Hugo Weaving

Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English-Australian film and stage actor. He is best known for playing Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy (1999–2003), Elrond in The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, V in V for Vendetta (2006), Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger and Tom Doss in Hacksaw Ridge.
Weaving's first television role was in the 1984 Australian television series Bodyline, where he portrayed English cricket captain Douglas Jardine. In film, he first rose to prominence for his performance as Martin in the Australian drama Proof (1991). Weaving played Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra in the comedy-drama The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994); and multiple roles in the science fiction film Cloud Atlas (2012). His roles as a voice actor include the roles as Rex the male sheepdog in Babe, Noah the Leading Elder Emperor Penguin in Happy Feet and Happy Feet Two, Megatron in the first three films of Transformers film series and Teluco in De Blob.
Weaving's awards for acting include a Satellite Award, MTV Movie Award and six Australian Film Institute Awards.
==Early life==
Weaving was born in Nigeria to English parents. Born at the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital, in Ibadan, in the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria, he is the son of Anne (née Lennard; born 1932), a tour guide and former teacher, and Wallace Weaving (born 1929), a seismologist. His maternal grandmother was Belgian. A year after his birth, his family returned to the United Kingdom, living in Bedford and Brighton before moving to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia; Johannesburg in South Africa; and then returning to the United Kingdom again. While in the UK, he attended The Downs School, Wraxall, near Bristol, and Queen Elizabeth's Hospital. While at the Downs School, in 1973 Weaving played one of his first theatrical roles, taking the part of Captain Asquith in Robert Bolt's The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew. His family moved back to Australia in 1976, where he attended Knox Grammar School in Sydney. He graduated from Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1981.
==Career==
===1984–1998===
Weaving's first television role was in the 1984 Australian television series Bodyline, as the English cricket captain Douglas Jardine. Weaving appeared in the Australian miniseries The Dirtwater Dynasty in 1988 and as Geoffrey Chambers in the drama Barlow and Chambers: A Long Way From Home. He starred opposite Nicole Kidman in the 1989 film Bangkok Hilton. In 1991, Weaving received the Australian Film Institute's "Best Actor" award for his performance in the low-budget Proof as the blind photographer. He appeared as Sir John in Yahoo Serious's 1993 comedy Reckless Kelly, a lampoon of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.
In the mid-1990s, Weaving portrayed drag queen Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra in the 1994 film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and provided the voice of Rex the sheepdog in the 1995 family film Babe also the 1998 sequel Babe: Pig in the City. In 1998, he received the "Best Actor" award from the Montreal Film Festival for his performance as a suspected serial killer in The Interview.
===1999–2010===
Weaving played the enigmatic and evil-minded Agent Smith in the 1999 film The Matrix. He later reprised that role in the film's 2003 sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He was a voice actor in the cartoon film The Magic Pudding.
He received additional acclaim in the role of half-elven lord Elrond in Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, released between 2001 and 2003. Weaving was the main actor in Andrew Kotatko's award-winning film Everything Goes (2004). He starred as a heroin-addicted ex-rugby league player in the 2005 Australian indie film Little Fish, opposite Cate Blanchett. Weaving played the title role as V in the 2005 film V for Vendetta, in which he was reunited with the Wachowskis, creators of The Matrix trilogy, who wrote the adapted screenplay. Actor James Purefoy was originally signed to play the role, but was fired six weeks into filming over creative differences. Weaving reshot most of James Purefoy's scenes as V (even though his face is never seen) apart from a couple of minor dialogue-free scenes early in the film. Stuntman David Leitch performed all of V's stunts.
Weaving reprised his role as Elrond for the video game The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II. He regularly appears in productions by the Sydney Theatre Company (STC). In 2006, he worked with Cate Blanchett on a reprise of the STC production of Hedda Gabler in New York City. In a controversial move by director Michael Bay, Weaving was chosen as the Decepticon leader Megatron vocally in the 2007 live-action film Transformers, rather than using the original version of the character's voice created by the voice actor, Frank Welker.
Weaving himself was unaware of the controversy and had accepted the role based on Michael Bay's personal request; in a November 2008 Sun Herald interview, he said he'd never seen Transformers. Though Weaving reprised his role in two sequels, he does not have much personal investment in the Transformers films. In February 2010, Weaving revealed to The Age:
"Director Michael Bay talks to me on the phone. I've never met him. We were doing the voice for the second one and I still hadn't seen the first one. I still didn't really know who the characters were and I didn't know what anything was. It's a voice job, for sure, and people assume I've spent my life working on it, but I really know so little about it." In 2012, Weaving said to Collider:
"It was one of the only things I've ever done where I had no knowledge of it, I didn't care about it, I didn't think about it. They wanted me to do it. In one way, I regret that bit. I don't regret doing it, but I very rarely do something if it's meaningless. It was meaningless to me, honestly. I don't mean that in any nasty way."
Weaving played a supporting role in Joe Johnston's 2010 remake of the 1941 film The Wolfman, starring Benicio del Toro. Immediately after Wolfman wrapped in spring 2008, he returned home to Australia to film a lead role in the film Last Ride, directed by Glendyn Ivin. In early 2009, Guillermo Del Toro, then director of The Hobbit films, prequels to The Lord of the Rings, confirmed his intent to again cast Weaving as Elrond of Rivendell in a BBC interview.BBC When asked about reprising the role, Weaving replied that he was game, but had not officially been approached. Del Toro eventually left the project; Peter Jackson decided to direct the films himself but Weaving was not officially confirmed in the cast until May 2011.
Weaving spent the summer of 2009 starring in the Melbourne Theatre Company's production of God of Carnage, portraying the caustic lawyer Alain Reille. He returned to the stage in November 2010 in Sydney Theatre Company's Uncle Vanya, co-starring Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh.Uncle Vanya at the Sydney Theatre Company Weaving filmed a guest role on Roxburgh's Australian TV series Rake in May 2010.
In May 2009, Weaving accepted a co-starring role in the docudrama Oranges and Sunshine, about the forced migration of thousands of British children to Australia in the 1950s. Filming began in autumn 2009 in Nottingham, England and Adelaide, South Australia and continued through January 2010. The film premiered at the Rome International Film Festival on 28 October 2010 and garnered positive reviews. 2010 also saw the release of Legend of the Guardians (formerly The Guardians of Ga'Hoole), in which Weaving has another high-profile voice role,Zack Snyder's Guardians of Ga'Hoole Cast Coming Together 20 November 2009 portraying two different owls named Noctus and Grimble in Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Kathryn Lasky's popular series of children's books.
On 4 May 2010, it was officially confirmed by Marvel Studios that Weaving would play the fictional Nazi the Red Skull in the superhero film Captain America: The First Avenger. Weaving completed filming his role on the project in September 2010 and returned to Sydney to prepare for Uncle Vanya. It is unlikely he will sign on for any further installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; in an August 2011 Baltimore Sun interview, the actor confided he's weary of typecasting and of "blockbuster" films in general: "I think I've about had enough...I'm not sure how many more of them I'll make. It doesn't feel to me as though they've been the majority of my work, though that's probably the way it seems to most other people." This was confirmed in 2018, when Weaving's character, Red Skull, appeared in Infinity War and Endgame with Ross Marquand in the role.
===2011–present===
On 13 March 2011, The Key Man, which Weaving filmed in 2006, finally debuted at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.SXSW Exclusive First Look: 'The Key Man' Poster . Film School Rejects (10 March 2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-04. The child migrant saga Oranges and Sunshine opened in the UK on 1 April, the culmination of months of success on the festival circuit in late 2010-early 2011. In March, the Sydney Theatre Company and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that STC's 2010 production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya would be reprised in Washington, D.C. during the month of August In April, months of speculation finally ended when Weaving appeared on The Hobbit's New Zealand set, shortly before a production spokesman officially confirmed the actor's return as Elrond in Peter Jackson's prequel trilogy to The Lord of the Rings. He was part of the cast of the Wachowskis' adaptation of David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas. The project, co-starring Tom Hanks, Ben Whishaw, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, and Susan Sarandon, began filming in September 2011 and was released in October 2012.
2012 also found Weaving re-focusing on his theatrical career, with a return to the Sydney Theatre Company to star in a new adaptation of Christopher Hampton's play Les Liaisons Dangereuses in March. He portrayed the notorious Vicomte de Valmont, a character he first played onstage in 1987. His frequent stage foil Pamela Rabe costarred. Weaving and Cate Blanchett reprised their roles in STC's internationally lauded production of Uncle Vanya for a ten-day run at New York's Lincoln Center in July.
The busy actor also joined the cast of three forthcoming Australian films in summer 2012. The Western-tinged police thriller Mystery Road, written and directed by Ivan Sen, began filming in June 2012. Weaving is also scheduled to star in the prison drama Healing for director Craig Monahan, with whom he previously made The Interview (1998) and Peaches (2005). He appeared in a segment of the Australian anthology film The Turning, based on Tim Winton's collection of linked stories, entitled "The Commission", directed by David Wenham. He ended 2013 co-starring with Richard Roxburgh and Philip Quast in Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot, for the Sydney Theatre Company.
In the spring of 2013, Weaving reprised the Agent Smith role for a General Electric television commercial for their "Brilliant Machines" innovations in healthcare management technology, which was slated to air during a break from 13 April's edition of Saturday Night Live, and subsequently continued to receive multiple airings on major cable networks.
From 26 July to 27 September 2014, Weaving played the titular role of Sydney Theatre Company's production of Macbeth. In an unusual treatment of the Shakespearian tragedy by young Sydney director Kip Williams, Weaving's performance was described by Peter Gotting of The Guardian as "the role of his career".
In October 2015, Weaving joined the cast of the film adaption of Craig Silvey's Australian novel, Jasper Jones.
In 2018, Weaving starred as Thaddeus Valentine in Mortal Engines.
==Personal life==
When he was 13 years old, Weaving was diagnosed with epilepsy. Although this disability rarely affected him and stopped completely after he turned 18, he still chooses not to drive. He has been with his longtime girlfriend Katrina Greenwood since 1984; the two live in Sydney and have two children together, Harry (b. 1989) and Holly (b. 1993). Harry is an actor who uses the stage name Harry Greenwood. Hugo also has a brother, Simon, and a sister, Anna Jane. His niece, Samara Weaving, portrayed Indigo Walker on the long-running Australian soap, Home and Away, and her younger sister Morgan joined the cast as Lottie Ryan. In 2004, Weaving became an ambassador for Australian animal rights organisation Voiceless, the animal protection institute. He attends events, promotes Voiceless in interviews, and assists in their judging of annual grants recipients. He has also been a spokesman in TV spots for Epilepsy charity.
==Filmography==
===Film===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1981	 	Student 2 	
1983	The City's Edge 	Andy White 	
1986	For Love Alone 	Jonathan Crow 	
1987	 	Ned Devine 	
1990	 	Jake 	
1991	Proof 	Martin 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1992	Road to Alice 	Louis 	
1993	Frauds 	Jonathan Wheats 	
1993	Reckless Kelly 	Sir John 	
1993	 	Det. Church 	
1994	Exile 	Innes 	
1994	 	Anthony "Tick" Belrose / Mitzi Del Bra 	Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1994	What's Going On, Frank? 	Strange Packer in Supermarket 	
1995	Babe 	Rex the Male Sheepdog(voice) 	
1996	The Hunchback of Notre Dame 	Frollo's Soldiers(voice) 	
1997	True Love and Chaos 	Morris 	
1998	Babe: Pig in the City 	Rex the Male Sheepdog(voice) 	
1998	Bedrooms and Hallways 	Jeremy 	
1998	 	Eddie Rodney Fleming 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleMontreal World Film Festival Award for Best ActorNominated — FCCA Award for Best Supporting Actor
1998	 	Barry 	
1999	Strange Planet 	Steven 	
1999	Little Echo Lost 	Echo Man 	
1999	 	Agent Smith 	Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Villain Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2000	The Magic Pudding 	Bill Barnacle(voice) 	
2001	Russian Doll 	Harvey 	
2001	The Old Man Who Read Love Stories 	Rubicondo (Dentist) 	Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated — FCCA Award for Best Supporting Actor
2001	 	Elrond 	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2002	 	Elrond 	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2002	Kaboom! 	Henderson (voice) 	Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
2003	 	Agent Smith 	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Keanu Reeves)
2003	 	Agent Smith 	
2003	 	Elrond 	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastNational Board of Review Award for Best CastScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Everything Goes 	Ray 	Inside Film Awards: Best Short Film
2004	Peaches 	Alan 	
2005	Little Fish 	Lionel Dawson 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleFCCA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleInside Film Award for Best Actor
2005	V for Vendetta 	V 	Nominated — International Award for Best Actor
2006	Happy Feet 	Noah(voice) 	
2007	Transformers 	Megatron(voice) 	Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain
2007	In the Company of Actors 	Himself / Judge Brack 	
2008	 	McHeath 	
2009	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 	Megatron(voice) 	
2009	Last Ride 	Kev 	Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2010	 	Detective Francis Abberline 	
2010	Oranges and Sunshine 	Jack 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Noctus and Grimble(voice) 	
2011	Transformers: Dark of the Moon 	Megatron(voice) 	
2011	Captain America: The First Avenger 	Johann Schmidt / Red Skull 	Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Fight (with Chris Evans)Nominated — Scream Award for Best Villain
2011	Happy Feet Two 	Noah(voice) 	
2012	Cloud Atlas 	Haskell MooreTadeusz KesselringBill SmokeNurse NoakesBoardman MephiOld Georgie	
2012	 	Elrond 	
2013	Mystery Road 	Johnno 	
2013	The Turning 	Bob Lang 	Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2014	Healing 	Matt Perry 	
2014	The Mule 	Croft 	Nominated — AFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor
2014	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 	Elrond 	
2015	Strangerland 	David Rae 	
2015	The Dressmaker 	Sergeant Farrat 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleAFCA Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Film Critics Circle of Australia for Best Supporting Actor
2016	Hacksaw Ridge 	Tom Doss 	AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2017	Jasper Jones 	Mad Jack Lionel 	Nominated — AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2018	Black '47 	Hannah 	
2018	Mortal Engines 	Thaddeus Valentine 	
===Television===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1984	Bodyline 	Douglas Jardine 	7 episodes
1987	Melba 	Charles Armstrong 	4 episodes
1988	 	Richard Eastwick 	5 episodes
1988	Dadah Is Death 	Geoffrey Chambers 	Television film
1989	Bangkok Hilton 	Richard Carlisle 	3 episodes
1993	Seven Deadly Sins 	Lust 	Episode: "Lust"
1995	Bordertown 	Kenneth Pearson 	10 episodes
1996	The Bite 	Jack Shannon 	2 episodes
1996	Naked: Stories of Men 	Martin Furlong 	Episode: "Coral Island"
1997	Frontier 	Governor Arthur 	
1997	Halifax f.p. 	Det. Sgt. Tom Hurkos	Episode: "Isn't It Romantic"
2003	After the Deluge 	Martin Kirby 	Television film
2010	Rake 	Prof Graham Murray 	Episode: "R vs Murray"
2010	I, Spry 	Narrator 	Documentary
2017	Seven Types of Ambiguity	Dr Alex Klima 	5 episodes
2018	Patrick Melrose 	David Melrose 	5 episodes
2025	Phantom Investigators 	Valgol (voice) 	2 episodes
===Video games===
Year	Title 	Voice role 	Notes
2003	Enter the Matrix 	Agent Smith	
2006	The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II	Elrond 	
2009	The Lord of the Rings: Conquest 	Elrond 	
==Awards==
* 1991 – Australian Film Institute Awards, Best Actor in a Lead Role: Proof
* 1998 – Australian Film Institute Awards, Best Actor in a Lead Role: The Interview
* 2005 – Australian Film Institute Awards, Best Actor in a Lead Role: Little Fish
* 2007 – The Constellation Awards, Best Male Performance in a 2006 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Miniseries: V for Vendetta
* 2011 – Sydney Theatre Award, Best Supporting Actor:Sydney Theatre Company's Uncle Vanya
* 2012 – Helen Hayes Award, Best Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production: Sydney Theatre Company's Uncle Vanya
* 2018 — Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Play, for Arturo Ui in the Sydney Theatre Company's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
==References==
==Further reading==
* The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia – Theatre . Film . Radio . Television – Volume 1 – Ann Atkinson, Linsay Knight, Margaret McPhee – Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., 1996
* The Australian Film and Television Companion – compiled by Tony Harrison – Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994
==External links==
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* |%20Number%3A;querytype=;resCount=10 Hugo Weaving at the National Film and Sound Archive
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