# Mark Leonard Winter

Mark Leonard Winter is an Australian actor, known for performances in film, television and on stage.

## Early life

Winter's family moved from Australia to Washington DC, United States, when he was in grade ten. It was the freedom of his American school and new friends, that he credits with passion for the arts and creative thinking. He states that he started to think a bit too creatively, so his parents sent him back to Australia to attend boarding school where he fell in love with English literature and theatre.
Winter spent a year studying at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, and then went on to study acting at Victorian College of Arts.

## Career
### Screen

Winter's film roles include Balibo (2009), Blame (2010), Dangerous Remedy (2012), Healing (2014), One Eyed Girl (2015), The Dressmaker alongside Kate Winslet, and Little Tornadoes (2020). He starred in the 2020 thriller film Escape from Pretoria.
In the TV series Pine Gap (2018) Winter played a technical geek on the autism spectrum, Moses Dreyfus. Winter was nominated for an AACTA Award for his performance in 2020's TV mini-series, Halifax: Retribution. Following that, Winter played Callum on the TV mini-series Inside, then Russell in the TV series The Newsreader in 2021. In 2021 he also played Joel Welch, a methadone addict in episode 3 of the ABC TV series Fires.

### Stage

On stage, he has performed major roles with leading Australian theatre companies, including the Sydney Theatre Company and the Melbourne Theatre Company. Winter is one of the founding members of Black Lung, an independent theatre company. In 2015, Winter starred in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Simon Stephens' Birdland. for which he won Best Male Actor at the Helpmann Awards.
Winter directed Jason Alexander in an American production of The Blind Date Project, a type of improv which he helped to devise.

### Directing

Winter's first film as writer-director, The Rooster, is a comedy drama starring Hugo Weaving, which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2023. The film was selected as one of four nominees for the CinefestOZ Film Prize, worth A$100,000, in September 2023, and was also nominated for the 2023 AACTA Award for Best Indie Film.
It was released in Australian cinemas on 22 February 2024.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Rush | Liam Rainey | Short film |
| 2007 | Advantage Satan | | Short film |
| 2008 | Playing for Charlie | Scarf | |
| 2008 | Hell's Gates | Alexander Dalton | Short film |
| 2009 | Van Diemen's Land | Alexander Dalton | |
| 2009 | Balibo | Tony Stewart | |
| 2009 | Covered | Matt | Short film |
| 2009 | Further We Search | Damien | |
| 2010 | Blame | John | |
| 2010 | Arietta | | Short film |
| 2010 | Yasue | Steven | Short film |
| 2011 | Phone Call | Jack | Short film |
| 2012 | Green Eyed | Lloyd | Short film |
| 2013 | The Boy Castaways | Michael | |
| 2013 | One Eyed Girl | Travis | |
| 2014 | Healing | Shane Harrison | |
| 2014 | There Is No Such Thing as a Jellyfish | Boyfriend | Short film |
| 2015 | The Fear of Darkness | Matt Sorensen | |
| 2015 | The Dressmaker | Reginald Blood | |
| 2016 | Halfbeard | Barber | Short film |
| 2017 | Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow | Helmut | Short film |
| 2018 | The True History of Billie the Kid | Jimbo | Short film |
| 2019 | Measure for Measure | Angelo | |
| 2020 | Disclosure | Danny Bowman | |
| 2020 | Escape from Pretoria | Leonard Fontaine | |
| 2021 | Tough | Shane | Short film |
| 2021 | Little Tornadoes | Leo | |
| 2022 | Elvis | Tom Hulett | |

#### As writer / director

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2023 | The Rooster (film) | Writer / Director | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | The Pacific | Relief Cook | Miniseries, episode 2: "Basilone" |
| 2011 | Killing Time | Colin | Miniseries, episode 5 |
| 2011 | Cop Hard | Detective Larry Hard | 13 episodes |
| 2011 | Winners & Losers | James 'JB' Bartlett | Season 1, 8 episodes |
| 2011 | Rush | Liam Rainey | Season 4, 3 episodes |
| 2012 | Dangerous Remedy | Lionel Pugh | TV movie |
| 2013 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Aubrey Wilde | Season 2, episode 5: "Murder à la Mode" |
| 2014 | The Greatest Love of All | John | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| 2015 | Fresh Blood Pilot Season | Teddy | Season 1, episode 5: "Bedhead" |
| 2017 | Top of the Lake | Johnno | Season 2, episode 2: "The Loved One" |
| 2017 | Cleverman | Bill Hendricks | Season 2, 5 episodes |
| 2018 | Pine Gap | Moses Dreyfus | Miniseries, 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Halifax: Retribution | Duncan | Miniseries, episode 2 |
| 2020 | Inside | Callum | Miniseries, episode 5 |
| 2021 | Eden | Damien | Miniseries, 4 episodes |
| 2021 | The Newsreader | Russell | Season 1, episode 5: "No More Lies" |
| 2021 | Fires | Joel Welch | Miniseries, 2 episodes |

#### As writer / director

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | The Greatest Love of All | Writer / Director | Miniseries, 6 episodes |

## Stage
### As cast

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006; 2007 | Kissy Kissy | | The Black Lung Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2006 | A Kind of Hush | | Cinema Nova, Melbourne |
| 2006 | The Winter's Tale | | The Eleventh Hour Theatre, Melbourne |
| 2007 | A Ramble Through the Wooded Glen | | Fairfax Studio, Melbourne with Black Lung for Short+Sweet |
| 2008 | The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark | | Tower Theatre, Melbourne with Malthouse Theatre & Poor Theatre |
| 2008 | The Soldier's Tale | | Sacred Heart Chapel, Melbourne with Orchestra Project & The Hayloft Project |
| 2008 | Avast | The Preacher | Tower Theatre, Melbourne with Malthouse Theatre & Black Lung |
| 2008 | Avast II: The Welshman Cometh | The Preacher | Tower Theatre, Melbourne with Malthouse Theatre & Black Lung |
| 2010; 2015 | Thyestes | Atreus | Tower Theatre, Melbourne, CarriageWorks, Sydney, Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, France with Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre & The Hayloft Project |
| 2014 | The Effect | Tristan | Bille Brown Studio, Brisbane with QTC & STC |
| 2015 | Suddenly Last Summer | Doctor Cukrowicz | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 2015 | Birdland | Paul | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2015 | King Lear | Edgar | STC |
| 2016 | Miss Julie | Jean | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC |
| 2017 | Chimerica | Joe Schofield | Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney with STC |
| 2017 | Three Sisters | Vershinin | Sydney Opera House with STC |
| 2023 | The Master and Margarita | The Master / Ensemble | Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney |
| 2024 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stanley Kowalski | MTC |

### As crew

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007; 2008 | Spring Awakening | Designer | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne, Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney with The Hayloft Project |
| 2008 | Avast | Devisor | Tower Theatre, Melbourne with Malthouse Theatre & Black Lung |
| 2008 | Avast II: The Welshman Cometh | Devisor | Tower Theatre, Melbourne with Malthouse Theatre & Black Lung |
| 2009 | 3xSisters | Director | Arts House Meat Market, Melbourne with The Hayloft Project |
| 2010; 2015 | Thyestes | Writer | Tower Theatre, Melbourne, CarriageWorks, Sydney, Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers, France with Belvoir, Malthouse Theatre & The Hayloft Project |
| 2013; 2021 | The Blind Date Project | Director / Creator | The Karaoke Klub, Sydney, Artspace, Adelaide with Ride On Theatre |

## Recognition and awards

| Year | Work | Award | Category | Result |
| 2009 | 3 x Sisters (The Hayloft Project) | Green Room Award | Best Show | Nominated |
| 2010 | Thyestes | Green Room Awards | Best Production | Won |
| 2010 | Thyestes | Green Room Awards | Best Adaption | Won |
| 2010 | Thyestes | Green Room Awards | Best Ensemble | Won |
| 2010 | Thyestes | Green Room Awards | Best Actor | Nominated |
| 2012 | Thyestes | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best New Australian Work | Nominated |
| 2012 | Thyestes | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Leading Actor | Nominated |
| 2014 | One Eyed Girl | 21st Annual Austin Film Festival: Dark Matters | Jury Award | Won |
| 2015 | One Eyed Girl | Madrid International Film Festival Award | Best Lead Actor | Nominated |
| 2015 | Birdland | Green Room Award | Best Male Actor | Nominated |
| 2016 | King Lear | Helpmann Award | Best Male Supporting Actor | Won |
| 2016 | Birdland | Helpmann Award | Best Male Actor | Won |
| 2017 | Miss Julie | Green Room Award | Best Male Actor | Nominated |
| 2017 | Mark Leonard Winter | Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship | Recognising Outstanding Talent for mid-career artists | Honoured |
| 2023 | The Rooster | CinefestOZ | Film Prize | Nominated |
| 2023 | The Rooster | AACTA Award | Best Indie Film | Nominated |

## Personal life

Winter is married to actress and singer, Geraldine Hakewill. They first met in 2011, occasionally crossing paths until they became a couple in 2017, and married in December 2021. They have co-starred in the 2020 psychodrama Disclosure.
Winter is a big fan of movies from the 1970s, and loves the work of Robert De Niro and Daniel Day-Lewis.
In November 2018, Winter gave evidence against his co-star in King Lear, Geoffrey Rush, in Rush's defamation lawsuit against the Daily Telegraph.