Brenton Thwaites | |
---|---|
Born | 1988/1989(age 35–36) Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2010–present |
Partner | Chloe Pacey (2015–present) |
Children | 5 |
Brenton Thwaites (born 1988or1989) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series Slide and later appeared on the soap opera Home and Away . Since moving to the United States, Thwaites has had major roles in the films Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Oculus (2013), The Giver (2014), Gods of Egypt (2016), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). He starred as Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing in the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans from 2018 to 2023.
Thwaites was born in Cairns, Queensland. [1] He has a sister. He graduated from Cairns State High School in 2006. [1]
During his youth, Thwaites was drawn to the idea of becoming a policeman or a firefighter, having been interested in movies involving the latter. However, his interests changed to filmmaking and "letting [one's] personality shine through so many different characters". At the age of 16, Thwaites gave his first performance in front of a live audience in Romeo and Juliet . [2]
Thwaites studied acting at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for three years, before graduating in 2010. [3] [4] [5] He then relocated to Sydney to join the long-running soap opera Home and Away before moving to the United States in 2011/12 to pursue his career in acting. [6] [7] [8]
Prior to graduating from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Thwaites made his film debut in Charge Over You, a 2010 independent film. [9] After he graduated, Thwaites appeared in an episode of Sea Patrol and in the short film Headsmen. [10] [11]
In November 2010, Thwaites was cast in a new Fox8 Australian teen drama series, Slide . [12] [13] The show follows five Brisbane teenagers making their way to adulthood. [13] [14] Thwaites believes his character, Luke Gallagher, "stands back a bit. He watches. He's struggling with family issues. He's drawn in as it was a chance to find better friends and an opportunity to be part of a group. He's a cool, accepted kid. Some friends he can love and help him mature." [10] Thwaites made his first appearance on Slide in the series' premiere episode on 16 August 2011. The series ran one season. [13]
Shortly after Thwaites moved to Sydney in April 2011, he was given a five-month recurring role of Stu Henderson in the 24th season of Home and Away. [5] [7] Thwaites called the show a great learning experience and said his co-stars were easy to work with. [8] Thwaites made his first appearance as Stu, a member of the River Boys, on 23 August 2011. [7] Tristan Swanwick of The Courier-Mail said Thwaites was a "bit too pretty to be a bad-ass River Boy" but that some fake tattoos would balance that impression. [5] Of his character, Thwaites said, "Stu's awesome, he has some fights, he gets the girls, it's awesome fun." [5] [15]
Following Thwaites' relocation to the United States, he signed on to play the male lead in the 2012 television film Blue Lagoon: The Awakening opposite Indiana Evans. [16] The film received generally mixed reviews, with Zap2it praising both Thwaites and Evans' "(mostly) believable" acting [17] and The New York Times saying their performances were superior to those of the leads in the first film of the series. [18]
In 2013, Thwaites starred in the psychological/supernatural horror film Oculus as the male lead Tim Russell. Production on the film began in October 2012 in Alabama, and was completed a few weeks later. [19] The film was first released on 5 September 2013, at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, [20] and received a worldwide theatrical release on 11 April 2014. [21] His performance as Russell was well received by Indiewire , which claimed that Thwaites maintained a "credibly frightened demeanor" throughout the film. [22]
In 2014, Thwaites briefly returned to Australia for the filming of crime thriller Son of a Gun . Primarily shot in Perth, Kalgoorlie and Melbourne, [23] Thwaites had to audition for the part of JR "up to 10 times before landing the role." Regarding his character, Thwaites said, "I jumped at the opportunity to audition when this came up and I found the character was a very vulnerable kid amongst strange men that are in some way an inspiration. I just thought that was interesting as a young man myself." [24] Thwaites received critical acclaim for his portrayal of JR, with Variety contending that he "makes a suitably keen-eyed, clean-scrubbed lead, retaining a kind of porous naivete even as the character gets his blood up" [25] and The Sydney Morning Herald praising his role as the embattled hero of the plot. [26] The film premiered in Australia on 16 October 2014. [27]
In 2014, Thwaites appeared in Maleficent as Prince Phillip. [28] A Maleficent sequel was released in 2019, but Harris Dickinson was recast in Thwaites' role as he was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. [29] Additionally, he starred in The Signal as the male lead, Nic Eastman. The film opened at the Sundance Film Festival in January, seven months after shooting on location in the desert of New Mexico. [30] [31] Thwaites received praise in a review by The Plain Dealer that noted his performance in The Signal was "as a compelling presence in the driver's seat as things get freakier and freakier around him." [32]
Later in the year, Thwaites also had the lead role in The Giver , playing Jonas. [33] Primarily filmed in South Africa, [6] the film was met with generally mixed to negative reviews, with The Telegraph criticising Thwaites' portrayal for "he [struggled] to give us the layered, conflicted hero this film [needed]". [34] However, his portrayal was well received by the Huffington Post , who commended Thwaites' acting [35] and by The Plain Dealer, which noted that the "fast-rising Thwaites...does a nice job with the lead role." [36] He was awarded the Australians in Film "Breakthrough Award" for his role in The Giver. [37]
Thwaites starred in Gods of Egypt . He played Bek, a human thief. [38] Principal photography on the film began on 20 March 2014 at the Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and the film was released worldwide on 26 February 2016. [39]
Thwaites starred in the fantasy-adventure sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , which was released on 26 May 2017. [40] [41] [42] [43] Thwaites portrays Henry Turner, the son of franchise characters Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. [44] [45] [46] Shooting of the film commenced in February 2015, on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. [47] [48]
Following Pirates, Thwaites had a leading role in the 2017 Christian film, An Interview with God , portraying a young journalist, Paul Asher. [49] Thwaites was then cast as Dick Grayson / Robin in the DC Universe series Titans [50] which began airing in 2018.
Thwaites has been in a relationship with Chloe Pacey since 2015, [51] [52] after they both lived in the same sharehouse in Australia while Thwaites was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. [53] After a stint in Los Angeles, Thwaites returned to Queensland. [54] Thwaites and Pacey became engaged on 26 July 2023. The couple have five children. [55]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Charge Over You | Sam | |
2012 | Save Your Legs! | Mark Cow | |
2013 | Oculus | Tim Russell | |
2014 | The Giver | Jonas | |
Maleficent | Prince Phillip | ||
Ride | Angelo | ||
The Signal | Nic Eastman | ||
Son of a Gun | JR | ||
2015 | Ruben Guthrie | Chet | |
That Sugar Film | Himself | Documentary film [56] [57] | |
2016 | Gods of Egypt | Bek | |
2017 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | Henry Turner | |
2018 | Office Uprising | Desmond | Also executive producer |
2019 | An Interview with God | Paul Asher | |
A Violent Separation | Norman | ||
2020 | Ghosts of War | Chris | |
2020 | I Met a Girl | Devon | Also executive producer |
2024 | We Bury the Dead | Clay | Post-production |
2024 | How to Make Gravy | Dan |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Sea Patrol | Leigh Scarpia | Episode: "Black Flights" | |
Slide | Luke Gallagher | Main role; 10 episodes | ||
Rove LA | Himself | Part of the studio audience [58] [59] | ||
2011–2012 | Home and Away | Stu Henderson | Recurring role | |
2012 | Blue Lagoon: The Awakening | Dean McMullen | Television film | |
2018–2023 | Titans | Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing | Main role |
Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AiF Breakthrough Award | 2014 | Up-and-coming talent | The Giver | Won | [37] |
EuroCinema Kawananakoa Award | Rising star | – | Won | [60] | |
GQ Men of the Year | Breakthrough Actor | – | Won | [61] | |
Teen Choice Awards | 2017 | Choice Action Movie Actor | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | Nominated | [62] |
2019 | Choice Action TV Actor | Titans | Nominated | [63] |
John Christopher Depp II is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards. His films, in which he has often played eccentric characters, have grossed over $8 billion worldwide, making him one of Hollywood's most bankable stars.
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, making him the only Australian to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, in addition to three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Rush is the founding president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named the 2012 Australian of the Year.
Cairns is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the 2021 census, Cairns had a population of 153,181 people.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney theme parks and is the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. The plot follows the pirate Jack Sparrow (Depp) and the blacksmith Will Turner (Bloom), as they attempt to rescue the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann (Knightley). The trio encounters Captain Hector Barbossa (Rush) and the crew of the Black Pearl, who are afflicted by a supernatural curse.
David Wenham is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Friar Carl in Van Helsing and Van Helsing: The London Assignment, Dilios in 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, Al Parker in Top of the Lake, Lieutenant John Scarfield in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Hank Snow in Elvis. He is known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange and Price Galese in Les Norton.
Cairns State High School (CSHS) is an independent public secondary school located near the centre of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was founded in 1917 and is the oldest high school in Cairns. The school caters for grades 7 though 12 and has the capacity for 1,607 enrolled students. The principal of the school is Christopher Zilm.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is a 2007 American epic fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The direct sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), it is the third installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. Set a few months after Dead Man's Chest, the story follows an urgent quest to locate and rescue Captain Jack Sparrow, trapped on a sea of sand in Davy Jones' Locker, and convene the Brethren Court in a war against the East India Trading Company. In an uneasy alliance, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Hector Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl rescue Jack and prepare to fight Lord Cutler Beckett, who controls Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman.
Greg Ellis is an English actor who has worked in film, television, video games, and theatre. He is, among other roles, known for playing Chief Engineer Olson in Star Trek (2009), Theodore Groves in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean, and Trevor Wilcox in Touch (2013), as well as voice roles such as Anders in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening (2010), Cullen in multiple Dragon Age games, and Jet-Vac in the Skylanders video game series, as well as in the series Skylanders Academy.
Indiana Rose Evans (born 27 July 1990) is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in Home and Away as Matilda Hunter, H2O: Just Add Water as Bella Hartley, and Blue Lagoon: The Awakening as Emmaline Robinson.
Stephen Joseph Graham is a British actor. He began his career in 1990, with early notable roles including Tommy in Snatch (2000) and Shang in Gangs of New York (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film This Is England (2006).
Michael Errol Thwaite is an Australian former professional soccer player.
Kevin Robert McNally, often credited as Kevin R. McNally, is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of I, Claudius (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Pirates of the Caribbean is an American fantasy supernatural swashbuckler film series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and based on Walt Disney's theme park attraction of the same name. The film series serves as a major component of the titular media franchise. Based on a fictionalized version of the Golden Age of Piracy, the films' plots are set primarily in the Caribbean.
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film series (2001–03). He reprised his role in The Hobbit film series (2013–14). Considered by some to be the Errol Flynn of his time, he gained further notice appearing in epic fantasy, historical, and adventure films, notably as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, Paris in Troy (2004), Balian de Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers (2011).
Lincoln Clay Lewis is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles in the movie Tomorrow, When the War Began and in the television series Home and Away and Slide.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay by the writing team of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, it is a stand-alone sequel to At World's End (2007) and is loosely based on the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, and Kevin R. McNally, who reprise their roles from the previous films, alongside Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Sam Claflin and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey. The story follows the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on a quest for the Fountain of Youth after crossing paths with Angelica, a mysterious woman from his past, and being forced aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard. Jack contends with zombies, mermaids, the Spanish Armada and an uneasy alliance with rival Hector Barbossa, now a privateer of the British Navy.
Blue Lagoon: The Awakening is a 2012 American romantic drama television film that premiered on Lifetime on June 16, 2012. Indiana Evans and Brenton Thwaites star in the film, which is based on the 1908 novel The Blue Lagoon and its previous film adaptations.
Australians in Film (AiF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that serves the Australian community working in the film and television industry. It awards the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship to emerging Australian actors, as well as several other programs which help actors and filmmakers to develop their careers.
Oculus is a 2013 American supernatural psychological horror film co-written, edited, and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on his short film Oculus: Chapter 3 – The Man with the Plan, and stars Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites as two young adult siblings who are convinced that an antique mirror is responsible for the death and misfortune that their family had suffered.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is a 2017 American swashbuckler fantasy film directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by Jeff Nathanson, with story credit given to both Nathanson and executive producer Terry Rossio. The fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, it follows At World's End (2007) and On Stranger Tides (2011) as a stand-alone sequel. The film stars Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, and Kevin McNally. The story follows Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) as he searches for the Trident of Poseidon to defeat Armando Salazar (Bardem), who is determined to kill every pirate at sea and take revenge on Sparrow for imprisoning him and his crew of ghosts in the Devil's Triangle. Jack is joined by Hector Barbossa (Rush), young sailor Henry Turner (Thwaites), young astronomer Carina Smyth (Scodelario), Jack's crewmen including first mate Joshamee Gibbs (McNally) and Scrum to defeat Salazar's ghostly crew.
... 'The Awakening' offers occasional honest moments of humor and adolescent angst: Ms. Evans and Mr. Thwaites are in their early 20s and better actors than Ms. Shields and Mr. Atkins were in their teens.