Thomas M. Wright

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Australian actor

title: "Thomas M. Wright" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["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"] description: "Australian actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M._Wright" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Australian actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameThomas M. Wright
imageThomasMwright.jpg
birth_date
birth_placeMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
birth_nameThomas Michael Wright
years_active1998–present
other_namesThomas M. Wright
educationCarey Baptist Grammar School
occupationActor, producer, writer, director, theatre designer
::

| name = Thomas M. Wright | image = ThomasMwright.jpg | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | death_date = | birth_name = Thomas Michael Wright | years_active = 1998–present | other_names = Thomas M. Wright | education = Carey Baptist Grammar School | occupation = Actor, producer, writer, director, theatre designer | spouse =

Thomas Michael Wright (born 22 June 1983) is an Australian actor, writer, film director and producer. He is the co-founder (2006) and director of theatre company "Black Lung" and director of the feature films Acute Misfortune (2019) and The Stranger (2022). As an actor he came to attention in Jane Campion's series Top of the Lake, for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the (US-Canadian) Critics' Choice Awards. The Stranger premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Early life

Wright was born on 22 June 1983 in Melbourne.

Career

Theatre

Wright created the theatre company 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 and Darwin Festival, Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre, and Queensland Theatre Co. and Brisbane Festival.

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, East Timor. 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. 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, Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company, including the title role Baal in the controversial production commissioned by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton and directed by Simon Stone in 2011.

Television and film

Wright came to attention of the world as an actor in the Disney Channel Original Movies, Stepsister From Planet Weird and Zenon: The Zequel in the early 2000s, and later in the Sundance / BBC TV 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 Jane Campion compared him to a young Daniel Day-Lewis.

He appeared as cult-figure Steven Linder in the 2013 US adaptation of The Bridge. 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, based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, in which eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a storm. He also played the murdered journalist Brian Peters in Balibo (2009), and Thomas Bodenham in Van Diemen's Land.

Wright featured in the film The Man With The Iron Heart (2016), an adaptation of Laurent Binet's Prix Goncourt-winning novel, HHhH, with Jack O'Connell, Rosamund Pike, Stephen Graham and Jason Clarke. 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 finalist portrait by Marcus Wills, Antagonist, Protagonist (Thomas M. Wright), with a scene set up to look like a crime drama, with Wright as protagonist.

In 2018 he featured in Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country, which received the Venice Film Festival's Special Jury Prize, the AACTA Award for Best Film and the Toronto Film Festival's Platform Prize.

He co-wrote, directed and produced the feature film Acute Misfortune, released in 2019, based on Sydney journalist Erik Jensen's award-winning biography of Australian artist Adam Cullen, Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen. The film received The Age Critics' Prize at Melbourne International Film Festival, where it premiered. It received a five star review in The Guardian, and was named one of *The Guardian'''s "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 Awards 2018, and Screen Daily 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 Hollywood Reporter 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, it was announced that a new film, The Stranger, would begin filming in South Australia as soon as enough of the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Written and directed by Wright, it was produced by and starred Joel Edgerton. Sean Harris played the second lead role. The film was originally announced at Berlin’s European Film Market in February, and was made by Anonymous Content and See-Saw Films, with support from Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation. The script was shortlisted for the Betty Ronald Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2023 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards. The Stranger screened at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

YearTitleRole
2000Stepsister from Planet WeirdCutter Colburne
2001Zenon: The ZequelOrion
2007The KingAlfie
2009Van Diemen's LandThomas Bodenham
2009BaliboBrian Peters
2010TornTim Strauss
2015EverestMichael Groom
2016The Man with the Iron HeartJosef Valcik
2017Sweet CountryMick Kennedy
2024Sleeping DogsWayne Devereaux
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As director

::data[format=table]

YearTitleRole
2019Acute MisfortuneDirector
2021The StrangerDirector
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Television

::data[format=table]

YearTitleRole
2013Top of the LakeJohnno Mitcham
2013–2014The BridgeSteven Linder
2016–2017OutsidersDeputy Sheriff Wade Houghton jr.
2020BarkskinsElisha Cooke
::

Stage

::data[format=table]

YearTitleRoleNotes
200451 Ashworth St.The BoyCo-writer, co-director, designer
2005HamletLaertesBeggars Theatre
2007The Glass SoldierJonas FinkMelbourne Theatre Company
2007PimmsDying ManWriter, co-director
Black Lung Theatre
2008Love SongBeaneMelbourne Theatre Company
2008Avast IThe Older BrotherMalthouse Theatre, Melbourne
2008Avast IIJack LemmonCo-director, designer
Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne
2009GlassonGodBlack Lung Theatre
2010Furious MattressThe ExorcistMalthouse Theatre, Melbourne
2011BaalBaalSydney Theatre Company
2011And They Called Him Mr. GlamourDirector, designer
Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney
2011I Feel AwfulWriter, director, designer
Brisbane Festival
2013Doku RaiCo-writer, director, designer
Black Lung Theatre
::

References

References

  1. {{iMDb name. 0942876. Thomas M. Wright Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  2. "Black Lung".
  3. Kohn, Chris. "The sweet breath of The Black Lung".
  4. "And now for something different". The Australian.
  5. "[photo of three men outside Black Lung Theatre]".
  6. (17 September 2013). "Doku Rai: You, Dead Man, I Don't Believe You".
  7. Power, Liza. (11 August 2012). "From the wild zone". The Age.
  8. (19 September 2013). "Actor and director Thomas M Wright and 'Doku Rai'".
  9. "Thomas Wright".
  10. Blake, Jason. (12 May 2011). "Baal".
  11. (12 June 2013). "Big Bang Theory unbeatable as Aussies sink at TV Critics' awards".
  12. (22 May 2013). "Critics' Choice TV Awards Announced – Variety".
  13. "Actor Tom Wright is at the top of his game with Jane Campion television project". The Australian.
  14. The West Australian. (2 July 2013). "Aussie actor Wright repulses US producer".
  15. "Everest Movie vs. True Story of 1996 Mount Everest Disaster".
  16. Croggan, Alison. (3 March 2009). "Review: Van Diemen's Land".
  17. (3 April 2020). "The Man with the Iron Heart (HHhH)".
  18. Lowry, Brian. (22 January 2016). "TV Review: 'Outsiders'".
  19. (26 January 2016). "'Outsiders': TV Review".
  20. "Archibald Prize Archibald 2017 finalist: Protagonist, antagonist (Thomas M Wright) by Marcus Wills".
  21. Maddox, Garry. (5 December 2018). "Sweet Country dominates AACTA Awards, with a surprise best actor win".
  22. Buckmaster, Luke. (3 August 2018). "Acute Misfortune first-look review – Adam Cullen biopic is an enthralling, complex triumph".
  23. Buckmaster, Luke. (10 December 2019). "From Animal Kingdom to The Babadook: the best Australian films of the decade".
  24. Buckmaster, Luke. (16 December 2019). "From The Final Quarter to Judy & Punch: the best Australian films of 2019".
  25. Glass-Kantor, Alexie. (October 2018). "The Monthly Awards 2018: Film: 'Terror Nullius' by Soda–Jerk".
  26. "Home".
  27. "Acute Misfortune (2019) - The Screen Guide".
  28. Morris, Linda. (25 November 2015). "Erik Jensen's biography of flawed artist Adam Cullen wins Sydney literary award".
  29. "Acute Misfortune".
  30. "Winners & Nominees".
  31. (28 November 2019). "Aria Awards".
  32. Young, Neil. (17 August 2018). "'Acute Misfortune': Film Review - Melbourne 2018".
  33. "ADG - Australian Directors' Guild ADG AWARDS 2020".
  34. (20 April 2020). "Joel Edgerton Thriller 'The Unknown Man' To Shoot In South Australia".
  35. (20 April 2020). "Crime thriller The Unknown Man to be filmed in SA".
  36. (19 April 2020). "Work in the Screen Industry".
  37. Frater, Patrick. (20 April 2020). "Joel Edgerton's 'The Unknown Man' Heads for South Australia Shoot".
  38. (2 February 2023). "The Stranger".
  39. Lawson, Richard. (14 April 2022). "The Cannes 2022 Lineup Highlights: Movie Stars, Auteurs, and Some Kind of Body Horror".

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1983-birthsliving-peoplepeople-educated-at-carey-baptist-grammar-schoolaustralian-male-television-actorsaustralian-male-film-actorsaustralian-male-child-actorsmale-actors-from-melbourne21st-century-australian-male-actors