Thomas Michael Wright (born 22 June 1983) is an Australian actor, writer,

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and producer. He is the co-founder (2006) and director of theatre company "Black Lung" and director of the feature films ''

Acute Misfortune ''Acute Misfortune'' is a 2018 Australian drama film co-written, directed and produced by Thomas M. Wright. The story is based on Sydney journalist Erik Jensen (writer), Erik Jensen's biography of Australian artist Adam Cullen, who died at the ...

'' (2019) and '' The Stranger'' (2022). As an actor he came to attention in

Jane Campion Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...

's series ''

Top of the Lake ''Top of the Lake'' is a mystery drama television series created and written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, and directed by Campion and Garth Davis. It was broadcast in 2013, and the sequel, entitled ''Top of the Lake: China Girl'', in 2017 ...

'', for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the (US-Canadian)

Critics' Choice Awards The Critics' Choice Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Written ballots are ...

. '' The Stranger'' premiered at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is a film festival that took place from 17 to 28 May 2022. French actor Vincent Lindon served as jury president for the main competition. French actress Virginie Efira hosted the opening and closing ceremon ...

Early life

Wright was born on 22 June 1983 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Career

Theatre

Wright created the

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

Black Lung, also known as The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm, in 2006, with fellow writer and director Thomas Henning. Their first production, Avast, was called "Insanely fast-paced, artfully arrhythmic, meta-theatrical - a breathtaking combination of precision and chaos" by Chris Kohn, writing for ''Realtime''. Under the Black Lung banner, Wright created productions with

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

and

Darwin Festival The Darwin Festival, founded as the Bougainvillea Festival in 1979 and named Festival of Darwin from 1996 to 2002, is an annual arts festival in Darwin, Northern Territory. It celebrates the multicultural aspects of the Northern Territory lifes ...

, Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre, and Queensland Theatre Co. and

Brisbane Festival Brisbane Festival is one of Australia's leading international arts festivals, and is held each September in Brisbane, Australia. Its presence dominates the city for three weeks in September and its line-up of classical and contemporary music, t ...

. Black Lung were hailed as one of the most influential theatre companies of the decade. Wright was the director, co-writer and production designer of ''Doku Rai'', a production created over four and a half years, with a three-month rehearsal process on the remote island of

Atauro Island Atauro (, , ), also known as Kambing Island (), is an island and municipality (, or ) of Timor-Leste. Atauro is a small oceanic island situated north of Dili, on the extinct Wetar segment of the volcanic Inner Banda Arc, between the Indones ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

. ''Doku Rai'' came about after Wright formed a close relationship with Michael Stone, then Chief Military Advisor to the President of East Timor,

José Ramos-Horta José Manuel Ramos-Horta GCL GColIH (; born 26 December 1949) is an East Timorese politician. He has been the president of East Timor since 2022, having previously also held the position from 20 May 2007 to 20 May 2012. Previously he was Mini ...

. Stone facilitated Wright flying in and out of the country over a number of years. ''Doku Rai'' was created with a group of independent Timorese artists, a number of them former resistance fighters. The film sequences in ''Doku Rai'' were co-directed by Wright with director Amiel Courtin-Wilson. As an actor he played lead roles for the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

and

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...

, including the title role Baal in the controversial production commissioned by

Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...

and

Andrew Upton Andrew Upton is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, producer and director. He has adapted the works of Gorky, Chekhov, Ibsen, and others for London's Royal National Theatre and the Sydney Theatre Company. He wrote the original play ''Rifle ...

and directed by

Simon Stone Simon Stone (born 19 August 1984) is an Australian film and theatre director, writer and actor. Early life Stone is Australian, but was born in Basel, Switzerland and grew up in Cambridge and Melbourne. His father, Stuart Stone, was a biochemis ...

in 2011.

Television and film

Wright came to attention of the world as an actor in the

Disney Channel Original Movies Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 19 ...

, '' Stepsister From Planet Weird'' and '' Zenon: The Zequel'' in the early 2000s, and later in the

Sundance A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada * Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pl ...

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

series ''Top of the Lake'' in 2013, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the US Critics' Choice Awards. Regarding his casting as Johnno Mitcham in the series, director

compared him to a young

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Day-Lewis, numerous a ...

. He appeared as cult-figure Steven Linder in the 2013 US adaptation of ''

The Bridge The Bridge may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Art * ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US * Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists * ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...

''. Executive Producer Elwood Reid said of Wright’s audition for the series: "...it was the best audition I have ever seen. He walked in and the temperature of the room changed". In 2015, Wright played the guide Mike Groom in the feature film ''

Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its ...

'', based on the

1996 Mount Everest disaster The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making i ...

, in which eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a storm. He also played the murdered journalist Brian Peters in ''

Balibo Balibo is a town in East Timor situated approximately from the Indonesian border. It is located in the sub-district of Balibo, Bobonaro District. It was estimated by Human Rights Watch that 70 percent of the town was destroyed dur ...

'' (2009), and Thomas Bodenham in

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

. Wright featured in the film ''

The Man With The Iron Heart ''The Man with the Iron Heart'' is an alternate history novel by Harry Turtledove. Published in 2008, it takes as its premise the survival by Reinhard Heydrich of his 1942 assassination in Czechoslovakia and his subsequent leadership of the pos ...

'' (2016), an adaptation of

Laurent Binet Laurent Binet (born 19 July 1972) is a French writer and university lecturer. His work focuses on the modern political scene in France. Biography The son of a historian, Valérie Trierweiler, October 18, 2010"Laurent Binet, retour sur un succès ...

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

-winning novel, ''

HHhH ''HHhH'' is the debut novel of French author Laurent Binet, published in 2010 by Grasset & Fasquelle. The book is a metafictional novel depicting Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during World W ...

'', with Jack O'Connell,

Rosamund Pike Rosamund Mary Ellen Pike (born 1979) is an English actress and producer. Known for psychological thrillers and dramas, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Rosamund Pike, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Em ...

Stephen Graham Stephen Graham (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor and film producer. He began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in '' Snatch'' (2000) and ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne ...

and

Jason Clarke Jason Clarke (born 17 July 1969) is an Australian actor. He has appeared in many TV series, and is known for playing Tommy Caffee on the television series '' Brotherhood''. He has also appeared in many films, often as an antagonist. His film r ...

. He also filmed the Sony / WGN America Series ''Outsiders'' in the lead role of Sheriff Wade Houghton for producers Peter Tolan and Paul Giamatti. His performance was cited as the standout of the series by ''Hollywood Reporter'' and ''Variety''. In 2017 Wright was the subject of an

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

finalist portrait by

Marcus Wills Marcus Wills (born 1972) is an Australian painter, winner of the 2006 Archibald Prize and finalist in many other art competitions. Early life and education Wills was born in Kaniva, Victoria in 1972. He studied for an Advanced Certificate o ...

, ''Antagonist, Protagonist (Thomas M. Wright''), with a scene set up to look like a crime drama, with Wright as

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

. In 2018 he featured in

Warwick Thornton Warwick Thornton is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His debut feature film '' Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awar ...

's '' Sweet Country'', which received the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

's Special Jury Prize, the

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

for Best Film and the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Platform Prize The Platform Prize is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to films of "high artistic merit that also demonstrate a strong directorial vision." He co-wrote, directed and produced the feature film ''

'', released in 2019, based on

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

journalist Erik Jensen's award-winning biography of Australian artist

Adam Cullen Adam Frederick Cullen (9 October 1965 – 28 July 2012) was an Australian artist, most known for winning the Archibald Prize in 2000 with a portrait of actor David Wenham. He was also known for his controversial subjects and his distinct ...

, ''Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen''. The film received ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' Critics' Prize at

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

, where it premiered. It received a five star review in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and was named one of ''The Guardians "10 Best Australian Films of the decade 2010-2020" and the best Australian film of 2019. It was given a "Notable mention" (along with ''Sweet Country'') in ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'' Awards 2018, and ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' called it an "Overlooked gem" in their list of the year's best films. The film was nominated for the 2019 AACTA Award for Best Independent Film. The score, by Evelyn Ida Morris, was nominated for best soundtrack at the 2018

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called ''Acute Misfortune'' "one of the year's most striking and accomplished directorial debuts". Wright is nominated in the Best Director (Feature Film) category for the 2020 Australian Director's Guild Awards. In April 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

, it was announced that a new film, '' The Stranger'', would begin filming in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

as soon as enough of the

COVID-19 restrictions During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...

were lifted. Written and directed by Wright, it was produced by and starred

Joel Edgerton Joel Edgerton (born 23 June 1974) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is known for his portrayal of Will McGill on the first two seasons of the Australian drama series'' The Secret Life of Us'' (2001–02), and for playing Owen Lars in t ...

Sean Harris Sean Harris (born 1 June 1966) is an English actor. He played Ian Curtis in '' 24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Micheletto Corella in '' The Borgias'' (2011–2013), Fifield in ''Prometheus'' (2012), Solomon Lane in '' Mission: Impossible – R ...

played the second lead role. The film was originally announced at

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

’s European Film Market in February, and was made by

Anonymous Content Anonymous Content (AC) is an independent global entertainment company founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Golin, Dave Morrison and Gore Verbinski. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in Culver City, New York City and London. History Anonymous Co ...

and

See-Saw Films See-Saw Films is a British-Australian film and television production company founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with offices in London and Sydney. Their productions include ''The King's Speech'', ''Top Of The Lake'', ''Lion'', ...

, with support from

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

and the

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

. The script was shortlisted for the Betty Ronald Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2023

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

. ''The Stranger'' screened at the

Filmography

Film

As director

Television

Stage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Thomas M. 1983 births Living people People educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Australian male child actors Male actors from Melbourne 21st-century Australian male actors