Rhys Wakefield

Rhys Wakefield
Wakefield at Tropfest, 2013
Born	(1988-11-20) 20 November 1988 (age 28) Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	2000–present

Rhys Wakefield (born 20 November 1988) is an Australian film/television actor and director, best known as Thomas Mollison in the 2008 film The Black Balloon, as Lucas Holden on Home and Away, the Polite Leader in The Purge and Josh McGuire in James Cameron's 2011 thriller/drama Sanctum.

Wakefield was born in Cairns, Queensland, to a medical standards officer mother and a father who serves in the navy. Before appearing as Lucas in Home and Away, Wakefield had been acting for more than six years. He attended classes at McDonald College of Performing Arts where he won the acting scholarship in 2003, during which time he performed in numerous Shakespeare festivals, working with both Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet. Wakefield graduated in 2006.

His first professional acting role was on the Australian TV series Don't Blame Me, where he appeared in two episodes. Wakefield played his first leading role in a feature film in The Black Balloon as Thomas Mollison which led to a nomination for Best Actor by the Australian Film Institute and the Australian Film Critics Circle.

The film opened on 6 March 2008 in Australia after premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany, where it received the Crystal Bear as the best feature-length film in the Generation 14plus category.

Wakefield co-wrote and directed the short film A Man Walks Into a Bar which was a finalist at the 2013 Tropfest International Short Film Festival in Sydney. His screenplay, entitled Please Close the Gate was a feature finalist at the 2016 Cinequest Film Festival Screenwriting competition and was officially selected for the Beverly Hills Film festival that same year.