Daniel Henshall
Australian actor (born 1982/83)
title: "Daniel Henshall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["21st-century-australian-male-actors", "australian-male-film-actors", "australian-male-television-actors", "living-people", "best-actor-aacta-award-winners", "1982-births", "male-actors-from-sydney"] description: "Australian actor (born 1982/83)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Henshall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Australian actor (born 1982/83) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Daniel Henshall |
| image | Daniel Henshall.jpg |
| caption | Henshall in February 2012 |
| birth_name | Daniel Edwin Henshall |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| occupation | Actor |
| years_active | 2006–present |
| :: |
| name = Daniel Henshall | image = Daniel Henshall.jpg | caption = Henshall in February 2012 | birth_name = Daniel Edwin Henshall | birth_date = | birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 2006–present
Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 1982 or 1983) is an Australian actor. Following his film debut in Snowtown (2011), for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Henshall has appeared in films such as The Babadook (2014), Okja (2017), Acute Misfortune (2018), Catch the Fair One (2021) and Mickey 17 (2025).
Early life and education
Daniel Edwin Henshall was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, the youngest of three children.
He graduated from the full time acting program at Actors Centre Australia in 2006.
Career
Henshall's first major role was on the short lived BBC soap Out of the Blue (2008), where he played happy go lucky, Adam 'Ado' O'Donnell.
He won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his debut feature film performance as real life serial killer, John Bunting, in Justin Kurzel's Snowtown (2011). Indiewire named it one of the best performances of 2012. Snowtown was selected to play at Critics' Week during the Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded two special mention prizes.
Henshall originated the role of Dan Oldfield in the initial sell-out seasons of The Secret River (2013) written by Andrew Bovell, commissioned by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton for The Sydney Theatre Company.
For four seasons he played co-lead, whaler spy Caleb Brewster, alongside Jamie Bell, Heather Lind and Seth Numrich in the AMC revolutionary war series Turn: Washington's Spies (2014–2017).
Writer/Director Jennifer Kent cast him as Nurse Robbie, opposite Essie Davis, in the universally praised, modern cult classic, The Babadook (2014). The Babadook had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
In the DreamWorks live-action version of the Ghost in the Shell (2017) he played Skinny Man, an AI corrupted vigilante, opposite Scarlett Johansson. Johansson and Henshall battle it out in a recreation of the famous water fight and interrogation scenes of the original 1995 Anime of the same name.
Oscar-winning Director Bong Joon-ho cast him as Blonde, animal rights-activist and boyfriend of Silver, alongside Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins and Devon Bostick, in the action-adventure feature film Okja (2017). Okja competed for the Palme d'or in Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
He played white supremacist Slayer, opposite Jamie Bell, Vera Farmiga and Bill Camp, in Skin (2018), based on the life of Bryon Widner and work of Daryle Lamont Jenkins. Skin had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
Henshall was nominated for the Film Critics Circle of Australia and Australian Film Critics Association Awards for Best Actor for his performance as Archibald Prize-winning artist Adam Cullen in Acute Misfortune (2019), opposite Toby Wallace and directed by Thomas M. Wright. Acute Misfortune was named best Australian film of 2019 by The Guardian.
He played murder suspect Leonard Patz, opposite Chris Evans and Cherry Jones, in the Apple TV+ thriller Defending Jacob (2020), directed by Morten Tyldum.
He was Daryl Dunn, criminal on the run turned Santa, in the Stan family Christmas comedy, A Sunburnt Christmas (2020), directed by Christiaan Van Vuuren.
Next Henshall played grieving brother turned vigilante, Simon Burton, in the Netflix limited series Clickbait (2021), opposite Zoe Kazan, Adrian Grenier and Phoenix Raei.
In the film Catch the Fair One (2021) directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka, he plays Bobby, heir to a human trafficking syndicate, opposite Kali Reis and Kevin Dunn. Catch the Fair One premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival where it won the Audience Award.
Henshall has a cameo in the third and final season of the cult FX series Mr Inbetween (2022), opposite creator Scott Ryan and directed by Nash Edgerton.
He was nominated for a AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for his work as Patrick, the fraudulent son of a bankrupt mining family, opposite Mark Coles Smith in Mystery Road: Origin (2022), directed by Dylan River.
In The Royal Hotel (2023), directed by Kitty Green, he was barfly and menace, Dolly, opposite Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving. The Royal Hotel had its world premiere at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival.
Henshall was nominated for the 2025 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work as Joe, in the 2024 Warner Bros film How to Make Gravy (an adaptation of the iconic Australian song of the same name by singer-songwriter Paul Kelly), opposite Hugo Weaving, Agathe Rousselle and Damon Herriman, and directed by Nick Waterman.
In the Warner Bros space odyssey Mickey 17, visionary director Bong Joon-Ho once again cast him, this time as bald man-servant and beliver, Preston, opposite Mark Ruffalo, Robert Pattinson and Naomi Ackie.
For the third and final season of the award-winning ABC Australia series The Newsreader, opposite Anna Torv and directed by Emma Freeman, Henshall has been nominated for a 2026 AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for his work as Bill Mcfarlane.
Henshall has also been nominated for a 2026 AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for his work as Nigel, depressed academic and husband, in the ABC Australia hit The Family Next Door directed by Emma Freeman and opposite Ming-Zhu Hii, Teresa Palmer and Bella Heathcote.
Next he will be seen opposite Olivia Colman and John Lithgow in Sophie Hyde's family drama Jimpa, and the Stan Original series Dear Life opposite Brooke Satchwell, written and directed by Wayne Hope and Robyn Butler.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Snowtown | John Bunting | |
| 2012 | Not Suitable for Children | Dave | |
| Any Questions for Ben? | Nick | ||
| 2013 | These Final Hours | Freddy | |
| 2014 | The Babadook | Robbie | |
| Fell | Luke | ||
| 2017 | Ghost in the Shell | Skinny Man | |
| Okja | Blonde | ||
| 2019 | Acute Misfortune | Adam Cullen | |
| Skin | Slayer | ||
| 2020 | Measure for Measure | Lukey | |
| A Sunburnt Christmas | Daryl Dun | ||
| 2021 | Catch the Fair One | Bobby | |
| 2023 | The Royal Hotel | Dolly | |
| 2024 | How to Make Gravy | Joe | |
| 2025 | Jimpa | Harry | |
| Mickey 17 | Preston | ||
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | All Saints | Tim Downly | Episode: "The Pain of It All " | |
| 2008 | Out of the Blue | Adam 'Ado' O'Donnell | Main cast | |
| 2010 | Rescue Special Ops | Trevor Slezack | Episode: "Street Legal" | |
| 2012 | Rake | Clown | Episode: "R vs Mohammed" | |
| Devil's Dust | Jock | Ensemble | ||
| 2013 | Mr & Mrs Murder | Gregor Cheresniak | Episode: "Atlas Drugged" | |
| 2015 | The Beautiful Lie | Kingsley Faraday | Main cast | |
| 2014–2017 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Caleb Brewster | Main cast | |
| 2019 | Lambs of God | Barnaby | Main Cast | |
| Bloom | Griffo | Main Cast | ||
| 2020 | Defending Jacob | Leonard Patz | Ensemble | |
| 2021 | Clickbait | Simon Burton | Episode: "The Brother" | |
| Fires | Kip | Ensemble | ||
| Mr Inbetween | Kenny | Cameo | ||
| 2022 | Mystery Road: Origin | Patrick | Main Cast | |
| 2023 | RFDS | Glen | Episode 2.6 | |
| 2025 | The Newsreader | Bill McFarlane | Main Cast | |
| The Family Next Door | Nigel | TV series | last=Knox | first=David |
| 2026 | Dear Life | Jack | TV series | |
| The Dispatcher | Apple TV+ series | |||
| :: |
Theatre
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Golden Ass | Various | Belvoir St Theatre with B Sharp |
| 2007 | The Popular Mechanicals | Flute | Riverside Theatres Parramatta |
| 2008 | Belles Line | Mick | Old Fitzroy Theatre |
| 2013 | The Secret River | Dan Oldfield | Sydney Theatre Company |
| :: |
Awards
::data[format=table]
| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Snowtown | Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor | |
| Australian Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | |||
| Marrakech International Film Festival | Best Actor | |||
| 2012 | AACTA Awards | AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role | ||
| 2019 | Acute Misfortune | Australian Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | |
| Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards | Best Actor | |||
| 2022 | Mystery Road: Origin | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama | |
| 2023 | Equity Ensemble Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | ||
| 2025 | How to Make Gravy | AACTA Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | |
| Equity Ensemble Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Telemovie | |||
| 2026 | The Newsreader | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama | |
| 2026 | The Family Next Door | AACTA Awards | Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama | |
| :: |
References
References
- (25 May 2019). "The man behind the monsters: Daniel Henshall, star of Snowtown, Acute Misfortune". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
- (October 2021)
- [https://www.actorscentreaustralia.com.au/grads_in_focus/daniel/]
- Bradshaw, Peter. (17 November 2011). "Snowtown – review". [[The Guardian]].
- Ebert, Roger. (March 14, 2012). "A psychopath using mind control". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
- Lehmann, Megan. (May 10, 2011). "Snowtown: Cannes Review".
- (25 December 2012). "Best Performances of 2012: A Good Year for the Broken, Disturbed and Driven".
- (22 March 2017). "Ghost in the Shell movie/anime water fight comparison". [[YouTube]].
- Sneider, Jeff. (24 September 2018). "'Skin' Review: Jamie Bell Shines as Skinhead Trying to Make Good {{!}} TIFF 2018".
- Buckmaster, Luke. (3 August 2018). "Acute Misfortune first-look review – Adam Cullen biopic is an enthralling, complex triumph".
- Free, Erin. (2019). "Acute Misfortune".
- (14 December 2020). "A Sunburnt Christmas review – a very Australian bad-Santa comedy for a jolly holiday season". [[The Guardian]].
- Laidlaw, Kyle. (2025-08-25). "The Family Next Door smashes records, but ABC faces Sunday drama dilemma".
- (24 April 2016). "Aussie joins Netflix film shooting in South Korea | TV Tonight".
- (December 2023). "Airdate: The Royal Hotel | TV Tonight".
- (15 February 2013). "Aussie actors cast in new period pilot in the US | TV Tonight".
- (13 November 2020). "Filming resumes on Clickbait | TV Tonight".
- (12 October 2021). "Filming underway on Mystery Road: Origin | TV Tonight".
- Knox, David. (12 January 2024). "Filming underway on the Newsreader S3 | TV Tonight".
- Knox, David. (2024-11-22). "Production underway on The Family Next Door {{!}} TV Tonight".
- Knox, David. (2025-03-27). "Apple TV+ announces cast for Aussie drama, The Dispatcher. {{!}} TV Tonight".
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