Brenton Thwaites

Brenton Thwaites (born 10 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series Slide and later appeared on the soap opera Home and Away. Since moving to the United States, Thwaites has had major roles in the films Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, Oculus (2013), The Giver (2014), Gods of Egypt (2016), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). He starred as Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing in the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans from 2018 to 2023.

Early life Thwaites was born in Cairns, Queensland. He has a sister. He graduated from Cairns State High School in 2006.

Thwaites studied acting at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for three years, before graduating in 2010. He then relocated to Sydney to join the long-running soap opera Home and Away before moving to the United States in 2011/12 to pursue his career in acting.

Career 2010–2011: Early career Prior to graduating from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Thwaites made his film debut in Charge Over You, a 2010 independent film. After he graduated, Thwaites appeared in an episode of Sea Patrol and in the short film Headsmen.

In November 2010, Thwaites was cast in a new Fox8 Australian teen drama series, Slide. The show follows five Brisbane teenagers making their way to adulthood. Thwaites believes his character, Luke Gallagher, "stands back a bit. He watches. He's struggling with family issues. He's drawn in as it was a chance to find better friends and an opportunity to be part of a group. He's a cool, accepted kid. Some friends he can love and help him mature."

2012–2016: Film roles and continued success Following Thwaites' relocation to the United States, he signed on to play the male lead in the 2012 television film Blue Lagoon: The Awakening opposite Indiana Evans. The film received generally mixed reviews, with Zap2it praising both Thwaites and Evans' "(mostly) believable" acting and The New York Times saying their performances were superior to those of the leads in the first film of the series.

In 2013, Thwaites starred in the psychological/supernatural horror film Oculus as the male lead Tim Russell. Production on the film began in October 2012 in Alabama, and was completed a few weeks later. The film was first released on 5 September 2013, at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, and received a worldwide theatrical release on 11 April 2014. His performance as Russell was well received by Indiewire, which claimed that Thwaites maintained a "credibly frightened demeanor" throughout the film.

In 2014, Thwaites briefly returned to Australia for the filming of crime thriller Son of a Gun. Primarily shot in Perth, Kalgoorlie and Melbourne, Thwaites had to audition for the part of JR "up to 10 times before landing the role." Regarding his character, Thwaites said, "I jumped at the opportunity to audition when this came up and I found the character was a very vulnerable kid amongst strange men that are in some way an inspiration. I just thought that was interesting as a young man myself." Thwaites received critical acclaim for his portrayal of JR, with Variety contending that he "makes a suitably keen-eyed, clean-scrubbed lead, retaining a kind of porous naivete even as the character gets his blood up" and The Sydney Morning Herald praising his role as the embattled hero of the plot. The film premiered in Australia on 16 October 2014.

In 2014, Thwaites appeared in Maleficent as Prince Phillip. A Maleficent sequel was released in 2019, but Harris Dickinson was recast in Thwaites' role as he was unable to return due to scheduling conflicts. Additionally, he starred in The Signal as the male lead, Nic Eastman. The film opened at the Sundance Film Festival in January, seven months after shooting on location in the desert of New Mexico. Thwaites received praise in a review by The Plain Dealer that noted his performance in The Signal was "as a compelling presence in the driver's seat as things get freakier and freakier around him."

Later in the year, Thwaites also had the lead role in The Giver, playing Jonas. Primarily filmed in South Africa, However, his portrayal was well received by the Huffington Post, who commended Thwaites' acting and by The Plain Dealer, which noted that the "fast-rising Thwaites...does a nice job with the lead role." He was awarded the Australians in Film "Breakthrough Award" for his role in The Giver.

Thwaites starred in Gods of Egypt. He played Bek, a human thief. Principal photography on the film began on 20 March 2014 at the Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, and the film was released worldwide on 26 February 2016.

2017–present: Pirates of the Caribbean and Titans Thwaites starred in the fantasy-adventure sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which was released on 26 May 2017. Thwaites portrays Henry Turner, the son of franchise characters Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. Shooting of the film commenced in February 2015, on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia.

Following Pirates, Thwaites had a leading role in the 2017 Christian film, An Interview with God, portraying a young journalist, Paul Asher. Thwaites was then cast as Dick Grayson / Robin in the DC Universe series Titans which began airing in 2018.

Personal life Thwaites has been in a relationship with Chloe Pacey since 2015, after they both lived in the same sharehouse in Australia while Thwaites was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. After a stint in Los Angeles, Thwaites returned to Queensland. Thwaites and Pacey became engaged on 26 July 2023. The couple have five children.

Filmography

Film

Television + Year Title Role Notes 2011 Sea Patrol Leigh Scarpia Episode: "Black Flights" Slide Luke Gallagher Main role 2011–2012 Home and Away Stu Henderson Recurring role 2012 Blue Lagoon: The Awakening Dean McMullen Television film 2018–2023 Titans Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing Main role 2026 Two Years Later Ryan Main role

Awards and nominations