoir St Theatre". Belvoir.com.au. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
4. "All things Ruben Guthrie: An Interview with David Berthold (La Boite)". Aussietheatre.com.au. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
5. "Hamlet | Bell Shakespeare". Australianstage.com.au. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
6. "True West | Sydney Theatre Company". Australianstage.com.au. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
7. "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF). SL Magazine. 8 (4): 36. Summer 2015.
8. Bleakley, Paul (28 May 2013). "Happy New | Chickens, childhood and Brendan Cowell". Australian Times News. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
9. "Life of Galileo". 6 May 2017.
10. Knox, David (17 January 2024). "Production underway on new ABC drama Plum | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au.
11. Slatter, Sean (16 January 2024). "ABC to serve up 'Plum' with Brendan Cowell, Asher Keddie leading the cast". if.com.au.
12. Knox, David (27 March 2025). "Apple TV+ announces cast for Aussie drama, The Dispatcher. | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
13. Theo Chapman (11 January 2011). "How It Feels | Book Review | Brendan Cowell's First Novel". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
14. Dennehy, Luke (7 February 2010). "Rose Byrne and Brendan Cowell split". Sunday Herald Sun . Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
15. Leerentveld, Erwin (29 March 2023). "Film : The Cast: Bartons on the Web". Bartons on the Web.
16. Leerentveld, Erwin (29 March 2023). "Jocelyn Moorhouse Interview". Bartons on the Web.
17. "Past Winners". Sydney Theatre. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
18. "Griffin Award". Griffin Theatre Company. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
19. "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
20. "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
21. "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
22. "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
23. "Pan Macmillan Australia: About the Book". Panmacmillan.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
24. "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2020.

External links

• Brendan Cowell at IMDb