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Meyne Wyatt

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Meyne Wyatt
Born1989 (age 34–35)
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Australia
EducationNational Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present

Meyne Wyatt (born 1989) is an Aboriginal Australian actor, known for his stage, film, and television roles.

In 2012, he played a supporting role in the musical comedy film The Sapphires and also made his debut with the Bell Shakespeare company. His appearance in the second season of Redfern Now earned him nominations at the 2014 Logie Awards and at the 3rd AACTA Awards. From 2014 to 2016, Wyatt played the ongoing role of Nate Kinski in Neighbours.

Early life

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Meyne Wyatt was born in Kalgoorlie in 1989,[1][2] to Sue, a painter and children's book illustrator, and Brian, who worked for the National Native Title Council.[3][4] His father was a Yamatji man, while his mother is from the Wongatha group,[3] and Wyatt is the youngest of four siblings. He attended Hale School in Perth from the age of 13.[4]

After leaving Hale, Wyatt completed a theatre course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). He auditioned for full-time places at WAAPA and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), and was accepted into both. He decided to attend NIDA and graduated in 2010.[4][1]

Performing arts career

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Following his graduation from NIDA, Wyatt appeared in several theatre productions in Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. He won the Best Newcomer accolade at the 2011 Sydney Theatre Awards for his performance as an Aboriginal teenager in Lachlan Philpott's production of Silent Disco.[4][5] In 2012, Wyatt was cast in the supporting role of Jimmy Middleton in the musical comedy film The Sapphires.Wyatt also made his debut with the Bell Shakespeare company, in a production of The School for Wives.[4]

In early 2013, Wyatt starred in the lead role of Ralph Meyers's production of Peter Pan at the New Victory Theater.[6] In that same year, Wyatt filmed a supporting role in The Broken Shore, a television miniseries based on Peter Temple's 2005 novel of the same name.[7] He also appeared in the film adaptation of Tim Winton's short story collection The Turning.[8] Wyatt played Frank Leaper, a footballer "who walks away at a key moment of his career", in the segment titled Family, which was directed by Shaun Gladwell.[8]

Wyatt appeared in the second season of Redfern Now as a father whose newborn baby goes missing. He was initially cast in the first season of the drama, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.[9]

In 2014 Wyatt also joined the cast of feature film Strangerland, alongside Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes.[10] On 20 July 2014, it was announced that Wyatt had joined the cast of long-running soap opera Neighbours as Nate Kinski.[11] Wyatt is the first Indigenous actor to join the main cast since the show began in 1985.[12] Executive producer Jason Herbison stated the decision to cast an Indigenous actor was "unintentional" and that Wyatt had been the best actor for the role.[11] Wyatt relocated to Melbourne for filming and made his screen debut as Nate on 18 August 2014.[12] Wyatt began appearing in the six-part sketch-comedy show Black Comedy in November 2014.[13]

Wyatt took a break from Neighbours to appear in a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear, alongside Geoffrey Rush from November 2015 to January 2016.[3] Wyatt's father died from throat cancer in October, causing him to miss the first two weeks of rehearsals.[3] The director, Neil Armfield, briefly considered re-casting the role of Edmund, as he was concerned that Wyatt would find it hard to play a man who plots to murder his father.[3] However, Wyatt found the play "a good distraction".[3] Wyatt also appeared in the feature film What If It Works?.[14]

Wyatt left Neighbours in early 2016 and his character's last scenes aired in June that year.[15] In 2017, Wyatt appeared in the American series The Leftovers, which was filmed in Australia. In 2018, he was a regular in the television drama series Mystery Road as Cedric Thompson.[16]

Wyatt's first play, City of Gold, was published in July 2019 by Currency Press.[17] A co-production between Queensland Theatre and Griffin Theatre premiered the play in Brisbane, before transferring to Sydney.[18][19][20][1]

In 2021 Wyatt joined Shareena Clanton, Sachin Joab and Remi Hii in bringing to light racism on the set of Neighbours. He reported several instances of racism, including "the 'c' word", and hearing multiple instances of homophobia.[21]

Wyatt starred in the 2021 ABC television comedy series Preppers.[22] Wyatt also appeared in The Moogai.[23] He also appeared in Strife.[24]

Other activities

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In June 2020, Wyatt delivered a powerful four-minute monologue from his play City of Gold, on a special episode on ABC Television's Q+A about Black Lives Matter and Aboriginal deaths in custody. In the monologue, he describes the impact of racism on his life. It was widely covered by national media.[25][26][27][28][29] Comedian Nazeem Hussain suggested in a tweet that it was "the best two minutes of Australian television ever".[30]

In 2020, encouraged by his mother, he entered a painted self-portrait in the Archibald Prize and became the first Indigenous artist to win the Packing Room Prize in September 2020.[31][1]

He co-authored a children's book, Maku, with Randa Abdel-Fattah, published in 2022.[1]

Awards and nominations

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Filmography

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Wyatt has featured as an actor in short films, feature films, telemovies, and television series, and has also written for television.[36]

Television appearances
Year Title Role Notes
2013 The Broken Shore Donny Coulter TV Movie
Redfern Now Justin Myles Episode: "Babe in Arms"
Nominated – AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama
Nominated – Logie Award for Most Outstanding Newcomer
2014–2016 Neighbours Nate Kinski Soap Extra Award for Favourite Newcomer[37]426 episodes
2014–2018 Black Comedy Guest 9 episodes
2017 What If It Works? Drew
The Leftovers Rowan 1 episode
2018 Mystery Road Cedric Thompson 6 episodes
2019 Les Norton Percy Kirby 1 episode
Wentworth Anton 2 episodes
2021 The Moth Effect Milo 1 episode
Preppers Guy 6 episodes
2023 Strife Robert 5 episodes

Film appearances

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Year Title Role Notes
2024 The Moogai Fergus Feature horror film
2022 We Are Still Here Michael
Fences Adam/A2 Short film, with Colin Friels; filming wrapped September 2022[38]
2020 The Moogai Fergus Short
2018 The Obscure Raleigh Short
The Nightingale Voice Artist Voice
Reaching Distance Zach
2016 Exhale Chaz Short film
2015 Strangerland Burtie
2014 The Night Sky Narrator Short
2013 The Turning Frank Leaper
2012 The Sapphires Jimmy Middleton
Writer
Year Title Notes
2023 Total Control S3, Episode 4[39][40]
2022 Heartbreak High Episode 4 of the Netflix reboot[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Meyne Wyatt". AustLit. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  2. ^ Vranjes, Emilia (14 November 2013). "Wyatt's star turn in Redfern Now". The West Australian. Retrieved 6 February 2019. The dashing 24-year-old WAAPA and NIDA graduate... Sydney-based Wyatt, who was born and raised in Kalgoorlie and attended Hale School in Churchlands as a boarder...
  3. ^ a b c d e f Cleary, Paul (7 January 2016). "Meyne Wyatt puts personal tragedy behind him for King Lear role". The Australian. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Neill, Rosemary (2 June 2012). "Indigenous actor Meyne Wyatt's career switches to fast forward". The Australian. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b Hook, Chris (26 August 2014). "Wired to a virtual social set". DailyTelegraph. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  6. ^ Saltz, Rachel (7 October 2013). "A Magical, Flying Visit From a Magical, Flying Boy". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  7. ^ Shrivastava, Anshu (31 January 2014). "'The Broken Shore' to Reveal Shocking Face Behind an Aussie Community's Respectable Mask". International Business Times. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  8. ^ a b Hawker, Phillipa (14 September 2013). "West side stories". The Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  9. ^ Vranjes, Emilia (14 November 2013). "Wyatt's star turn in Redfern Now". The West Australian. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  10. ^ Bulbeck, Pip (27 March 2014). "Nicole Kidman's 'Strangerland' Begins Shooting in Australia". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  11. ^ a b Blake, Elissa (20 July 2014). "Indigenous actor gets stint on Ramsay St". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  12. ^ a b Milman, Oliver (21 July 2014). "Neighbours adds first Indigenous actor, Meyne Wyatt, to main cast". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
  13. ^ Field, Melissa (5 November 2014). "Wednesday's pick: Black Comedy". TV Week. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  14. ^ Groves, Don (21 August 2015). "Ford and Samson star in unlikely love story". If Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  15. ^ Dainty, Sophie (2 June 2016). "Neighbours will air Nate Kinski's final scenes today... but does Aaron leave with him?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  16. ^ Knox, David (3 May 2018). "Airdate: Mystery Road". TV Tonight. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  17. ^ Wyatt, Meyne (2019). City of Gold. [S.l.]: Currency Press. ISBN 978-1-76062-269-5. OCLC 1108811519.
  18. ^ Behrendt, Larissa (2 August 2019). "City of Gold review – ambitious, raw and provocative play launches a bold new voice". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  19. ^ Hurley, Angelina (5 August 2019). "New play 'City of Gold' is Meyne Wyatt's voice of truth". NITV. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  20. ^ "City of Gold". Queensland Theatre. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  21. ^ Thomas, Shibu (7 April 2021). "Actor Meyne Wyatt Alleges Rampant Racism & Homophobia On 'Neighbours' Set". Star Observer. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  22. ^ Ma, Wenlei (10 November 2021). "Preppers: An oddball comedy about the end of the world, maybe". news.com.au. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  23. ^ Keen, Suzie (2 February 2024). "Made in SA: films and TV shows to watch out for in 2024". InReview. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  24. ^ "Australian Television: Strife: cast". australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Actor Meyne Wyatt supports Black Lives Matter with powerful monologue on racism on Q+A". ABC News. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Q+A: Meyne Wyatt speaks on his powerful monologue". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  27. ^ Meyne Wyatt's monologue on racism on Q+A: 'Silence is violence. Complacency is complicity' on YouTube 9 June 2020, published by Guardian Australia.
  28. ^ Pearson, Nick (9 June 2020). "'Best two minutes of Australian TV ever': Powerful monologue on racism confronts nation". 9News. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  29. ^ "Actor Meyne Wyatt delivers powerful monologue on racism on Q+A [Includes transcript]". The New Daily. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  30. ^ Coy, Bronte (8 June 2020). "'Best two minutes of Aussie TV, ever': Incredible response to emotional monologue". news. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  31. ^ Galvin, Nick (17 September 2020). "Listen to mum: Meyne Wyatt makes history with Packing Room Prize win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  32. ^ "2014 Logie Awards: full list of nominees". The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  33. ^ "Australian Academy announces 3rd AACTA Awards Nominees, renewed partnerships with Destination NSW and The Star, and new partners Foxtel and Audi" (PDF). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  34. ^ "2019 Sydney Theatre Awards announced". Limelight. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  35. ^ "2020 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  36. ^ "Meyne Wyatt". Showcast. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  37. ^ "Favourite newcomer". TV Week Soap Extra. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  38. ^ Bus Stop Films (25 September 2022). ""Fences" has been a beautiful shoot". Facebook. Retrieved 15 May 2023. Massive thanks to all our awesome cast and crew and especially to the brilliant and kind, Meyne Wyatt and Colin Friels who played our lead roles.
  39. ^ ""Total Control" Episode #3.4 (TV Episode 2023)". IMDb. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  40. ^ "Meyne Wyatt". aurora artists' management. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  41. ^ "What the Heartbreak High reboot gets right about First Nations teens". National Indigenous Times. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
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