Matthew Day (born 28 September 1971) is an Australian actor and filmmaker.
Early life Day was born in Melbourne, Victoria.Matt Day @ filmreference.com When he was 11 years old, he went to live in the United States with his father, a newspaper correspondent, where he became interested in acting. On his return to Australia, he attended Princes Hill Secondary College, in Carlton North and joined St Martins Youth Arts Centre in South Yarra.
Career Day was spotted by an agent at the age of 14 and was soon cast in his first role in the ABC television series c/o The Bartons. At 17, he left his home in Carlton and relocated to Sydney for the role in the television series A Country Practice that was to be his first big break.Rand, Hannah (3 May 2009) "Passions in practice", Sunday Magazine, p. 27
He has since gone on to establish a reputation as one of Australia's leading film, television and theatre actors, appearing in numerous Australian television series including Rake opposite Richard Roxburgh and Tangle alongside Ben Mendelsohn. He starred in the made for television films Hell Has Harbour Views (2005) and My Brother Jack (2001), and the two-part miniseries Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo (2011).
His feature credits include Muriel's Wedding (1994), Love and Other Catastrophes (1996) alongside Radha Mitchell and Frances O'Connor, Kiss or Kill (1997) reuniting again with O'Connor. For his role in the latter, he received nominations for a Film Critics Circle Award and an AFI Award for Best Actor. He also starred in Woody Allen's Scoop (2006) alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson and My Year Without Sex (2009) and Touch (2014).
His international television credits include Shackleton with Kenneth Branagh, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Commander, Spooks, Hotel Babylon, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Bruce Beresford's And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself.
Short films as writer/director include Beat (2011 St Kilda Film Festival) My Everything (2003 Toronto Short Film Festival) and Wish (Turner Classic Shorts 2008 Winner - Special Mention, London Film Festival, Encounters Short Film Festival, Foyle Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Stockholm Film Festival).
In 2017 he won the 25th Tropfest short film festival for his comic short film The Mother Situation, which he both directed and acted in.
In 2022 Day was announced as part of the cast for Channel 9 drama Human Error. In 2023 he was named for ABC musical drama In Our Blood. Day returned for the second season of Strife.
Personal life Day's parents divorced when he was young. His mother, an English teacher, took him around Europe for six months when he was 7 and his brother Michael was 9.Rand, Hannah (3 May 2009) "Passions in practice", Sunday Magazine, p. 28 He said later that "the whole experience went definitely some way to influencing my wanderlust".
Day met his wife, journalist Kirsty Thomson when he was living in Melbourne and she lived in Sydney. They initially conducted a long distance relationship, as Day was working on films and Thomson moved to Bathurst to do her master’s degree in journalism. Their first date was at a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds concert. After meeting up regularly in Bowral, halfway between Sydney and Canberra, Day proposed. They were married in 2000, in a low-key wedding in Thomson's mother’s backyard in Balmain, and then moved to London together. They had their first child, a son, Jackson in the UK. They returned to Australia in 2007 and their second son Rufus was born two years later. The couple currently reside in Sydney.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Type 1994 Muriel's Wedding Brice Nobes Feature film1996 Love and Other Catastrophes Michael Douglas Feature film Dating the Enemy Rob Feature film The Beast Cosgrove TV movie1997 Kiss or Kill Al Fletcher Feature film The Two-Wheeled Time Machine Henry Howard Short film Doing Time for Patsy Cline Ralph Feature film 1998 The Sugar Factory Harris Feature film 2000 Muggers Brad Forrest Feature film The Love of Lionel's Life (aka Open Life) Lionel TV movie2001 My Brother Jack David Meredith TV movie The Green-Eyed Monster Liam McGuire TV movie 2002 The Hound of the Baskervilles Sir Henry Baskerville TV movie 2003 And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself John Reed TV movie 2005 Hell Has Harbour Views Hugh Walker TV movie 2006 Scoop Jerry Burke Feature film 2008 The Informant Cameron Clifford TV movie 2009 My Year Without Sex Ross Feature film 2013 The Outlaw Michael Howe Magistrate Robert Knopwood TV movie 2014 Touch John Feature film2017 Dance Academy: The Movie Barrister Jeff Menzies TV movie Sweet Country Judge Taylor Feature film The Mother Situation Short film (also director) 2018 Reaching Distance Martin 2024 Runt Fergus Fink
Television Year Title Role Type 1988 c/o The Bartons Paul Barton TV series House Rules 1989–1993 A Country Practice Julian 'Luke' Ross TV series 1994 The Bob Morrison Show Jake Duffy TV series 1995 Snowy River: The McGregor Saga Pete Reilly TV series 1996 Water Rats Matthews TV series 2000 Farscape Councilor Tyno TV series 2002 Shackleton Frank Hurley Miniseries 2003 Wild Down Under Narrator TV series 2006 Hotel Babylon Richard TV series Spooks Neil Sternin TV series 2007 The Commander Eric Thornton Miniseries 2009–2010 Tangle Gabriel Lucas TV series 2010 Underbelly: The Golden Mile Sid Hillier TV series 2010–2018 Rake David Potter TV series 2011 Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo Daniel Ritchie Miniseries Secret Diary of a Call Girl Receptionist TV series 2012 Miss Fisher's Murder MysteriesHenry Rhodes TV series"King Memses' Curse" (S1:E13) 2014–2018 Black Comedy Various roles TV series13 episodes2017 Love Child Father Ross TV series Wolf Creek Brian TV series2019 Les Norton Gecko TV series Get Krack!n Brendan O'Hara TV series 2021Harrow Dr Bramson TV series, 2 episodes The Unusual Suspects Garth Miniseries 2023 In Our Blood Jeremy Wilding 4 episodes 2023–25Strife Jon Jones 16 episodes 2024Human Error Luke O'Rourke 6 episodes
Theatre Year Title Role Type 1986 Zigger Zagger St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Melbourne 1988 Black Rabbit Stanley Studio Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company1992 Man of the Moment Seymour Centre, Sydney, with Ensemble Theatre Six Degrees of Separation Sydney Opera House with STC The Game of Love and Chance New England Theatre Company 1998 Fred Wharf Theatre, Sydney, with STC 2008 Scarlett O'Hara at the Crimson Parrot Alan Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC 2009 The Wonderful World of Dissocia 'Insecurity' guard Wharf Theatre, Sydney, with STC / MTC 2015–2016, 2018 North by Northwest Roger O Thornhill Playhouse, Melbourne, State Theatre, Melbourne, Lyric Theatre, Brisbane, Festival Theatre, Adelaide with MTC 2017 A Strategic Plan Simon Stables Theatre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company 2020 The Deep Blue Sea Sir William Collyer STC 2022 Blithe Spirit Charles Condomine Sydney Opera House with STC 2023 Sunday John Reed Southbank Theatre, Melbourne, with MTC
Writer/director Year Title Type 2011 Beat Short film 2003 My Everything Short film 2008 Wish Short film 2017 The Mother Situation Short film (also actor)
Awards and nominations Year Nominated work Award Category Result1997Kiss or Kill Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Actor in a Leading Role AFI Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role 2008 Wish Turner Classic Shorts 2008 Winner 2017 The Mother Situation 25th Tropfest Short Film Festival 2017 Winner
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