Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor and director. Wakefield starred in season 3 of HBO's True Detective as Freddy Burns after starting out on the Australian TV series Home and Away where he starred in 363 episodes. Wakefield has played the lead in James Cameron's thriller Sanctum, the Polite Leader in The Purge franchise and was nominated for Best Actor in a Feature Film by the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia for his performance in The Black Balloon. Wakefield's first directed feature film, Berserk, was released in American cinemas on 5 April 2019. It stars Nick Cannon, James Roday, Nora Arnezeder, Erin Moriarty, Jack Falahee and was executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones.
Early life
Wakefield was born in Cairns, Queensland, to a medical standards officer mother and a father who serves in the navy. Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield had been acting for more than six years. He attended classes at McDonald College of Performing Arts where he won the acting scholarship in 2003, during which time he performed in numerous Shakespeare festivals, working with both Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet. Wakefield graduated in 2006.
Career
His AFI nomination for Best Actor in The Black Balloon is Australia's equivalent of the Academy Awards. Wakefield was nominated against Guy Pearce, William McInnes & David Roberts. The Australian Film Institute is now known as The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. His first professional acting role was on the Australian TV series Don't Blame Me, where he appeared in two episodes. In August 2005, Wakefield was cast as Lucas Holden in the long running Australian Soap operaHome and Away. His character was the youngest child of the Holden family until his dad Tony and stepmother Rachel had his baby brother Harry. His performance on the series led to a Logie Nomination for 'Best New Talent' in 2006. During his time on the show he was involved in a controversial storyline which led the Australian broadcasting regulator to conclude that scenes had breached the Australian broadcasting code, a finding which was responsible for the series being re-classified as PG. Wakefield played his first leading role in a feature film in The Black Balloon as Thomas Mollison which led to a nomination for Best Actor by the Australian Film Institute and the Australian Film Critics Circle. The film opened on 6 March 2008 in Australia after premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, where it received the Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the Generation 14plus category. As a filmmaker, Wakefield co-wrote and directed the short film A Man Walks Into a Bar which was a finalist at the 2013 Tropfest International Short Film Festival in Sydney. His screenplay, entitled Please Close the Gate was a feature finalist at the 2016 Cinequest Film Festival Screenwriting competition and was officially selected for the Beverly Hills Film festival that same year. Wakefield's first directed feature film, Berserk, was released in American cinemas on 5 April 2019. It stars Nick Cannon, James Roday, Nora Arnezeder, Erin Moriarty, Jack Falahee and was executive produced by Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The film was partially based on someone trying to break into Wakefield's home. Wakefield also co-wrote and produced the film with William Day Frank.
