Biography:
With his rugged, everyman exterior and quick wit, Aussie actor Bryan Brown has made
an undeniable mark in the world of cinema with unforgettable roles in such efforts
as Bruce Beresford's Breaker Morant (1980), the innovative action thriller F/X, and
the bottle slingin' bartender drama Cocktail (1988). Although public misconception
may be that Brown abandoned the Land Down Under for a film career in Hollywood, the
lifelong Australian resident remains true to his homeland despite his status ...
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as a
popular international film star. A former insurance salesman who was bitten by the
acting bug early on, the Sydney native soon found stage work in both his hometown
as well as London. His film debut as a lovelorn, mentally ill man in The Love
Letters From Teralba Road (1977) soon followed, and after gaining positive critical
notice for his performance, Brown appeared in minor capacity in such films as
Phillip Noyce's Newsfront and Bruce Beresford's Money Movers before his breakout
turn as a supporting player in the searing war drama Breaker Morant. His star on
the rise in the early '80s, Brown subsequently appeared in the prison drama Stir
before turning up in the acclaimed miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983). The musical
drama Give My Regards to Broad Street proved a surprising gem to Paul McCartney and
Brown fans alike the following year, and with the release of F/X in 1986, Brown
became a bankable international star. The film's innovative use of special effects
as a means to drive the plot, combined with a smart script and Brown's natural
charisma, resulted in a modest hit that spawned both a sequel and a television
series (albeit without him).
After taking the lead in Tai-Pan (1986) and returning to Australia for the
relationship drama The Good Wife (1987), Brown took his biggest Hollywood role to
date as a veteran bartender opposite Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Although Brown would
have little chance to truly shine opposite the Hollywood heavy, he did manage to
steal a few scenes and have fun with the role. Shifting gears entirely for Gorillas
in the Mist that same year, Brown was once again offered the opportunity to shine in
the role of a National Geographic photographer who falls for primate researcher Dian
Fossey Sigourney Weaver. Despite the fact that Brown's '80s momentum may not have
carried into the '90s as strongly as fans might have hoped, those who did seek out
his films found him still very much at the top of his game. From Nicolas Roeg's
existential drama Full Body Massage (1995) to the intensely personal Dead Heart
(1996), his performances were consistently thought provoking. After expanding his
resum? to include producer credits with the 1991 F/X sequel, Brown did his best to
bring stories to the screen that he found personally compelling. His association
both in front of and behind the scenes of Twisted Tales (a sort of Down Under
Twilight Zone meets The X-Files) helped to maintain his high profile in Australia,
and, in 1999, Brown appeared opposite hot-Aussie export Heath Ledger in the comedy
drama Two Hands. After more starring roles that year, Brown appeared in the sleeper
drama Risk and the nuclear drama On the Beach (both 2000). Having been a youngster
in 1960 Australia, the retro-gangster comedy Dirty Deeds had special appeal to
Brown, and his turn as a Sydney-based crime syndicate leader who draws the ire of a
fearsome Chicago crime family offered a fun take of the gangster-chic trend.
Although Brown would threaten to take a break from acting following Dirty Deeds, it
wasn't long before he was back in front of the cameras for the Ben Stiller comedy
Along Came Polly Captured (2004). Jason Buchanan,
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