Rhys Wakefield made his mark on TV and film starring in the Australian soap opera “Home and Away” and the Australian/British AFI award-winning drama based feature film The Black Balloon. With his most recent role in the 3-D cave-dive action drama entitled Sanctum, this young actor is quickly garnering the attention of Hollywood. On behalf of his role in The Black Balloon, Roger Ebert states “Rhys Wakefield, in his first feature role, is a good casting decision, suggesting inner turmoil without overacting.”
Rhys received much acclaim on the big screen as the lead role in the movie The Black Balloon. He plays Tommy Mollison, the younger brother of highly autistic Charlie. Thomas (Wakefield) and his family move to a new home and all he wants to do is fit in. When his pregnant mother (Toni Collette) has to take it easy, he is put in charge of his older brother Charlie (Luke Ford). Charlie’s unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes his pent-up frustrations about his brother to pour out. The film’s world premiere was at the Berlin International Film Festival where the film received a Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the “Generation 14 plus” category. The film continued to receive numerous awards and nominations in Australia and at Film Festivals around the world.
Rhys recently wrapped production on Nobody Walks. He stars alongside John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby and Rosemaire DeWitt in the film about a family who invites a young charismatic artist to live in their home, only to find that she disrupts their lives.
Rhys can soon be seen in The Philosophers. He stars in the film opposite Bonnie Wright and James D’Arcy. The film centers around a philosophy teacher, at an international school in Jakarta, who challenges his class of twenty graduating seniors to choose which ten of them would take shelter underground and reboot the human race in the event of a nuclear apocalypse.
Rhys’ was seen on the big screen in the 3-D film Sanctum as ‘Josh McGuire’. The Relativity and Universal project garnered a lot of buzz due to its use of James Cameron’s 3-D technology. The action-thriller follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging waters as they frantically search for an unknown escape route to the sea.
Rhys first gained the public’s interest playing the role of ‘Lucas Holden’ in the Australian soap opera “Home and Away”. His character was the youngest child of the Holden family until his father, Tony, and stepmother, Rachel have his baby brother, Harry. His portrayal of Lucas had brought him much public attention and had even led to a Logie Nomination for Best New Talent in 2006.
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