Aussie Actors Dominating Our Screens
We’re all familiar with Margot, Hugh, Cate, Nicole, Russell, Guy, Rose, Hugo, Joel and Chris – household name actors with such renowned and established star power that they are identifiable by their first names – but what about the many other talented Aussie actors that are absolutely dominating our screens at the moment?
Whether these are up-and-coming youngsters relatively new on the scene or some veteran performers finally getting the attention they have earned over the years, we wanted to give them a shout out and remind you about all of their awesome roles to date.
Murray Bartlett
Murray Bartlett received international acclaim for his Emmy Award-winning performance in the first season of The White Lotus (2021), an astounding, career-defining performance. He was also excellent in the standout episode of The Last of Us (2023) alongside Nick Offerman, while also recently appearing in Welcome to Chippendales (2022) and Physical (2021-Present). Back in the early ’90s Bartlett had recurring roles in both Home and Away and Neighbours as well as appearances in other iconic Aussie series’, The Secret Life of Us and McLeod’s Daughters. His most prestigious role came via the HBO drama series, Looking (2014-16), where he stars as restaurant sommelier Dom Basaluzzo, one of three gay friends that the series explores who live and work in San Francisco.
Anna Torv
Anna Torv is renowned for her lead role of Olivia Dunham in the popular sci-fi series, Fringe (2008-2013), a role that earned her four consecutive Saturn Awards for Best Actress on Television in the sci-fi/horror category. She also starred in the controversial thriller The Book of Revelation (2006), directed by Anna Kokkinos. Most recently she provided an excellent supporting performance in The Last of Us (2022), and will recur her role in the second season of The Newsreader, which explores the professional lives of journalists and crew within Australian newsrooms in the ’80s. Torv was also a regular cast member of the brilliant (and sorely missed) Netflix crime procedural, Mindhunter, and is set to star alongside Eric Bana in Force of Nature: The Dry 2, the upcoming sequel to the hit procedural thriller, The Dry (2020).
Sarah Snook
Sarah Snook has received global recognition since 2018 for her role as Shiv Roy in the landmark comedy-drama series, Succession (2018-2023), and she will also appear in the upcoming Netflix movie, Run Rabbit Run (2023). Snook received notable recognition for her role in charming Aussie comedy Not Suitable For Childen (2012), alongside Ryan Kwanten and Ryan Corr, which opened the Sydney Film Festival that year. Snook would then appear in a number of other local productions, including the apocalyptic thriller These Final Hours (2013), time-travel saga Predestination (2014), family film Oddball (2015), absurd dark comedy The Dressmaker (2015) and romantic drama Holding the Man (2015) before taking on the role in Succession.
Angourie Rice
Angourie Rice began her career as a child actress, with her most eye-catching role coming in The Nice Guys (2016) alongside Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. She also starred in the aforementioned harrowing end-of-the-world thriller, These Final Hours (2013). Rice starred in Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled (2017) alongside a hugely talented female ensemble cast including Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst and joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe to portray Betty Brant in Spider-man: Homecoming, Spider-man: Far From Home and Spider-man: No Way Home. More recently Rice has a prominent role in the brilliant Kate Winslet-led procedural drama, Mare of Easttown (2021), coming-of-age comedy film Honor Society (2022), and Apple TV+ miniseries, The Last Thing He Told Me (2023), also starring Jennifer Garner.
Elizabeth Debicki
Though still just 32 years of age Elizabeth Debicki is perhaps the most established actor on the list, turning in excellent performances ever since her eye-catching work in Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby (2013), where she won an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and more recently Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (2023), and portrayed Princess Diana in the latest season of The Crown (2016-Present). Other notable roles include an acclaimed performance in Steve McQueen’s crime drama Widows (2018), an intoxicating antagonist in Guy Ritchie’s excellent remake of the The Man From U.N.C.L.E (2015) series, as well as Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending Tenet (2020).
Samara Weaving
Samara Weaving is the daughter of filmmaker Simon Weaving and the niece of the great Hugo Weaving. Weaving would become established as a ‘scream queen’ following her roles in The Babysitter (2017) and Ready or Not (2019), and she was also a part of the impressive ensemble cast of Prime Video drama Nine Perfect Strangers. She has also starred alongside Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter in Bill & Ted Face the Music and most recently appeared in Babylon (2022) and Scream VI (2023).
Travis Fimmel
Real fans will remember Travis Fimmel’s early appearance in the video clip for Janet Jackson’s “Someone to Call My Lover” but it was his breakout role in the epic historical series, Vikings (2013-2020) ,that unlocked Fimmel’s unsung star power. He would claim a leading role in the blockbuster live-action adaptation of the Warcraft video game franchise, as well as war drama Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan. He would also be impressive in a pair of supporting performances in well-regarded indie films Maggie’s Plan and Lean on Pete. Most recently Fimmel was a regular in the ambitious sci-fi drama series, Raised by Wolves, and the lead in the Stan Original Series, Black Snow.
Luke Bracey
Luke Bracey’s Hollywood breakthrough was in the 2015 remake of classic action thriller Point Break, where he takes on the role of Johnny Utah (played by Keanu Reeves in the ’91 original), but he was a real standout amongst a large ensemble cast in the harrowing Academy Award-winning war drama, Hacksaw Ridge. Bracey also starred alongside Travis Fimmel in Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, but has most recently starred in some lighter romantic comedies, such as Holidate (2020) and Maybe I Do (2023) – interestingly, both also star Emma Roberts – as well as Baz Luhrman’s acclaimed Elvis biopic…Elvis (2022).
Markella Kavenagh
A member of the core cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the 23-year-old Markella Kavenagh already has one of the biggest television series of recent years on her resume, and she’s sure to be a fixture of the second season too, but she has been a key cast member of a number of acclaimed series including Romper Stomper, The Cry, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Gloaming and most recently Bad Beahviour, which premiered earlier in the year on Stan.
Katherine Langford
Katherine Langford‘s breakout role came in the controversial Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. She also starred in the unfortunately short lived Netflix fantasy series Cursed and was the lead in the rural Victoria-set crime drama Savage River. Her film roles include the charming coming-of-age drama Love, Simon, entertaining whodunit Knives Out, and the seriously underrated dark comedy Spontaneous.
