Richard Wilson (Australian actor)

Richard Wilson moved from the UK to Sydney, Australia when he was six years old, and currently resides in Sydney. He and his younger brother, Andrew, were raised in the Blue Mountains by their parents.^{[citation needed]} He attended the academically selective Penrith High School.^[1]

In 2008, Richard decided to take an extended hiatus from performance to complete a honours degree in Psychology at Western Sydney University.^{[citation needed]}

At the age of fifteen, Wilson landed his first screen role as lead character Nick Jansen in short-lived 2001 sitcom Flat Chat.^[2] In 2004, he was nominated for an Australian Film Industry Award for Best Young Actor,^{[citation needed]} for his portrayal of Miller McKee in teen drama series Out There.^[3]

Wilson made his feature film debut as Robert 'Poker' Bernardi, one of the lead characters in Nick Cave’s 2005 skateboarding drama film Deck Dogz.^[4] He then starred in 2005 Australian Western film The Proposition as Mike Burns,^[5] younger brother of Charlie (Guy Pearce) and Arthur (Danny Huston).^[6] He won a FilmInk Award for Best Australian Newcomer for his portrayal.^{[citation needed]} The following year, he played the co-lead role of Dan in the 2006 Australian film 48 Shades, based on the book 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls.^[7]

Wilson delivered a critically acclaimed performance as Mark in the 2007 film Clubland,^[8] receiving an Australian Film Industry Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.^[9] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation described his portrayal of a mentally handicapped teen as "a tour de force performance".^[10]

In 2009, Wilson had a supporting roles in Australian horror film The Loved Ones, alongside Xavier Samuel.^[11] That same year, he appeared in drama film Birthday.^[12]