Brendan Cowell
Brendan Cowell (born 16 August 1976) is an Australian actor, screenwriter, comedian and director. Cowell was born in Sydney. He discovered acting by accident while waiting for his sister to come out of a rehearsal; he was then cast in a commercial at age 8. He attended Charles Sturt University in Bathurst to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre/Media,[1] originally considering journalism as a career option.
Brendan Cowell | |
---|---|
Born | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | 16 August 1976
Occupation | Actor, screenwriter, director |
Cowell won the Patrick White Playwrights' Award for his third play Bed[2] along with a collection of other awards. His play Ruben Guthrie showed at the Belvoir St Theatre in 2009 to sell-out houses.[3] It has a new production at La Boite Theatre in 2011, starring Gyton Grantley and directed by David Berthold.[4] His most famous acting role is playing the enigmatic Tom on Australian cable TV's Love My Way, for which he also wrote several episodes, and playing Todd for the first two seasons on Life Support on SBS TV, for which he also wrote sketches. The Sublime (Melbourne Theatre Company) was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 2015.[5]
His most recent foray into film have included roles in the 2007 crime drama Noise, World War 1 war film Beneath Hill 60 and romantic comedy I Love You Too. He won some acclaim for his portrayal of the title role in Bell Shakespeare's 2008 Production of Hamlet[6] and acted in Sydney Theatre Company's production of True West, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, in 2010.[7] Brendan lives in Newtown, New South Wales Sydney and is a committed supporter of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team.
In 2010 he published his first novel How it Feels.[8]
In 2017 he starred as Galileo Galilei in the Young Vic's production of Bertholt Brecht's Life of Galileo.[9]
Also in 2017, Cowell joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 7 as Harrag, an Ironborn sea captain allied to Theon Greyjoy.
In March 2019, it was announced that Brendan was selected to join the cast of the Avatar sequels as Mick Scoresby, captain of a large scale marine hunting vessel on Pandora.
Personal life
Brendan was born to parents Yvonne and Bruce 'Bruiser' Cowell. He has two older sisters, Belinda and Jacqui (who was part of pop group Girlfriend). He was a self-confessed loner at primary school, which he said was due to his reading poems out at assembly and making up little plays and forcing people to watch them. He dated Rose Byrne for six years until they amicably parted ways in early 2010.[10]
Filmography
Television
Year | TV show/TV movie | Role | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Home and Away | Colt | TV mini-series |
1999 | Monster! | Nate | |
Kick' | Macca | ||
2000 | City Loop | Robert | Bored Olives (UK: new title)[11] |
The Monkey's Mask | Hayden | Cercle intime (France), Maschera di scimmia, La (Italy), Poetry, Sex (Japan: English title) | |
2001 | Water Rats | Jonathan Freeman | Episode: Family Matters |
2001-2002 | Life Support | Todd No. 1 | |
2002 | Young Lions | Jason Doone | Episode #1.4 |
White Collar Blue | Daniel Hudson | Episode #1.12 | |
2003 | Floodhouse | Herringbone John | |
Clutch | Brian | Short - 9 minutes | |
Fat Cow Motel | Jack Green | Regular cast 13 episodes | |
2004 | Salem's Lot | Dud Rogers | mini-series |
2005 | Deck Dogz | Kurt | Regular 12 episodes |
Love My Way | Tom Jackson | Regular cast 30 episodes | |
2010 | Rush | Blake Fincher | Episode #1.12 |
Bee Sting | Tom Stanners | Short 14 minutes | |
2011 | The Slap | Craig | Episode: Richie |
Underbelly Files The Man Who Got Away | Benny O'Connell | TV movie | |
2012 | Howzat! Kerry Packer's War | Rod Marsh | TV mini-series |
I Missed My Mother's Funeral | Young Man | short 11 minutes | |
2013 | The Outlaw Michael Howe | British soldier (uncredited) | TV movie |
The Borgias | Mattai the Hebrew | ||
2014 | Wastelander Panda | Isaac | Regular cast 6 episodes |
Soul Mates | Harry Cunston | Episode: Self Destruction | |
2014-2016 | Black Comedy | Guest cast | 4 episodes episodes: (#1.2), (#1.3), (#1.5). (#2.6) |
2015 | Black Chook | Jim Bloke | Short 12 minutes |
2016 | A Thousand Words | James | Short |
Brock | Allan Moffat | TV mini-series | |
2017 | Game of Thrones | Harrag | 3 episodes "The Queen's Justice", "The Spoils of War", "The Dragon and the Wolf" |
National Theatre Live: Yerma | John | TV movie | |
2017, 2019 | The Letdown | Harry | 3 episodes Genealogy (#1.2), Matresence(#1.6), Rat Pack (#2.5) |
2018 | Press | Peter Langly | TV mini-series |
2020 | The End | Chris Brennan |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Bell Shakespeare's Hamlet | Hamlet | |
2010 | Sydney Theatre Company's True West [7] | Austin | |
2014 | Belvoir's Once in Royal David's City[12] | Will |
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | To End All Wars | Wallace Hamilton | |
2006 | Suburban Mayhem | Interviewer (voice) | uncredited |
2007 | Noise | Constable Graham McGahan | |
2008 | Three Blind Mice' | Glenn | |
Ten Empty | Shane Hackett | ||
2010 | Beneath Hill 60 | Oliver Woodward | |
I Love You Too | Jim | ||
2012 | Save Your Legs! | Rick | |
2013 | The Darkside | ||
2015 | Last Cab to Darwin | Publican | |
Observance | Employer | ||
2016 | Broke | Dirk | |
2017 | The Current War | Confederate Soldier | |
2022 | Avatar 2 | Captain Mick Scoresby | post-production |
2024 | Avatar 3 | Captain Mick Scoresby | filming |
Writing
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2002 | Sweet Dreams | |
Running Down These Dreams | ||
Free | ||
Wasted on the Young | ||
I Love U | ||
Baggage Claim | ||
The Doppelgangers | ||
Chrono-logic | ||
2004-2007 | Love My Way[13][14][15] | 8 episodes episodes: (#1.3) (#1.7) (#2.6) (#2.7) (#2.9) (#3.1) (#3.5) (#3.8) |
2005 | Europe[16] | |
2010 | How It Feels | |
2007 | Ten Empty[17] | |
2011 | The Slap[16] | Episode #1.3: "Harry" |
2012 | Save Your Legs![18] | |
2013 | The Outlaw Michael Howe | |
2015 | Ruben Guthrie |
Director
Year | Title |
---|---|
2005 | Europe |
2013 | The Outlaw Michael Howe |
2015 | Ruben Guthrie |
References
- "Brendan Cowell – Actor-writer-director-producer". Alumni.csu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Sydney Theatre Company – Patrick White Playwrights' Award". Sydneytheatre.com.au. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Ruben Guthrie, Productions | Belvoir St Theatre". Belvoir.com.au. 5 July 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "All things Ruben Guthrie: An Interview with David Berthold (La Boite)". Aussietheatre.com.au. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF). SL Magazine. 8 (4): 36. Summer 2015.
- "Hamlet | Bell Shakespeare". Australianstage.com.au. 19 June 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "True West | Sydney Theatre Company". Australianstage.com.au. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- Theo Chapman. "How It Feels | Book Review | Brendan Cowell's First Novel". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- https://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/life-of-galileo
- "Rose Byrne and Brendan Cowell split". Heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Once in Royal David's City Belvoir Sydney 2014 | Belvoir St Theatre". Belvoir.com.au. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Pan Macmillan Australia: About the Book". Panmacmillan.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- "Screen Australia". Screen Australia. Retrieved 8 April 2020.