Ethan Panizza
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Ethan Panizza is an Australian television actor and former football player from
Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...
. Panizza was interested in acting from an early age but chose to pursue a career in
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
. He is the son of successful footballer Darrell Panizza and played in the
West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
. He played his last professional game in 2014 and decided to concentrate on his acting career. He began by appearing in short film and television commercials. In 2018, Panizza took the role of Rusty O'Reilly in the
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
drama series '' Playing for Keeps''.


Early life and AFL career

Ethan Panizza was born in
Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...
and is the son of the
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
er Darrell Panizza. He attended Albany Senior High School and took part in amateur drama productions. When his parents split-up, he moved to the
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
with his mother Diane. He had a passion for acting as a child and felt that it gave him an outlet to express himself. Despite advice from his mother to pursue acting, Panizza decided to begin a football career in an attempt to reconnect with his father back in Western Australia. Panizza began playing for the
Claremont Football Club The Claremont Football Club, nicknamed Tigers, is an Australian rules football club based in Claremont, Western Australia, that currently plays in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) and WAFL Women's (WAFLW). Its official colours are na ...
. He later sustained a hamstring injury leaving him unable to play for eight weeks. While he recovered, Panizza used the time to take an acting course. Actor John Orcsik singled out Panizza performance on the course and resulted in him changing his career aspirations. In 2014, he signed up to a twenty-week course at The Australian Film & Television Academy (TAFTA) 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 ...
. Panizza had to decline to participate in the finals for Claremont Tigers in the WA Football League and take on the TAFTA course. Panizza believed that football taught him the skills to work hard to become successful. While studying in Sydney he took a full-time job as an electrician. Panizza soon signed with the American management company Silver Lining Entertainment. He was also selected for further acting training in Los Angeles.


Acting career

He resumed his acting career by appearing in a number of television commercials and music videos. In 2013, he appeared in two short films titled ''Turkish Delight'' and ''Blue Boys''. In 2014, the actor appeared in the Australian television documentary series ''
The War That Changed Us ''The War That Changed Us'' is a 4-episode Australian television documentary series presenting the true stories of six Australians in World War I. The series, produced by Electric Pictures, based on an original concept by historian Clare Wrig ...
'', playing Harold Burk. Panizza played the guest role of Ray Davis in an episode of the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
drama '' The Doctor Blake Mysteries''. In May 2018, it was announced that he had secured the role of Rusty O'Reilly in the
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
drama series '' Playing for Keeps''. The show is about a group of AFL players and their wives' personal lives. Panizza's background in football benefited him during filming as he was able to accurately portray an AFL player. Rusty is a gay character who is forced to
come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
in the Australian media. To prepare for the role Panizza researched coming out stories on the internet. The actor hoped the story would inspire football players to be more open about their sexual orientation.


Filmography


References


External links

*
Ethan Panizza
at the
West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panizza, Ethan Living people 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male television actors Australian rules footballers from Western Australia Claremont Football Club players People from Albany, Western Australia Year of birth missing (living people)