Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
player. After playing in the
Winfield Cup
The Winfield Cup was an Australian rugby league trophy awarded to the winner of the New South Wales Rugby League premiership (NSWRL) Grand Final from 1982 to 1994, and then to the winner of the newly-founded Australian Rugby League (ARL) Grand Fin ...
Premiership during the 1990s for the
Manly-Warringah
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
and
South Sydney clubs, he wrote and starred in the rugby league-centred drama ''
The Final Winter
''The Final Winter'' is an Australian drama film released in 2007. It was directed by Brian Andrews and Jane Forrest and produced by Anthony Coffee, and Michelle Russell, while independently produced it is being distributed by Paramount Pictur ...
'' in 2007. Nable went on to act in films such as ''
Killer Elite'' and ''
Riddick''. He appeared on
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
's ''
Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
'' and ''
Legends of Tomorrow
''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klem ...
'' as
Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul, commonly pronounced correctly as ''Re'sh'', hence or ; "The Head of the Demon" or, in a rougher translation, "The Chief Demon". is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary o ...
.
Early life
Nable grew up on the
Northern Beaches
The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entra ...
of Sydney and also, as a young boy, spent two years at
Portsea, Victoria
Portsea is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Portsea recorded ...
, when his father, Dave, a soldier, was stationed there.
[ His father had also worked as a trainer for the ]Australian national rugby league team
The Australian National Rugby League Team, the Kangaroos, have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the 'Northern Union game' in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian ...
, and his brother, Adam Nable
Adam Nable (born 4 September 1975) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Wakefield Trinity (List of Wakefield Trinity players, Heritage № ...
, would become a professional player as well.
Career
Sporting
Matt Nable rose through the junior ranks at the Manly-Warringah club and made five appearances for the Graham Lowe
Sir Graham Michael Lowe is the owner of the Bradford Bulls together with fellow New Zealander Andrew Chalmers. He is a New Zealand former rugby league football coach and administrator. He previously coached in Australia and England and was the ...
-coached team over 1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
and 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
. Following this he wouldn't appear in the premiership until 1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
when he played three games for the South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...
.
After another season in England where he played for Carlisle
Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...
before moving to the London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England.
The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...
, Nable quit football and then tried his hand at boxing, fighting for the state light-heavyweight title as an amateur. He then worked as a beer salesman and personal trainer, but eventually decided to leave paid employment to become a writer.
Writing and acting
After encouragement from his mentor, Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...
-winning novelist Thomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...
,[ Nable wrote a screenplay for '']The Final Winter
''The Final Winter'' is an Australian drama film released in 2007. It was directed by Brian Andrews and Jane Forrest and produced by Anthony Coffee, and Michelle Russell, while independently produced it is being distributed by Paramount Pictur ...
'' based on his unpublished novel of the same name. With friends he also managed to raise $1.6m and they worked together to make the film which was released in 2007, and earned critical praise but was a box office failure.
Nable went on to act in the United States as a Los Angeles detective in the 2008 television movie ''S.I.S.''.
In 2009, his book ''We Don't Live Here Anymore'' was published, in 2011 he published his second book ''Faces in the Clouds'', which won critical praise.
He worked as a writer on Channel 7's rugby league comedy programme, ''The Matty Johns Show
''The Matty Johns Show'' was an Australian variety television show largely focused on the National Rugby League (NRL) competition, starring former professional rugby league footballer Matthew "Matty" Johns. It first aired in 2010 on Thursdays a ...
''.
Nable appeared in the main cast of critically acclaimed and award-winning SBS drama series, ''East West 101
''East West 101'' was a drama series airing on the SBS network. The series was produced and created by Steven Knapman and Kris Wyld, the team behind other drama series such as '' Wildside'' and ''White Collar Blue''. It ran from 2007–2011, ...
'', and in the 2011 action film '' Killer Elite'' alongside Clive Owen
Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
, Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
,[ ]Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...
, Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
,[ and ]Dominic Purcell
Dominic Haakon Myrtved PurcellO'Connor, B,Break Out". ''Men's Fitness''. December/January 2007 Issue; retrieved 18 December 2006. (born 17 February 1970) is a British-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Lincoln Burrows in ...
.
Nable starred in the 2012 Australian drama series, '' Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms''. The same year he was announced as a cast member of another Australian TV series, '' Underbelly: Badness''. He also had a role in the film ''33 Postcards
33 may refer to:
*33 (number)
* 33 BC
* AD 33
* 1933
* 2033
Music
* ''33'' (Luis Miguel album) (2003)
* ''33'' (Southpacific album) (1998)
* ''33'' (Wanessa album) (2016)
*"33 'GOD'", a 2016 song by Bon Iver
* "Thirty-Three" (song), a 1995 song b ...
''.
He appeared in the 2013 sci-fi film '' Riddick'' alongside Vin Diesel
Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Diesel began audition ...
.
In March 2014 it was reported that Nable would appear in the Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
's upcoming miniseries ''Gallipoli''.
On 4 September, 2014, Stephen Amell
Stephen Adam Amell (born May 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He came to prominence for playing the lead role of Oliver Queen on The CW superhero series ''Arrow'' (2012–2020). Amell also appeared in subsequent Arrowverse franchise media, along wi ...
announced on Facebook that Nable would portray the role of Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul, commonly pronounced correctly as ''Re'sh'', hence or ; "The Head of the Demon" or, in a rougher translation, "The Chief Demon". is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary o ...
on the third season of ''Arrow
An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
''. Despite Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
(Ra's al Ghul in ''The Dark Knight'' Trilogy) expressing an interest in reprising his role for the television series' third season and the CW Network
CW may stand for:
Science and technology
* centiwatt (cW), one hundredth of a watt
* Cω, a programming language
* CW complex, a type of topological space
* Carrier wave, in radio communications
* CodeWarrior, an integrated development environme ...
reaching out to him, he was unavailable and Nable was cast as Ra's instead. IGN's Jesse Scheeden said he brought "charisma and danger to the part". Nable portrayed the character in ten episodes of the third season. He reprised his role in a first season episode of ''Legends of Tomorrow
''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klem ...
''.
In October 2019, Nable starred in the opening cinematic of the 2019 Bathurst 1000
The 2019 Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000) was a motor racing event for Supercars which was held on the weekend of 10–13 October 2019. It was held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South W ...
, broadcast on Fox Sports Australia
Fox Sports Australia Pty Limited (formerly Premier Media Group Pty Limited) is the division of Foxtel that owns and operates the Fox Sports television networks and digital properties in Australia. The group operates nine Fox Sports Channels as w ...
. Nable has since featured in numerous Fox Sports cinematics, promotions and advertisements, primarily for their Rugby League division, Fox League
Fox League is an Australian subscription television channel dedicated to screening rugby league (both domestic and international) matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Pty Limited and is available throughout Australia on Foxt ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
Books
* ''We Don't Live Here Anymore'' (2009)
* ''Faces in the Clouds'' (2011)
* ''Guilt'' (2015)
* ''Still'' (2021)
References
External links
*
Matt Nable
at yesterdayshero.com.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nable, Matthew
1972 births
Living people
21st-century Australian male actors
21st-century Australian novelists
21st-century Australian screenwriters
Actors from Sydney
Australian Book Review people
Australian children's writers
Australian filmmakers
Australian male film actors
Australian male television actors
Australian rugby league players
Australian screenwriters
Carlisle RLFC players
London Broncos players
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players
Place of birth missing (living people)
Rugby league locks
Rugby league players from Sydney
South Sydney Rabbitohs players
Sportsmen from New South Wales
Writers from Sydney
Australian expatriate sportspeople in England