Hugo Weaving Biography

HUGO WEAVING

Date of Birth: April 4, 1960

Born in Nigeria, Hugo Weaving moved with his family to Australia before he was one. His father worked with a multinational oil company and the family moved to South Africa, Great Britain and then back to Australia in 1976, where the family would finally settle down. Weaving graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1981. His film debut came while he was still a student, in Maybe This Time (1980). He worked in theater after graduation, then got a lucky break when he landed the starring role in his second feature film, The City's Edge (1983). His television debut was in the mini-series Bodyline (1984), and he continued to land principal roles in films and mini-series for the next few years. For his starring role in Proof (1991), he won an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Actor in a leading role.

Weaving first gained international attention when he played a drag Queen in the hit Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). He provided the voice for Rex, the sheepdog in the hit film Babe (1995), which earned over $240 million worldwide at the box office. He won a second AFI Award for Best Actor in a leading role for his work in The Interview (1998) and also in 1998, he won Australian star of the year.

Weaving was seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy as the elf Elrond, as well as playing Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy. He also provided the voice of Noctus in the animated feature Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010). In 2012, he appeared in Cloud Atlas (2012) alongside Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. That same year he also donned his elf gear once again to reprise is role as Elrond for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The film was the first installment of a trilogy serving as the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. Weaving continued his work in the next two installments, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).

He can most recently be seen in the mystery thriller Strangerland (2015) opposite Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes, the drama The Dressmaker (2016) starring Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth, and the war drama Hacksaw Ridge (2016) starring Andrew Garfield.

He has been married to artist Katrina Greenwood since 1984, and they live in Australia with their two children.

Filmography:

Jasper Jones (2017)
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
The Dressmaker (2016)
Strangerland (2015)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2015)
Healing (2014)
The Mule (2013)
The Turning (2013)
Mystery Road (2013)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Cloud Atlas (2012)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
The Key Man (2011)
The Wolfman (2010)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) voice
Last Ride (2009)
Transformers (2007) voice
Happy Feet (2006)
V for Vendetta (2005)
Little Fish (2005)
Peaches (2004)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
The Magic Pudding (2000) voice
Strange Planet (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Babe: Pig in the City (1998) (voice)
Babe (1995) voice
The Custodian (1993)