Matthew Sunderland

Last updated

Matthew Sunderland
Matt Sunderland.jpg
Born1972 (age 5152)
Education Toi Whakaari
OccupationActor

Matthew Sunderland (born c. 1972) is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director. He performed the lead role of David Gray in the feature film Out of the Blue, based on the events of the Aramoana Massacre. [1] At the New Zealand Screen Awards in 2008 he won Best Actor Award for this role. [2]

Contents

Education

Sunderland graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1997.

Career

Sunderland starred as Uncle Rory in Daniel Borgman's debut feature The Weight of Elephants. [3] He was nominated for a Best Actor Award in the 2006 NZ Screen Awards for Nature's Way, which screened In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

His other feature film roles include A Song of Good, [4] Christmas, [5] StringerWoodenhead [6] Existence , and The Devil's Rock .

Sunderland made his directorial and screenwriting debut with the short film Tuffy, which deals with estrangement between a father and son, in small town New Zealand.

In 2013, Sunderland played in the stage adaptation of Kate Grenville’s Booker Prize-shortlisted The Secret River with the Sydney Theatre Company, which toured throughout Australia. He also appeared in Shortland Street as White Dragon, in a storyline concluding the three-year Kieran Mitchell story arc. [7]

In 2016, Sunderland played the role of a drunken man resisting alien abduction in the music video for "Bergschrund" by DJ Shadow and Nils Frahm.

Sunderland played the chemist, Joseph Pritchard in the 2020 miniseries The Luminaries . [8]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1992 Desperate Remedies Chorus #15
1992 Absent Without Leave Paul
2003ChristmasBrett
2003 Woodenhead Strong Man
2006 Out of the Blue David Gray
2007The Last Magic ShowLemuel
2008A Song of GoodDenis
2009The Strength of WaterHunter
2009 Under the Mountain Wilberforce Drone 1
2010 Tracker Posse Soldier Crowther
2011 The Devil's Rock Colonel Klaus Meyer
2012ExistenceRider
2013The Weight of ElephantsUncle Rory
2014 The Little Death Wiry Man
2015 Backtrack Steve
2016 The Lost City of Z Dan
2017 6 Days Tom Lovett
2018 The Nightingale Davey / Settler 2
2019SavageDad
2020 Bloody Hell Father
2022 The Stranger Controller / Detective Sergeant Cross
2022 Pearl Pearl's Father

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ShepherdEpisode: "Promises"
1999 Duggan Private Ewen DalyEpisode: "Last Resort"
2001 Cleopatra 2525 ToxEpisode: "In Your Boots"
2004 Power Rangers Dino Thunder Monster General #2Episode: "Lost & Found in Translation"
2005MatakuThe ViperEpisode: "The Photo - Te Whakaahua"
Power Rangers S.P.D. Green EyesEpisode: "Perspectives"
TalentGeoffTelevision film
2008 Kiss Me Deadly Vigo
2009 Piece of My Heart Sharp
2010 This Is Not My Life The Cleaner2 episodes
2013 Top of the Lake Voice of Choppy 1Episode: "Searchers Voice"
2013HarrySpud4 episodes
2016 Rake PhilEpisode #4.5
2017 Wanted Bryce4 episodes
2020 The Luminaries Joseph Pritchard6 episodes
2024 Plum Bukowski4 episodes

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References

  1. Scott, Kara (5 October 2006). "In the shoes of a killer". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  2. Best Actor Award – 2008 Awards Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Rooney, David (10 February 2013). "The Weight of Elephants: Berlin Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  4. A SONG OF GOOD – Feature Film Archived 20 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  5. CHRISTMAS – Feature Film
  6. "woodenhead". woodenhead.co.nz. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  7. "Matthew Sunderland". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. "Kiwi actor's star turn on the red carpet at Cannes". NZ Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2022.