Jason Gann

Jason Gann
Jason Gann at Comic-Con International, July 2011
Born	Jason William Gann Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actor, writer, executive producer

Jason Gann is an Australian actor, writer, and executive producer. He is best known for his role as the title character in the Australian comedy series Wilfred, directed by Tony Rogers, and the U.S. reboot of the same name.

The son of a military father and country singer mother, Gann grew up in Brisbane, Australia. At 14, while attending an all-boys school, Gann discovered his love for comedy when he performed as Suzanne, leader of the can-can dancers in a high school production of Paint Your Wagon. After high school, he went on to study acting at the University of Southern Queensland. He earned a B.A. in Acting while also attending classes in humanities and the arts.

Immediately following his studies, Gann moved to Brisbane where he continued studying theatre and music. He worked in children's theatre at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Bowen Hills for several years, performing in dozens of shows. He also played lead roles and toured the country in several comedy theatre productions for that theatre company. He developed and starred in several seasons of the Arts Council-funded play Keep Everything You Love, for which he won the Del Arte Award for Best Male Actor 1997. Gann then worked for the Queensland Theatre Company as an actor in several development projects and starred in the Sven Swenson play The Vertigo and the Virginia for QTC in 1999.

In 2001, Gann wrote and produced several short films that screened in festivals internationally. In 2002 he co-wrote and starred in the short Wilfred. He first came to national attention when he won Best Male Actor and the short won Best Comedy and the Peoples' Choice Award at Tropfest in 2002. Wilfred went on to screen at festivals including Sundance Film Festival in 2003.

Gann won the Tropfest Best Male Actor award again in 2003 for Buried. He then appeared in Australian feature films including Gettin' Square, Thunderstruck, The Illustrated Family Doctor, and Kenny.

In 2004, for Australian TV, Gann appeared in two episodes of Blue Heelers and had a cameo on Kath & Kim. In 2006, Gann wrote and starred in 52 episodes of the sketch comedy show The Wedge on Australia's Network Ten. Gann then created, produced, wrote and starred in the network's spin-off comedy series Mark Loves Sharon. The following year, Gann co-created and played the title character for the Australian comedy series Wilfred, based on the short film. It ran for two seasons, both of which went on to win awards at Tropfest in 2007 and 2009.