David Wenham Biography

DAVID WENHAM

Date of Birth: September 21, 1965

David Wenham is critically acclaimed in Australia for his diverse performances in film, theater and television. A five-time nominee for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, Wenham won the honor in 1997 for his role in the television drama series Simone De Beauvoir's Babies.

He was best known (and best-loved) for years in Australia as Diver Dan, the laconic fisherman in ABC TV's comedy-drama series SeaChange, a role which earned Wenham one of his AFI nominations. He was nominated again in 1998 for his menacing portrayal of criminal Brett Sprague in the feature film The Boys - a part he first played on stage in the Griffin Street Theatre Company production.

Wenham, who also received a Film Critics' Circle of Australia Best Lead Actor nomination for The Boys, called by critics "The Taxi Driver of the Nineties", was associate producer on the film and starred alongside Toni Collette. Wenham stepped up to the big time when he began to land regular, substantial roles in Hollywood films that either starred or were made by prominent Australians.

He was in director Alex Proyas' Dark City with Kiefer Sutherland, Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman and Russian Doll with Hugo Weaving, and can be seen (along with Weaving) in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, playing Faramir—son of Denethor and brother of Boromir. He followed that up with the horror/action-adventure film Van Helsing, with Hugh Jackman (another Aussie) and Kate Beckinsale. In Public Enemies (2009), he played Harry 'Pete' Pierpont opposite Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Most recently, he can most notably be seen in 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), alongside Sullivan Stapleton and Eva Green, and the true-story drama Lion starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, and Rooney Mara.

Wenham has two daughters with actress Kate Agnew.

Filmography:

Lion (2016)
Goldstone (2016)
Force of Destiny (2015)
Paper Planes (2014)
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 3D (2010)
Pope Joan (2009)
Public Enemies (2009)
Australia (2008)
The Children of Huang Shi (2008)
Married Life (2007)
300 (2007)
The Proposition (2006)
Van Helsing (2004)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Gettin' Square (2003)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Pure (2002)
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002)
Dust (2001)
The Bank (2001)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Russian Doll (2001)
Better Than Sex (2000)
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (2000)
A Little Bit of Soul (1998)
Dark City (1998)
The Boys (1998)
Idiot Box (1996)
Cosi (1996)
Gino (1994)
No Escape (1994)
Greenkeeping (1992)
Seeing Red (1992)