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Matt Day | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The Sapphires movie premiere at State Theatre, Sydney, Australia, 2012 | |
| Born | Matthew Day 28 September 1971 |
| Education | Princes Hill Secondary College St Martins Youth Arts Centre[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, filmmaker |
| Known for | Muriel's Wedding Kiss or Kill Tangle |
| Spouse | Kirsty Thomson |
| Children | 2 |
Matthew Day (born 28 September 1971) is an Australian actor and filmmaker.
Early life
[edit]Day was born in Melbourne, Victoria.[2] When he was 11 years old, he went to live in the United States with his father, a newspaper correspondent, where he became interested in acting.[1] On his return to Australia, he attended Princes Hill Secondary College, in Carlton North and joined St Martins Youth Arts Centre in South Yarra.[1]
Career
[edit]Day was spotted by an agent[1] at the age of 14 and was soon cast in his first role in the ABC television series c/o The Bartons. At 17, he left his home in Carlton and relocated to Sydney for the role in the television series A Country Practice that was to be his first big break.[3]
He has since gone on to establish a reputation as one of Australia's leading film, television and theatre actors, appearing in numerous Australian television series including Rake opposite Richard Roxburgh[4] and Tangle alongside Ben Mendelsohn. He starred in the made for television films Hell Has Harbour Views (2005)[5] and My Brother Jack (2001), and the two-part miniseries Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (2011).
His feature credits include Muriel's Wedding (1994), Love and Other Catastrophes (1996) alongside Radha Mitchell and Frances O’Connor, Kiss or Kill (1997) reuniting again with O'Connor. For his role in the latter, he received nominations for a Film Critics Circle Award and an AFI Award for Best Actor. He also starred in Woody Allen's Scoop (2006) alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson and My Year Without Sex (2009) and Touch (2014).
His international television credits include Shackleton with Kenneth Branagh, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Commander, Spooks, Hotel Babylon, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Bruce Beresford's And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.
Short films as writer/director include Beat (2011 St Kilda Film Festival) My Everything (2003 Toronto Short Film Festival) and Wish (Turner Classic Shorts 2008 Winner - Special Mention, London Film Festival, Encounters Short Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival).
In 2017 he won the 25th Tropfest short film festival for his comic short film The Mother Situation, which he both directed and acted in.[6]
In 2022 Day was announced as part of the cast for Channel 9 drama Human Error.[7] In 2023 he was named for ABC musical drama In Our Blood.[8] Day returned for the second season of Strife.[9]
Personal life
[edit]Day's parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an English teacher, took him around Europe for six months when he was 7 and his brother Michael was 9.[1] He said later that "the whole experience went definitely some way to influencing my wanderlust".[1]
Day met his wife, journalist Kirsty Thomson when he was living in Melbourne and she lived in Sydney. They initially conducted a long distance relationship, as Day was working on films and Thomson moved to Bathurst to do her master’s degree in journalism. Their first date was at a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds concert. After meeting up regularly in Bowral, halfway between Sydney and Canberra, Day proposed. They were married in 2000, in a low-key wedding in Thomson's mother’s backyard in Balmain, and then moved to London together. They had their first child, a son, Jackson in the UK. They returned to Australia in 2007 and their second son Rufus was born two years later.[10] The couple currently reside in Sydney.
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Muriel's Wedding | Brice Nobes | Feature film |
| 1996 | Love and Other Catastrophes | Michael Douglas | Feature film |
| Dating the Enemy | Rob | Feature film | |
| The Beast | Cosgrove | TV movie | |
| 1997 | Kiss or Kill | Al Fletcher | Feature film |
| The Two-Wheeled Time Machine | Henry Howard | Short film | |
| Doing Time for Patsy Cline | Ralph | Feature film | |
| 1998 | The Sugar Factory | Harris | Feature film |
| 2000 | Muggers | Brad Forrest | Feature film |
| The Love of Lionel's Life (aka Open Life) | Lionel | TV movie | |
| 2001 | My Brother Jack | David Meredith | TV movie |
| The Green-Eyed Monster | Liam McGuire | TV movie | |
| 2002 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Sir Henry Baskerville | TV movie |
| 2003 | And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | John Reed | TV movie |
| 2005 | Hell Has Harbour Views | Hugh Walker | TV movie |
| 2006 | Scoop | Jerry Burke | Feature film |
| 2008 | The Informant | Cameron Clifford | TV movie |
| 2009 | My Year Without Sex | Ross | Feature film |
| 2013 | The Outlaw Michael Howe | Magistrate Robert Knopwood | TV movie |
| 2014 | Dawn | John | TV movie |
| 2015 | Touch | ||
| 2017 | Dance Academy: The Movie | Barrister Jeff Menzies | TV movie |
| Sweet Country[11] | Judge Taylor | Feature film | |
| The Mother Situation | Short film (also director) | ||
| 2018 | Reaching Distance | Martin | |
| 2024 | Runt | Fergus Fink |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | c/o The Bartons | Paul Barton | TV series |
| House Rules | |||
| 1989–1993 | A Country Practice | Julian 'Luke' Ross | TV series |
| 1994 | The Bob Morrison Show | Jake Duffy | TV series |
| 1995 | Snowy River: The McGregor Saga | Pete Reilly | TV series |
| 1996 | Water Rats | Matthews | TV series |
| 2000 | Farscape | Councilor Tyno | TV series |
| 2002 | Shackleton | Frank Hurley | Miniseries |
| 2003 | Wild Down Under | Narrator | TV series |
| 2006 | Hotel Babylon | Richard | TV series |
| Spooks | Neil Sternin | TV series | |
| 2007 | The Commander | Eric Thornton | Miniseries |
| 2009–2010 | Tangle | Gabriel Lucas | TV series |
| 2010 | Underbelly: The Golden Mile | Sid Hillier | TV series |
| 2010–2018 | Rake | David Potter | TV series |
| 2011 | Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo | Daniel Ritchie | Miniseries |
| Secret Diary of a Call Girl | Receptionist | TV series | |
| 2012 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Henry Rhodes | TV series "King Memses' Curse" (S1:E13) |
| 2014–2018 | Black Comedy | Various roles | TV series 13 episodes |
| 2017 | Love Child | Father Ross | TV series |
| Wolf Creek | Brian | TV series | |
| 2019 | Les Norton | Gecko | TV series |
| Get Krack!n | Brendan O'Hara | TV series | |
| 2021 | Harrow | Dr Bramson | TV series, 2 episodes |
| The Unusual Suspects | Garth | Miniseries | |
| 2023 | In Our Blood | Jeremy Wilding | 4 episodes |
| 2023–present | Strife | Jon Jones | 8 episodes |
| 2024 | Human Error | Luke O'Rourke | 6 episodes |
Theatre
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Zigger Zagger | St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Melbourne | |
| 1988 | Black Rabbit | Stanley | Studio Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company |
| 1992 | Man of the Moment | Seymour Centre, Sydney with Ensemble Theatre[12] | |
| Six Degrees of Separation | Sydney Opera House with STC | ||
| The Game of Love and Chance | New England Theatre Company | ||
| 1998 | Fred | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC | |
| 2008 | Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot | Alan | Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2009 | The Wonderful World of Dissocia | 'Insecurity' guard | Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC / MTC |
| 2015–2016, 2018 | North by Northwest | Roger O' Thornhill | Playhouse, Melbourne, State Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Festival Theatre, Adelaide with MTC[13] |
| 2017 | A Strategic Plan | Simon | Stables Theatre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company |
| 2020 | The Deep Blue Sea | Sir William Collyer | STC[14] |
| 2022 | Blithe Spirit | Charles Condomine | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 2023 | Sunday | John Reed | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
Writer/director
[edit]| Year | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Beat | Short film |
| 2003 | My Everything | Short film |
| 2008 | Wish | Short film |
| 2017 | The Mother Situation | Short film (also actor) |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Kiss or Kill | Film Critics Circle of Australia | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated |
| AFI Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated | ||
| 2008 | Wish | Turner Classic Shorts | 2008 Winner | Special Mention |
| 2017 | The Mother Situation | 25th Tropfest Short Film Festival | 2017 Winner | Won |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Rand, Hannah (3 May 2009) "Passions in practice", Sunday Magazine, p. 28
- ^ Matt Day @ filmreference.com
- ^ Rand, Hannah (3 May 2009) "Passions in practice", Sunday Magazine, p. 27
- ^ Thomas, Sarah (1 September 2012). "Entertain us: Matt Day". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Moloney, Phoebe (11 February 2017). "Matt Day's dark comedy wins at 2017 Tropfest short film festival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Matt Day's topical comedy on euthanasia wins Tropfest". ABC News. 12 February 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Knox, David (2 February 2023). "Production begins on Human Error for Nine | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au.
- ^ Knox, David (3 February 2023). "Cast confirmed for in Our Blood | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au.
- ^ Knox, David (8 August 2024). "Strife S2 production begins | TV Tonight". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
- ^ "Matt Day and Kirsty Thomson reveal what makes their marriage tick". Women’s Weekly. 17 September 2024.
- ^ Rugendyke, Garry Maddox, George Palathingal, Linda Morris, Elissa Blake, Louise (22 November 2017). "Here comes the fun: What you need to see, hear, do and read in Sydney this summer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "It's Goodbye To The Valley!". TV Week. 29 February 1992.
- ^ Ross, Annabel (4 June 2015). "North by Northwest: Matt Day channels Mad Men in MTC's world-first stage adaptation of Hitchcock film". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "The Deep Blue Sea". Stage Noise. 9 February 2020.
- ^ "Matt Day theatre credits". AusStage.
