Wayne Blair (born 28 November 1971) is an Australian writer, actor and director. He was on both sides of the camera in ''

Redfern Now ''Redfern Now'' is an Australian drama television series, that first aired on ABC1 in 2012. The program follows the lives of 6 Aboriginal Australian families living in the urban hub of Redfern, Sydney. The series provides insight into contempo ...

''. He is also the director of the feature film '' The Sapphires''.

Early life

Blair was born in

Taree, New South Wales Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

, to Julie and Bob Blair and has two older sisters, Janet and Mandy. He is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

and he describes himself as a Batjala, Mununjali, Wakkawakka man. As Blair's father was a soldier the family moved around. While Blair was still young, his father was posted to Woodside in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. When he was a teenager, Blair's family were sent to

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

. In Rockhampton he excelled at cricket and rugby, then later became interested in acting and dancing at school. Blair had a job as a tour guide at Rockhampton's

Dreamtime Cultural Centre The Dreamtime Cultural Centre is an Indigenous cultural arts and education centre in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia.Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (alternatively known as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus ...

, though his elective subjects included comic drama and Australian drama. He briefly went to Sydney to play

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 ...

for the

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

under-21s. After a failed audition for

NIDA Nida or NIDA may refer to: People * Nida Allam (born 1993), American politician * Nida Fazli (1938–2016), Indian Hindi and Urdu poet and lyricist * Nida Eliz Üstündağ (born 1996), Turkish female swimmer * Eugene Nida (1914–2011), American l ...

in 1992, he eventually did a three-year course at the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

in acting.

Career highlights

Blair's first recorded on-screen appearance was in a 1997 Australian TV film called ''The Tower''. The following year he appeared on '' All Saints'' and '' Wildside''. He has also appeared in '' Water Rats'' and ''

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

''. 1998 was also the year he was one of the first four film makers to be mentored under the

Metro Screen Metro Screen was a Paddington, Sydney based not-for-profit film, television and digital media training organisation. It was the NSW member of Screen Development Australia (SDA) and was located in the Paddington Town Hall, Cnr Oxford St & Oatley ...

Indigenous Mentor Scheme for which he made a short film called ''Fade 2 Black''. Ten years later he was to become a mentor himself under the same scheme. Blair starred in the original stage production of

Tony Briggs Tony Briggs (born 3 July 1967) is an Australian actor, writer and producer. He is a former track and field athlete. He is best known for creating the stage play '' The Sapphires'' (later a 2012 film) telling the true story of an Aboriginal s ...

's play, ''The Sapphires'' in 2005. This play was later turned into a filmscript to be directed by Blair. In 2007 he starred as Othello for Bell

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, a show that toured Australia with stops at Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra as well as other cities. He also directed three episodes of ''

Lockie Leonard Lockie Leonard is a fictional character and the protagonist of a trilogy of young adult novels by Australian by the author Tim Winton. Character Lockie Leonard is a 12-year-old who moves to Angelus, a fictional, small coastal town in the so ...

'' with a further four in 2010. In 2008 Blair directed all thirteen episodes of the Australian children's TV series '' Double Trouble'', about twin Indigenous girls separated at birth. In 2009 he wrote an episode of the second season of '' The Circuit''. 2010 saw Blair direct four episodes of the Australian-British children's supernatural comedy TV series, ''

Dead Gorgeous ''Dead Gorgeous'' is a 2010 children's supernatural fantasy television show which premiered on 15 March 2010 in Britain and 5 April 2010 in Australia. It was produced by Burberry Productions and Coolabi Productions with funding from Screen Austra ...

''. He directed British-Jamaican Debbie Tucker Green's play ''Dirty Butterfly'' and co-directed the biographical play, ''Namatjira'', with

Scott Rankin Scott Rankin (born 1959) is an Australian theatre director, writer and co-founder and creative director of the arts and social change company Big ''h''ART. Based in Tasmania, Rankin works in and with isolated communities and diverse cultural set ...

who also wrote the play, both plays at Sydney's ''

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 ...

''. He was also chosen in the same year as one of the stars of the

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 revival of

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

's '' 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 ...

. Wayne Blair was awarded the

Bob Maza Fellowship Robert Lewis Maza (25 November 1939 – 14 May 2000), known as Bob Maza, was an Aboriginal Australian actor, playwright and activist. Early life and education Robert Lewis Maza was born on Palm Island in North Queensland on 25 November 1939, ...

for 2011 by

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

to provide opportunities for career development. 2012 was a big year which saw the making of his hit film, ''The Sapphires'', which brought him recognition around the world with a very positive response at Cannes. Later in the year he starred in three episodes of the ABC's TV drama series, ''

'' and directed another of the episodes. To finish the year Blair was included in Variety Magazine's top ten directors to watch in 2013. Blair has occasionally worked on projects outside of Australia, including 2015's ''

Septembers of Shiraz ''Septembers of Shiraz'' is a 2015 American drama film directed by Wayne Blair and written by Hanna Weg. It is based on the 2007 novel '' The Septembers of Shiraz'' by Dalia Sofer. The film stars Adrien Brody, Salma Hayek, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ant ...

''; a US production shot in Bulgaria, and a 2017 made for television remake of the American classic ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and recognition

*2005: Nominated for Best Screenplay in a Short Film at the AFI Awards for his work on ''The Djarn Djarns'' *2011: Recipient of the

, which recognises emerging acting talent and support professional development for Indigenous actors *2012: Nominated for Best Direction for ''The Sapphires'' *July 2021: Invited to join the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Wayne Living people 1971 births 20th-century Australian male actors 21st-century Australian male actors AACTA Award winners Australian film directors Australian male film actors Australian male stage actors Australian male television actors Australian television directors Central Queensland University alumni Indigenous Australian filmmakers Indigenous Australian male actors Indigenous Australian writers Male actors from New South Wales People from Taree Queensland University of Technology alumni Writers from New South Wales