Rhys Wakefield facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rhys Wakefield
Wakefield at the 2013 Tropfest
Born	Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	2000–present

Rhys Wakefield is an actor and director from Australia. He is well-known for his parts in the TV show Home and Away. He also starred in the movie The Black Balloon (2008). More recently, he appeared in HBO's True Detective in 2019.

Rhys also directed his first movie, Berserk, which came out in cinemas in 2019. He is also the director and co-creator of a science fiction podcast series called From Now. This podcast is now being made into a TV show with Amazon Studios.

Early Life and School

Rhys Wakefield was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. His mother worked with medical standards. His father served in the navy.

Before he played Lucas in Home and Away, Rhys had already been acting for over six years. He went to classes at the McDonald College of Performing Arts. He won an acting scholarship there in 2003. During this time, he acted in many Shakespeare plays. He also worked with both Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet. Rhys finished school in 2006.

Acting and Directing Career

Rhys's first acting job was on the Australian TV show Don't Blame Me. He appeared in two episodes of that show.

Becoming a Star on Home and Away

In August 2005, Rhys was chosen to play Lucas Holden in Home and Away. This is a very popular Australian TV show. His character, Lucas, was the youngest child in the Holden family for a while.

Rhys's acting on the show was so good that he was nominated for a Logie Award in 2006. This award was for 'Best New Talent'. During his time on Home and Away, there was a storyline that caused some discussion. It led to the show's rating being changed to PG.

Big Roles in Movies

Rhys got his first main role in a movie called The Black Balloon. He played the character Thomas Mollison. For this role, he was nominated for Best Actor by the Australian Film Institute. He was also nominated by the Australian Film Critics Circle.

The Black Balloon first showed at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany. It won the Crystal Bear award there. This award is for the best feature film in the 'Generation 14plus' group. The movie then opened in Australia in March 2008.

Rhys has also played important roles in other movies. He was the lead in Sanctum. He played the Polite Leader in The Purge movie series. He also played Dick Cheney in The First Lady.

Working Behind the Camera

As a filmmaker, Rhys has also written and directed. He co-wrote and directed a short film called A Man Walks Into a Bar. This film was a finalist at the 2013 Tropfest International Short Film Festival in Sydney.

His movie script, called Please Close the Gate, was a finalist at the 2016 Cinequest Film Festival Screenwriting competition. It was also chosen for the Beverly Hills Film Festival that same year.

Rhys's first movie as a director was Berserk. It was released in American cinemas in April 2019. The movie stars actors like Nick Cannon and James Roday. Rhys also co-wrote and produced Berserk with William Day Frank. Part of the movie's idea came from someone trying to break into Rhys's home.

In 2019, Rhys played Freddy Burns in the third season of HBO's True Detective. He was also named one of the 'Breakout Stars to Watch' by TVLine. This was for his main role as Matty in Reprisal on Hulu.

Podcast to TV Show

In 2021, Amazon Studios bought the rights to make the QCode science fiction podcast series From Now into a TV show. Famous actors like Richard Madden and Brian Cox are executive producers for this project.

The From Now podcast started in late 2020. It quickly became very popular, reaching number two on the Apple Podcast global charts. Rhys Wakefield and William Day Frank created this podcast. They are now working together to adapt the series for TV. Rhys mentioned in an interview that they always hoped the podcast would become a TV show.

Awards and Nominations

Rhys was nominated for Best Actor in a Feature Film for his role in The Black Balloon. These nominations came from the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia. The Australian Film Institute award is like the Academy Awards in Australia.

Rhys was nominated alongside other great actors like Guy Pearce. The Australian Film Institute is now known as the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.

Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

Short Films

See also

In Spanish: Rhys Wakefield para niños