Brenton Thwaites
Brenton Thwaites (born 09 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series Slide and later appeared on the soap opera Home and Away. Since moving to the United States, Thwaites has had major roles in the films Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Oculus (2013), The Giver (2014), Gods of Egypt (2016), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). He starred as Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing in the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans from 2018 to 2023.
Brenton Thwaites
Early life[edit]
Thwaites was born on 09 August 1989[1] in Cairns, Queensland. He has a sister. He graduated from Cairns State High School in 2006.[1]
During his youth, Thwaites was drawn to the idea of becoming a policeman or a firefighter, having been interested in movies involving the latter. However, his interests changed to filmmaking and "letting [one's] personality shine through so many different characters". At the age of 16, Thwaites gave his first performance in front of a live audience in Romeo and Juliet.[2]
Thwaites studied acting at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for three years, before graduating in 2010.[3][4][5] He then relocated to Sydney to join the long-running soap opera Home and Away before moving to the United States in 2011/12 to pursue his career in acting.[6][7][8]
Career[edit]
2010–2011: Early career[edit]
Prior to graduating from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Thwaites made his film debut in Charge Over You, a 2010 independent film.[9] After he graduated, Thwaites appeared in an episode of Sea Patrol and in the short film, Headsmen.[10][11]
In November 2010, Thwaites was cast in a new Fox8 Australian teen drama series, Slide.[12][13] The show follows five Brisbane teenagers making their way to adulthood.[13][14] Thwaites believes his character, Luke Gallagher, "stands back a bit. He watches. He's struggling with family issues. He's drawn in as it was a chance to find better friends and an opportunity to be part of a group. He's a cool, accepted kid. Some friends he can love and help him mature."[10] Thwaites made his first appearance on Slide in the series' premiere episode on 16 August 2011. The series ran one season.[13]
Shortly after Thwaites moved to Sydney in April 2011, he was given a five-month recurring role of Stu Henderson in the 24th season of Home and Away.[5][7] Thwaites called the show a great learning experience and said his co-stars were easy to work with.[8] Thwaites made his first appearance as Stu, a member of the River Boys, on 23 August 2011.[7] Tristan Swanwick of The Courier-Mail said Thwaites was a "bit too pretty to be a bad-ass River Boy" but that some fake tattoos would balance that impression.[5] Of his character, Thwaites said, "Stu's awesome, he has some fights, he gets the girls, it's awesome fun."[5][15]
2012–2016: Film roles and continued success[edit]
Following Thwaites' relocation to the United States, he signed on to play the male lead in the 2012 television film Blue Lagoon: The Awakening opposite Indiana Evans.[16] The film received generally mixed reviews, with Zap2it praising both Thwaites and Evans' "(mostly) believable" acting[17] and The New York Times saying their performances were superior to those of the leads in the first film of the series.[18]
Personal life[edit]
Thwaites has been in a relationship with Chloe Pacey since 2015,[51][52] after they both lived in the same sharehouse in Australia while Thwaites was filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.[53]