Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor, playwright, and director.

Early life and education

Cowell was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and grew up in the beachside suburb of

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

. He credits his mother and high school drama teacher with encouraging him to explore his creative side. He attended

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...

in Bathurst to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre/Media.

Career

Stage

Cowell won the Patrick White Playwrights' Award for his third play, ''Bed'' along with a collection of other awards. His play ''

Ruben Guthrie ''Ruben Guthrie'' is a 2015 Australian romantic drama film starring Patrick Brammall as the title character, with Alex Dimitriades and Abbey Lee Kershaw in supporting roles. The film was written and directed by Brendan Cowell, based on his play o ...

'' showed at the

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat D ...

in 2009 to sell-out houses. It had a new production at

La Boite Theatre La Boite Theatre is an Australian theatre company based in Brisbane, Queensland. La Boite was established in 1925 and is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company. Playing a vital role in the cultural landscape, La Boite Theat ...

in 2011, starring

Gyton Grantley Gyton Stephen Grantley (born 17 July 1980) is an Australian actor and comedian, best known for his portrayal of convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams in the hit Australian television show '' Underbelly'', for which he was nomin ...

and directed by

David Berthold David Berthold is one of Australia's most prominent theatre directors and cultural leaders. He has directed for most of Australia's major theatre companies, as well as in London and Berlin, and has led several key arts organisations. He was Artis ...

. He won some acclaim for his portrayal of the title role in

Bell Shakespeare Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. It is based in Sydney. The Bell Shakespeare vision is to create theatre that allows audiences of all wa ...

's 2008 Production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' and acted in

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

's production of '' True West'', directed by

Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character roles—typically lowlifes, eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical produ ...

, in 2010. ''The Sublime'' (

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre compa ...

) was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting in the

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

2015. His play ''Happy New'' was performed in London in 2013, starring Joel Samuels,

Lisa Dillon Lisa Dillon (née Stawiarski; born 1979) is an English actress. Life and career Early life Dillon attended Bournemouth School for Girls and left in 1997. She began a degree in English Literature and Drama at Royal Holloway, University of Londo ...

and

William Troughton William Troughton (born 1984) is a British actor. Career Since 2014 he has played the part of Tom Archer in the long-running BBC Radio 4 programme ''The Archers''. His father David Troughton plays Tom's father List of The Archers characters#The A ...

. It had previously premiered in Australia. In 2017 he starred as

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

in the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

's production of

Bertholt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's ''

Life of Galileo ''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a play by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and received its first theatri ...

''.

Television

Cowell played the enigmatic Tom on Australian cable TV's ''

Love My Way ''Love My Way'' is an Australian television drama series. It won the AFI award for Best Television Drama Series for each of its three seasons (2004–2007). Premise Set in Sydney, ''Love My Way'' was about a group of 30-somethings dealing wit ...

'', for which he also wrote several episodes, and played Todd for the first two seasons on ''

Life Support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

'' on

SBS TV SBS may refer to: Broadcasting * SBS Broadcasting Group, Belgium, formerly many countries * Talpa TV, formerly SBS Broadcasting B.V., Netherlands ** SBS6, Dutch television channel ** SBS9, Dutch television channel * Special Broadcasting Service ...

, for which he also wrote sketches. In 2017 Cowell joined the cast of the HBO series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' in

Season 7 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

as Harrag, an Ironborn sea captain allied to

Theon Greyjoy Theon Greyjoy is a fictional character in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation ''Game of Thrones''. Theon is the youngest son and heir of Balon Greyjoy, take ...

Film

Cowell's acting work in film include roles in the 2007 crime drama ''

Noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

'', the World War 1 war film ''

Beneath Hill 60 ''Beneath Hill 60'' is a 2010 Australian war film directed by Jeremy Sims (credited as Jeremy Hartley Sims) and written by David Roach. Set during World War I, the film tells the story of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company's efforts in minin ...

'' and the romantic comedy '' I Love You Too''.

Other writing

In 2010 Cowell published his first novel, '' How it Feels''.

Personal life

Cowell dated

Rose Byrne Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress. She made her screen debut in the film ''Dallas Doll'' (1994), and continued to act in Australian film and television throughout the 1990s. She obtained her first leading film role i ...

for six years until they parted ways amicably in early 2010.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Writing

Directing credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowell, Brendan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian film directors Australian male comedians Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian screenwriters Male actors from Sydney People from the Sutherland Shire Charles Sturt University alumni 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian screenwriters