Sullivan Stapleton (born 14 June 1977) is an Australian actor who is best known for his roles in the television series The Secret Life of Us, Strike Back and Blindspot. He also starred in the film Animal Kingdom and played the lead role, Greek leader Themistocles, in the film 300: Rise of an Empire (2014).
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Early life and education
Stapleton was born in Melbourne, Victoria. He was eight years old when he and his younger sister, actress Jacinta Stapleton, six at the time, joined an acting and modelling agency. The idea first came to their aunt who signed her own children with the agency. She then asked her nephew and niece if they would like to join and their mother signed them. Stapleton's younger brother Joshua also launched into acting, dance and musical theatre as a child.
Stapleton's picture caught the attention of a director who invited him to be in his short film. Pleased by his performance, the director said he was gifted and encouraged him to pursue acting.
Stapleton received training at Melbourne's St. Martins Theatre. He studied drama and theatre at Sandringham Secondary College (in Sandringham, Victoria, Australia).
Career
Stapleton launched his career in Australia. He got his actors' union card at the age of 9 and at 11 he started working in ads. Stapleton's first onscreen acting performance was in the 1994 Australian TV movie Baby Bath Massacre as Adrian. Between acting jobs, Stapleton performed several types of work: modelling, cleaning animal cages in a pet shop, and working as a grip in many films and TV productions. In 1995, Sullivan appeared in Blue Heelers for one episode, and again in 2003 for 3 episodes. He also worked on The Elephant Princess, Rush, Tangle) in front and behind the camera, working on building sites, and assisting carpenters.
Before landing a role as Josh Hughes in Australian soap opera Neighbours in 1998, Sullivan appeared in a string of little-seen features and homegrown dramas. Other notable roles include Justin Davies in the Australian television series The Secret Life of Us between 2003 and 2005, Fearless in 2007 film December Boys, special agent Wilkins in 2007 American action film The Condemned. But it was with Stapleton's performance in the Academy Award-nominated film Animal Kingdom, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, that he made an international breakthrough.
When Animal Kingdom won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival interest in him sparked on two continents and his career has taken him across the globe. He made his second appearance in Underbelly, an Australian true crime drama television series, this time as the lead character, Colin McLaren in Underbelly Files: Infiltration. This was an endurance test for Stapleton and the first challenging shoot of his career. Previously he played Pat Barbaro in an episode of Underbelly.
From 2011, off the back of Animal Kingdom, Stapleton began a main role as Damien Scott in Strike Back, a British action thriller series based on the 2007 novel of the same name by novelist and former SAS soldier Chris Ryan. During his tenure on the series, he landed a role in his first American film, 2013's Gangster Squad, with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn and Josh Brolin. That same year, he was honoured with a Breakthrough Award at an exclusive Australians in Film Benefit Dinner held in Los Angeles.
In early 2014, while Stapleton was in Thailand for the filming of Strike Back, on a night out in Bangkok after work, he fell off a tuk-tuk and suffered a head injury that left him in a coma. He was resuscitated by former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping, with whom he had been spending his night out. Shooting for the show was paused for six months to allow his full recovery. Airing of the fifth season was also pushed to 2015. In 2014, Stapleton also starred as the lead character, Greek general Themistocles in American epic historical action film 300: Rise of an Empire, opposite Eva Green, Lena Headey and David Wenham.
For five seasons, from 2015 until its end in 2020, Stapleton starred opposite Jaimie Alexander in American crime series, Blindspot, as FBI agent, Kurt Weller. Between filming the pilot and the ongoing series, Sullivan flew to Berlin to film his role as SEAL team leader Matt Barnes in 2017 action film American Renegades. He next appeared in 2019 biographical sports drama Ride Like a Girl, alongside Teresa Palmer and Rachel Griffiths, in which he played horse trainer Darren Weir.
In 2022, Stapleton had a lead role in After the Verdict, a six-part Australian comedy drama television series on Nine Network, playing the role of Daniel, opposite Lincoln Younes and Magda Szubanski.