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Background:
“I do love working in Australia. Generally, the budgets are smaller, the crews
are smaller and generally you work at a fast pace. That gives you energy. At the
end of the day, you’ve worked a lot but you don’t feel tired. On the big ones,
you sit around a lot. That really saps your energy.” Hugo Weaving
Nigeria-born, South Africa and England-raised, actor Hugo Weaving received his
first breakthrough as the English captain Douglas Jardine in miniseries
“Bodyline” and acquired worldwide recognition with the international hit The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), where he starred as the
cross-dressing Anthony Tick Belrose. Hugo gained even more popularity and
appreciation for playing the villainous role of Agent Smith in the box office
sensations The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions
(both 2003), as well as the elf king Elrond in the highly successful The Lord of
the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). A
three-time Australian Film Institute award-winning actor, Weaving also has made
a name for himself in the Australian cinematic industry with acclaimed
performances in Jocelyn Moorhouse’s Proof (1991, won an Australian Film
Institute Award), The Interview (1998, took home a second Australian Film
Institute Award) and the Rowan Woods-helmed drama/thriller Little Fish (2005,
netted a third Australian Film Institute Award and an IF Award).
Outside the limelight, Weaving is a vegetarian though he sporadically eats fish.
As for his family life, he is married to Katrina Greenwood. The couple has two
kids. The family currently resides in Sydney, Australia. About the marriage, the
worldwide press likes to mention that the two married to retain an image of
politeness, since Weaving has often talked about his dislike for marriage.
Epileptic
Childhood and Family:
Hugo Wallace Weaving was born on April 4, 1960, in Austin, Nigeria, to parents
Wallace Weaving (worked in the computer industry) and Anne Weaving. Because of
his father’s occupation, Hugo and his family moved quite a lot. As an infant,
Hugo was brought to Australia and then spent his childhood in South Africa. As a
teenager, he lived in England before finally moving back to Australia in 1976.
Hugo has an older brother named Simon Weaving, and his younger sister, Anna-Jane
Weaving, had a short-lived singing career in Paris in the mid-80s.
While in the UK, Hugo was educated at the private The Downs School in Wraxall
and the prestigious, selective boarding school Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital
(commonly known as QEH School) in Bristol. He later transferred to Sydney’s Knox
Grammar School and was a 1981 graduate student of the National Institute of
Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia.
As for his personal life, Hugo married Katrina Greenwood in 1984. Five years
later, in 1989, his wife gave birth to their first child, son Harry, and their
daughter, Holly, was born in 1993. An epileptic since age 13, Hugo decided not
to drive early on and has never had a driving license.
Elrond
Career:
Hugo Weaving made his first film appearance while still a student in NIDA in the
Australia-produced Maybe This Time (1980), starring Judy Morris and Bill Hunter.
After graduation, he worked in theater by joining the Sydney Theatre Company for
two years and after his contact with the company ended, he returned to film by
taking on the starring role of Andy White, the innocent bumpkin involving in a
love triangle, in the 1983 low-budget The City’s Edge. The drama film, however,
went straight to video release.
After film and theater, Weaving branched out into TV acting and earned his
breakthrough role in 1984 when he was cast as British cricket player Douglas
Jardine in the miniseries “Bodyline.” He was also featured in PBS’ biopic
“Melba” (1987), costarred with Sarah Jessica Parker and Julie Christie in the
CBS miniseries “Dadah Is Death” (1988), as well as found himself acting with
Nicole Kidman in the TNT miniseries “Bangkok Hilton” (1989). Meanwhile, the
actor continued to pursue his film career by undertaking romantic turns as
hard-faced tutor Johnathan Crow in For Love Alone (1985) and employee Ned Devine
in the period melodrama The Right Hand Man (1987), and playing an imaginary
character who comes to life in the dreams of a woman in Wendy Cracked a Walnut
(1990).
Weaving’s movie career gained momentum in 1991 when director Jocelyn Moorhouse
had him play the lead of blind photographer Martin in the comedy-romance Proof,
opposite Genevieve Picot as his loving housekeeper and Russell Crowe as a
restaurant worker. Delivering a touching and mystifying performance, the actor
won an Australian Film Institute for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading
Role.
The actor was then seen in such films as Road to Alice (1992), the crime drama
The Custodian (1993), Reckless Kelly (1993, was featured as a wicked
capitalist), Stephan Elliott’s feature directorial debut Frauds (1993), What’s
Going On, Frank (1994) and Exile (1994). But, it was Elliott’s musical The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) that brought Weaving his
first international recognition. The overseas hit film, which also starred
Terence Stamp and Guy Pearce, saw the actor as one of a trio of queens named
Anthony ‘Tick’ Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra. The same year, Weaving also made his
stage-comeback with a starring role in a Sydney production of “Arcadia.”
Hugo then lent his voice for the dog Rex character in the charming fantasy movie
Babe (1995) and devoted his time to Australian TV projects, including the
historical miniseries “Frontier” (1997, starred with Jerome Ehlers and Chris
Haywood). Back to wide screen, Weaving gave a powerful supporting turn as a
self-destructive, burned-out hippie in the 1997 drama True Love and Chaos, and
was amusing as randy real estate agent Jeremy in the Rose Troche-directed,
Robert Farrar-written, little-seen Bedrooms and Hallways (1998). Also in 1998,
Weaving took home his second Australian Film Institute and the 1998 Best Actor
Montréal World Film Festival Award for his outstanding portrayal of a car thief
in writer/director Craig Monahan’s The Interview.
At the end of decade, Weaving scored his next major hit with the 1999
blockbuster sci-fi thriller The Matrix, starring Keanu Reeves. With his evil
role, the mysterious Agent Smith who trails computer specialist Neo (Reeves),
the actor was once again a popular face throughout the world, including the USA.
He later reprised the villainous Smith role for the highly anticipated
installments The Matrix Reloaded (earned a nomination for Best Fight at the MTV
Movie Awards) and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003). Weaving’s fame in
Hollywood was further confirmed when he landed the role of elf king Elrond in
director Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The
films were huge hits and as for the actor, Weaving, along with the other cast
members, won several awards such as two Phoenix Film Critics Society (2002 and
2003), a 2003 Online Film Critics Society, a 2003 National Board of Review, a
2004 Screen Actors Guild and a 2004 Broadcast Film Critics Association for Best
Acting by an Ensemble.
Meanwhile, Weaving had roles in such movies as the comedy-romance Strange Planet
(1999, starred Claudia Karvan and Naomi Watts), The Magic Pudding (2000, voice
of Bill Barnacle), the adventure The Old Man Who Read Love Stories (2001,
opposite Richard Dreyfuss and Timothy Spall) and the Stavros Kazantzidis-helmed
Russian Doll (2001, also served as a co-producer). He also returned to the
Australian stage with a role in “The White Devil,” and on the small screen, the
actor starred alongside David Wenham and Samuel Johnson in the Australian “After
the Deluge” (2003).
In 2004, Weaving played the lead in Andrew Kotatko’s 18-minute drama film
Everything Goes and starred as Alan, opposite Jacqueline McKenzie, in Peaches, a
drama film by Craig Monahan. The subsequent year, Weaving again became the
center of interest in his homeland of Australia with his bright, starring turn
as Lionel Dawson in Rowan Woods’ drama/thriller Little Fish, alongside Cate
Blanchett and Sam Neill. For his efforts in the film, Weaving nabbed a third
Australian Film Institute for Best Actor and an IF Award for the same category.
Also in 2005, director James McTeique cast him in the title role of the sci-fi/
thriller V for Vendetta, where he costarred with Natalie Portman and rejoined
the Wachowski brothers, creators of The Matrix trilogy.
Recently, Weaving reunited with Cate Blanchett for a stage production of “Hedda
Gabbler” in New York City, a role that brought him a 2005 Helpmann nomination
for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play. The accomplished actor is
rumored to have been a perfect choice to play The Joker in an upcoming Batman
sequel.
Awards:
- Australian Film Institute: Best Lead Actor, Little Fish, 2005
- IF Award: Best Actor, Little Fish, 2005
- Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Acting Ensemble, The Lord of
the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion
Picture, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2004
- National Board of Review: Best Acting by an Ensemble, The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King, 2003
- Online Film Critics Society: Best Ensemble, The Lord of the Rings: The
Two Towers, 2003
- Phoenix Film Critics Society: Best Acting Ensemble, The Lord of the
Rings: The Two Towers, 2003
- Phoenix Film Critics Society: Best Acting Ensemble, The Lord of the
Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2002
- Montréal World Film Festival: Best Actor, The Interview, 1998
- Australian Film Institute: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading
Role, The Interview, 1998
- Australian Star of the Year: 1998
- Australian Film Institute: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading
Role, Proof, 1991
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