London Academy of Media Film TV

EARLY LIFE

Hugo Wallace Weaving’s life had a very nomadic start. He was born on the 4^th of April, 1960, in Ibadan, Nigeria. A year later his family, of English origins, moved back to England before heading to Melbourne, Australia, than Johannesburg, South Africa before

Hugo Weaving

heading back to England. He finally immigrated permanently to Australia in 1976 where he attended Sydney’s Knox Grammar School, the same school as Hugh Jackman, Adam Garcia, Andrew Johnston and radio host John Laws. The reason for his roaming beginning was mainly due to his father’s, Wallace Weaving, early involvement in the computer industry. His mother, Anne, meanwhile was a tour guide in Nigeria and a former teacher. Hugo is the middle of three children, with an older brother and younger sister that both work in Australia. He graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1981.

CAREER

His first major role was as English Captain, Douglas Jardine, in the miniseries Bodyline (1984). He followed this with a lot of Australian productions including Bangkok Hilton (1989) with Nicole Kidman, and Proof (1991). He would acquire international recognition in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), and an award for Best Actor at the Montreal Film Festival for The Interview (1998). It was in 1999 that his role as Agent Smith in The Matrix advanced his international fame. This role has often been described as one of the greatest sci-fi villains of the

Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith

21^st century. He would go on to be in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) as Elrond, an Elf Lord. He would team up with Cate Blanchett to do the Australian drama Little Fish and then again allow himself to be directed by the Wachowski Brothers in V for Vendetta (2006). He has also leant his voice to a few movies including Michael Bay’s Transformers as Megatron, which caused a bit of controversy, and Zack Snyder’s Legend of the Guardians. Although he has made a name for himself in film he feels more comfortable on stage, often collaborating with the Sydney Theatre Company, which is now run by Cate Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton. He will return to the screens as fictional Nazi, Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, and may yet revive his role as Elrond in the Peter Jackson helmed The Hobbit.

PERSONAL LIFE AND AWARDS

Although he has been with his partner Katrina Greenwood for 25 years they have never married, he stated that it was because during the 1990’s he was petrified of getting married. Even so, they have had two children together, Harry in 1989 and Holly in 1993. His brother, Simon Weaving, is a writer, producer and director on a number of short Australian films, whilst his sister had a brief stint in the 1980’s as a singer in Paris, rounding out the family entertainment line, his niece is on the soap series Home and Away in Australia. He is an active ambassador for the Australian animal rights group Voiceless and also proclaims himself as a pesco-vegetarian, which is someone who eats fish but no other meat. To date he does not drive, the reason being that when he was 13 years old he was diagnosed with epilepsy and although he has not had an episode in years he fears that he has come too far in life to now get behind the wheel. He has been a recipient of many awards and award nominations, especially for his part in The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings, and has been nominated seven times by the AFI, winning three times for Best Actor in a Lead Role.  To date his films have grossed over $7 billion worldwide.

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