Matthew Sunderland (born c. 1972) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
actor, writer, and director. He performed the lead role of David Gray in the feature film
''Out of the Blue'', based on the events of the
Aramoana Massacre. At the New Zealand Screen Awards in 2008 he won Best Actor Award for this role.
Education
Sunderland graduated from
Toi Whakaari in 1997.
Career
Sunderland starred as Uncle Rory in Daniel Borgman's debut feature ''The Weight of Elephants''. He was nominated for a Best Actor Award in the 2006 NZ Screen Awards for ''Nature's Way'', which screened In Competition at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
in 2006.
His other feature film roles include ''A Song of Good,'' ''Christmas,'' ''Stringer'' ''Woodenhead'' ''
Existence'', and ''
The Devil's Rock
''The Devil's Rock'' is a 2011 New Zealand horror film produced by Leanne Saunders, directed by Paul Campion, written by Campion, Paul Finch, and Brett Ihaka, and starring Craig Hall, Matthew Sunderland, Gina Varela, and Karlos Drinkwater. ...
''.
Sunderland made his directorial and screenwriting debut with the short film ''Tuffy'', which deals with estrangement between a father and son, in small town New Zealand.
In 2013, Sunderland played in the stage adaption of
Kate Grenville’s Booker Prize-shortlisted ''
The Secret River
''The Secret River'' is a 2005 historical novel by Kate Grenville about an early 19th-century Englishman transported to Australia for theft. The story explores what might have happened when Europeans colonised land already inhabited by Aborigi ...
'' with the Sydney Theatre Company, which toured throughout Australia. He also appeared in ''
Shortland Street
''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...
'' as White Dragon, in a storyline concluding the three-year
Kieran Mitchell story arc.
In 2016, Sunderland played the role of a drunken man resisting alien abduction in the music video for "Bergschrund" by
DJ Shadow
Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996.
Biography Early years (1989–1995)
DJ Sha ...
and
Nils Frahm.
Sunderland played the chemist, Joseph Pritchard in the 2020 miniseries ''
The Luminaries
''The Luminaries'' is a 2013 novel by Eleanor Catton. Set in New Zealand's South Island in 1866, the novel follows Walter Moody, a prospector who travels to the West Coast settlement of Hokitika to make his fortune on the goldfields. Instead ...
''.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
Johnson & Laird Agency Talent Profile*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunderland, Matthew
Living people
New Zealand male film actors
Toi Whakaari alumni
1970s births