Tony McNamara (born 1967) is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and television producer. He is also an occasional film director and producer. He is known for his work on the scripts for '' The Favourite'' (2018) and '' Poor Things'' (2023), two films directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, being nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

with Deborah Davis for the former and the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

for the latter. On television, he created the comedy-drama series '' The Great'' (2020–2023).

Early life and education

Tony McNamara was born in 1967 in Kilmore, in the state of

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, and was educated at Assumption College, Kilmore. Following careers in catering and finance, McNamara settled on a career as a writer following a visit to Rome. He studied writing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and screenwriting at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.

Career

After writing various television episodes and stage plays, McNamara made his film debut in 2003 directing '' The Rage in Placid Lake'', adapted from his stage play ''The Café Latte Kid''. Following this, he wrote for various television programmes in Australia, most notably '' The Secret Life of Us'', '' Love My Way'', '' Tangle'' and '' Puberty Blues''. In 2015, McNamara directed his second

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

, comedy-drama '' Ashby'', starring Mickey Rourke, Sarah Silverman and

Emma Roberts Emma Rose Roberts (born February 10, 1991) Additional on October 9, 2016 is an American actress, singer and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror film, horror and thriller ...

. A year later, he returned to television as creator of medical drama '' Doctor Doctor''. In 2018, he received critical acclaim for his work in co-writing the historical comedy-drama film '' The Favourite'' with Yorgos Lanthimos, starring Emma Stone. Originally a screenplay by Deborah Davis written 20 years prior to the film's release, Lanthimos and McNamara worked together to complete the final script. McNamara created '' The Great'', a series revolving around the life of

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, starring

Elle Fanning Mary Elle Fanning (born April 9, 1998) is an American actress. Her works include both independent films and blockbusters, and her accolades include a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and ...

and Nicholas Hoult, which premiered on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

on 15 May 2020. It is based on his play about Catherine the Great, which premiered at the

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 ...

in 2008. McNamara also wrote a film adaptation of the play. McNamara returned to work with Lanthimos as the writer for the 2023 film '' Poor Things'', with Stone as the lead actress once again. In April 2024, it was reported that he will script the upcoming film adaptation of the comic book '' Avengelyne'', with

Olivia Wilde Olivia Wilde (born Olivia Jane Cockburn, , March 10, 1984) is an American actress and director. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' (2007–2012), and appeared ...

directing, and Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley producing through their LuckyChap Entertainment banner. By April 2025, he was co-writing an upcoming ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' film, with Taika Waititi.

Personal life

McNamara has a child by a first marriage, and married Australian actress Belinda Bromilow in 2009. They have two children.

Filmography

Film Television

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Tony 1967 births Living people 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Australian film directors Australian film producers Australian male screenwriters Australian television producers Australian television writers Best Original Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Best Screenplay AACTA International Award winners Australian male television writers Writers Guild of America Award winners People educated at Assumption College, Kilmore 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian screenwriters