Anthony Hayes

Anthony Hayes (born 21 September 1977) is an Australian actor, best known for his roles in War Machine, The Light Between Oceans, The Slap, Look Both Ways, The Boys, Rabbit-Proof Fence, Animal Kingdom and soap opera Paradise Beach.

Career Apart from acting in numerous films and television shows, he also wrote, directed and produced the films Ten Empty (2008), New Skin (2002) and Sweet Dreams (2002), Ten Empty had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival (2008). The screenplay was nominated for 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and 2008 Victorian Premier's Literary Award. New Skin (2002) won the Dendy Award at the 2002 Sydney Film Festival and won Hayes an IF Award as best emerging director. Sweet Dreams (2002) was voted most popular film by the audience at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2003. Hayes also earned AFI and Film Critics Circle award nominations for The Boys.

Hayes received AFI and Film Critics Circle award nominations for best supporting actor in The Square (2009), and won the AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor for Look Both Ways (2005) and Suburban Mayhem (2006).

He was a co-founder of Rogue Stars Productions with fellow actors Brendan Cowell and Leland Kean

Although primarily a screen actor, Hayes does voice over work as well.

Joel Edgerton nicknamed him 'The King of Western Grit' during the shooting of The Square, The moniker later became the name of a Facebook page, with a collection of movie posters with Hayes' face on them.

Anthony co-wrote the film Gold with writer Polly Smyth. It stars Zac Efron, Susie Porter and himself. He directed and produced it through his company Rogue Star Pictures. The film was shot in South Australia in 2020.

Hayes appeared in all three series of ABC political drama Total Control.

In 2023, Hayes was announced as part of the cast for controversial two part miniseries Warnie in the role of Terry 'TJ' Jenner. The decision to produce the miniseries about Warne after his death was criticised by Warne's daughter Brooke who described it as "beyond disrespectful". The trailer for the miniseries also attracted negative commentary on social media when it was first shown on 31 May 2023. The telemovie garnered mostly negative reviews from the press and public.

Activism In April 2015, Hayes, with his partner, writer Polly Smyth, organised the #saveourboys video featuring celebrities including: Bryan Brown, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush, Joel Edgerton, Luke Hemsworth, Brendan Cowell and Peter Helliar. The video called upon Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to step up and secure the lives of reformed drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in the last 24 hours before their execution. In the video, Hayes himself said: "show some ticker Tony Abbott. Get to Indonesia. It's your job." The video went viral and amassed much support on social media. Despite many stating the government had done all it could leading up to their deaths, it was later claimed by human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC that a number of avenues could have been taken.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

TV

Director, writer and producer Year Title Notes 2022 Gold co-writer, director & producer 2008 Ten Empty writer, director & producer 2002 New Skin writer, director & producer 2002 Sweet Dreams writer, director & producer

Awards and nominations Year Category Award Film Result 1998 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role AFI Awards The Boys 1999 Best Supporting Actor – Male FCCA Awards The Boys 2002 Best Short Film Over 15 Minutes Sydney Film Festival New Skin 2002 Best Rising Talent IF Awards 2003 Audience Award – Best Film St Kilda Short Film Festival Sweet Dreams 2005 Best Supporting Actor AFI Awards Look Both Ways 2006 Best Supporting Actor AFI Awards Suburban Mayhem 2008 Best Supporting Actor AFI Awards The Square 2009 Best Supporting Actor FCCA Awards The Square 2012 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Television Movie or Miniseries Equity Ensemble Awards The Slap 2012 Best Actor in a Television Drama Golden Nymph Awards (Monte Carlo TV Awards) The Slap 2013 Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Television Movie or Miniseries Equity Ensemble Awards Devil's Dust 2013 Best Actor in a Television Drama or Miniseries AACTA Awards Devil's Dust 2013 Best Actor in a Television Drama Seoul International Drama Awards Devil's Dust 2013 Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Logie Awards Devil's Dust 2015 Best Actor in a Television Drama Golden Nymph Awards (Monte Carlo TV Awards) Secrets & Lies 2018 Silver Logie for Best Supporting Actor Logie Awards Seven Types of Ambiguity 2022 Best Independent Film Saturn Awards Gold 2022 Director's Debut Camerimage International Festival Gold