Wayne Blair (director)

Early life and education

Wayne Blair was born in Taree, New South Wales, to Julie and Bob Blair, and has two older sisters, Janet and Mandy. He is an Aboriginal Australian man and he describes himself as a Batjala, Mununjali, Wakka Wakka man.

As Blair's father was a soldier, the family moved around. While Blair was still young, his father was posted to Woodside in South Australia. When he was a teenager, Blair's family were sent to Rockhampton, Queensland. In Rockhampton he excelled at cricket and rugby, then later became interested in acting and dancing at school.

Blair had a job as a tour guide at Rockhampton's Dreamtime Cultural Centre, where he was also one of the dancers. He went on to do a marketing degree at Central Queensland University, though his elective subjects included comic drama and Australian drama. He briefly went to Sydney to play rugby league for the Canterbury Bulldogs under-21s.

After a failed audition for NIDA in 1992, he eventually did a three-year course at the Queensland University of Technology in acting, at their Academy of the Arts. While a student there in 1997, he said "I' ve played Chinese, Puerto Rican, English, and Russian people, but I haven't played an Aboriginal person yet and I'd love to".

Career

Blair's first recorded on-screen appearance was in a 1997 Australian TV film called The Tower. The following year he appeared on All Saints and Wildside. He has also appeared in Water Rats and Fireflies. 1998 was also the year he was one of the first four film makers to be mentored under the Metro Screen Indigenous Mentor Scheme for which he made a short film called Fade 2 Black. Ten years later he was to become a mentor himself under the same scheme.

Blair starred in the original stage production of Tony Briggs's play, The Sapphires in 2005. This play was later turned into a filmscript to be directed by Blair.

In 2007 he starred as Othello for Bell Shakespeare, a show that toured Australia with stops at Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra as well as other cities. He also directed three episodes of Lockie Leonard with a further four in 2010.

In 2008 Blair directed all thirteen episodes of the Australian children's TV series Double Trouble, about twin Indigenous girls separated at birth. In 2009 he wrote an episode of the second season of The Circuit. 2010 saw Blair direct four episodes of the Australian-British children's supernatural comedy TV series, Dead Gorgeous. He directed British-Jamaican Debbie Tucker Green's play Dirty Butterfly and co-directed the biographical play, Namatjira, with Scott Rankin who also wrote the play, both plays at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre. He was also chosen in the same year as one of the stars of the Sydney Theatre Company's revival of Sam Shepard's True West, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Blair was awarded the Bob Maza Fellowship for 2011 by Screen Australia to provide opportunities for career development. 2012 was a big year which saw the making of his hit film, The Sapphires, which brought him recognition around the world with a very positive response at Cannes. Later in the year he starred in three episodes of the ABC's TV drama series, Redfern Now and directed another of the episodes. To finish the year Blair was included in Variety Magazine's top ten directors to watch in 2013.

He has occasionally worked on projects outside of Australia, including 2015's Septembers of Shiraz; a US production shot in Bulgaria, and a 2017 made for television remake of the American classic Dirty Dancing.

In 2020, Blair was named in the cast for ABC's Aftertaste.

In 2021, he was announced for the second season of ABC political drama Total Control (TV series) in the role of Paul Murphy and in 2023 Blair would join the filming for the third and final season. Blair also served as a director in the series directing 9 episodes. Blair also appeared in Netflix's Irreverent.

In 2023, he was a director on ABC's Bay of Fires and directed four episodes.

In 2024, Blair was announced as part of the directing team for the ABC drama Plum. Blair was announced as part of the directing team for the second season of Mystery Road: Origin. On 27 June 2025, Blair was named as the director of ABC series Goolagong.

Other activities and roles

In 2021 he was appointed as one of three Indigenous ambassadors to the SmartFone Flick Fest, along with journalist and producer Stan Grant and screenwriter Jon Bell.

Awards and recognition

• 2005: Winner, Crystal Bear for short film at the Berlin Film Festival, for The Djarn Djarns
• 2005: Nominated for Best Screenplay in a Short Film at the AFI Awards for his work on The Djarn Djarns
• 2011: Recipient of the Bob Maza Fellowship, which recognises emerging acting talent and support professional development for Indigenous actors
• 2012: Winner, AACTA Award for Best Direction, for The Sapphires
• July 2021: Invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Filmography

Short film

Actor

Feature film

Director

• Firestarter (2020)
• Top End Wedding (2019)
• Septembers of Shiraz (2015)
• The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting (2013)
• The Sapphires (2012) Executive producer
• Brando With The Glass Eye (2024)

Actor

Television

Actor

References

References

1. (10 July 2011). "'In the Frame' Wayne Blair". ABC.
2. Garry Maddox. (3 August 2012). "Jewels in the festival crown". Sydney Morning Herald.
3. (10 July 2011). "'In the Frame' Wayne Blair". ABC.
4. Myler, Carmen. (12 October 1997 - 16 February 1998). "It's 'showtime' for acting graduates". [[Queensland University of Technology]].
5. Erin Free. (1 June 2008). "Mentoring success". Film Ink.
6. "From stage to screen". Hopscotch.
7. "Wayne Blair". The Yellow Agency.
8. Jason Blake. (4 November 2010). "Casting adds bite to feuding brothers". Sydney Morning Herald.
9. (12 May 2011). "Wayne Blair awarded the 2011 Bob Maza Fellowship". Screen Australia.
10. Peter Debruge. (7 Dec 2012). "Variety announces 10 Directors to Watch". Variety Magazine.
11. "Exciting cast on the menu of ABC comedy series Aftertaste.".
12. Morse, Callan. (2 June 2023). "Cameras roll on final season of Total Control".
13. Slatter, Sean. (2024-01-12). "Letting go of 'Total Control': The creative team reflect on the ABC drama's final season".
14. Knox, David. (2020-11-27). "Wayne Blair to direct Total Control {{!}} TV Tonight".
15. Knox, David. (2021-09-23). "Cast announced for Irreverent drama {{!}} TV Tonight".
16. Knox, David. (2023-06-14). "Airdate: Bay of Fires {{!}} TV Tonight".
17. Slatter, Sean. (2024-01-16). "ABC to serve up 'Plum' with Brendan Cowell, Asher Keddie leading the cast".
18. (2024-11-25). "Mystery Road Origin S2 starts production in WA".
19. Knox, David. (2025-06-27). "Goolagong new drama filming for ABC {{!}} TV Tonight".
20. (7 May 2021). "Smart Phone Film Festival".
21. (26 July 2017). "The Djarn Djarns".
22. (4 June 2018). "Screen Australia's Indigenous Department celebrates 25 years".
23. "Winners & Nominees".
24. (2 July 2021). "Wayne Blair, Rosemary Blight, Kylie du Fresne, Darren Dale among Aussies invited to join Academy".
25. "Black Talk: Boodgie".