Steven Vidler (actor)

Vidler was born on 9 August 1960 in Sydney, Australia.^{[citation needed]} He grew up in the Australian Outback, in a family of Vietnam veterans.^[1]

In 1981, Vidler began his formal trained at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), graduating in 1983 with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art and Acting.^[2][3] From 1993 to 1994, he studied a Graduate Diploma in Film Directing at Swinburne University of Technology.^[4] He then continued his studies at NIDA, undertaking an Actor-Director relationship course, run in collaboration with AFTRS from 1994 to 1995.^[2][3][4]

Vidler also studied writing and directing at UCLA while on a fellowship as an intern for Atman Entertainment.^[2] He also studied Playwriting at NIDA in 1992.^[5] He obtained a research PhD in screenwriting from Macquarie University in 2015,^[3][2][4] which used cognitive neuroscience to explore viewer engagement with characters in film.^[6]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Vidler's first film appearance was in 1984 WWII television film The Blood of Others opposite Jodie Foster.^{[citation needed]} He played Sugar, the younger brother, in pre-WWII 1987 film The Good Wife (also known as The Umbrella Woman) alongside Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown and Sam Neill.^[7] Other early film roles include Dick Marston in TV movie Robbery Under Arms (1985) alongside Sam Neill,^[8] the lead role of Eddie in sci-fi film Incident at Raven's Gate (1988)^[9] and Jack Donaghue in Outback (1989) also known as Wrangler^[10] or Minnamurra.

Vidler played Lieutenant Gore in 1998 American war epic The Thin Red Line.^[11] He worked with Heath Ledger, when he played alongside him as 'The Man' in 1999 crime thriller Two Hands, also featuring Rose Byrne and Bryan Brown.^[12][3] That same year, he played Captain William in 1999 survival film Dog Watch, alongside Joel Edgerton.^[11] He then had roles in comedy films The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002)^[13] and Bad Eggs (2003).^[14]

Vidler played officer Frank Williams in 2006 horror film See No Evil, as well as its sequel the following year.^[11] In 2013, he played Neil Webster, Tara's father in the Australian drama film Dance Academy.^[15]

Vidler had an early television role as Tropp in 1985 miniseries, The Dunera Boys.^[16] He had recurring roles in several television series in the 1990s, including playing Phil McCarthy in ABC drama miniseries Heartland, opposite Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo.^[17] Others included Frankie's House, Janus and MDA.^[11] He also appeared in the 1998 miniseries The Day of the Roses, based on the real life story of the 1977 Granville rail disaster.^[18]

In 2001, Vidler had a guest role as Captain Askwith in the third season of action adventure series The Lost World,^[19] an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 novel of the same name.^[20] Beginning in 2002, he played the part of the teacher in BAFTA award-winning children's sci-fi drama series Jeopardy.^[3] In 2004, he featured in several miniseries, including The Mystery of Natalie Wood as Richard Gregson,^[11] Through My Eyes as Charlwood^[11] and Salem's Lot as Sheriff Parkins Gillespie.^[11][21]

In 2006, Vidler appeared as Steve in critically-acclaimed series Love My Way, alongside Claudia Karvan and Asher Keddie.^[22] From 2007 to 2008, he played the recurring role of Noel Anderson on long-running soap opera Home and Away.^[3] Vidler played the recurring role of a police commander in the 2012 season of Underbelly (Underbelly: Badness).^[23] He also had recurring roles as Mark Mackey in Packed to the Rafters in 2013)^[24] and as the Premier in two seasons of Rake in 2012 and 2014.^[11]

Throughout his career Vidler has also had guest roles in numerous television series including A Country Practice, G.P., Bony, Snowy River: The McGregor Saga, Halifax f.p., Police Rescue, State Coroner, Big Sky, Wildside, Water Rats, Stingers, SeaChange and McLeod's Daughters.^[11]

Vidler made his feature film directorial debut with the award-winning 1997 film Blackrock,^[25] known for being Heath Ledger’s first film role. Together with Nicholas Hammond, Vidler co-wrote 1998 miniseries A Difficult Woman, which won the Silver World Medal for best miniseries at the New York Festivals.^[3]

Vidler wrote and directed 2019 film Standing Up for Sunny, starring Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte. The film won the award for Best Indie Film at the 2020 AACTA Awards.^[3][26]

Vidler currently works as a screenwriter, director and script assistant with his company Sidekick Pictures, based in Hollywood.^[3]

Year	Title	Role	Note
1984	The Blood of Others	Autre Manifestant
1985	Robbery Under Arms	Dick Marston
1987	The Good Wife	Sugar Hills	Also known as The Umbrella Woman
1988	Incident at Raven's Gate	Eddie	Also known as Encounter at Raven's Gate
1989	Outback	Jack Donaghue	Also known as Minnamurra or Wrangler
1990	Harbour Beat	Lance Cooper
1993	Desperate Journey: The Allison Wilcox Story	Lieutenant Commander Jack Harkin
1994	No Worries	Gary Hay
1995	Napoleon	Snake / Galah / Mouse
1996	The Territorians	Robert McCabe
1998	The Thin Red Line	2nd Lieutenant Gore
1999	Two Hands	The Man
	Dog Watch	The Captain
2001	Finding Hope	Nobby
2002	The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course	Deputy Director Ansell
	A Ring of Endless Light	Mr. Gray
2003	Bad Eggs	Detective Pendlebury
2006	See No Evil	Officer Frank Williams
2007	The Home Song Stories	Bill
	See No Evil 2	Officer Frank Williams

Year	Title	Role	Note
1984	Displaced Persons	Alexander	TV movie
1985	The Dunera Boys	Tropp	Miniseries
1987	The Perfectionist	Erik	TV movie
1991	A Country Practice	Phillip Dalton	2 episodes
	G.P.	Doug	1 episode
	Bony	Jackson	1 episode
	Heartland	Phil McCarthy	6 episodes
1992	Frankie's House	Steve Cotler
1995	Snowy River: The McGregor Saga	Daniel Larson	1 episode
	Janus	Danny Wyatt	4 episodes
	Halifax f.p.	Steve Kingsley	1 episode
	Police Rescue	Scuderi	1 episode
1997	State Coroner	Salmon	1 episode
	Big Sky	Cameron	1 episode
1998	The Day of the Roses	Dick Lamb	Miniseries
	Wildside	Trevor Kierney	1 episode
1999	Water Rats	Brian Geary	1 episode
	Stingers	Todd Tregear	1 episode
	SeaChange	The Ghost	1 episode
	MDA	Nick Clarke	3 episodes
	Young Lions	Sergeant Brian Graham	1 episode
2000	The Love of Lionel's Life	Robbie	TV movie
2001	Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story	Darryl Zanuck	TV movie
	Blonde	Warren	TV movie
2004	The Mystery of Natalie Wood	Richard Gregson	TV movie
	Through My Eyes	Inspector Graeme Charlwood	Miniseries
	Small Claims	Ross	TV movie
	Salem's Lot	Sheriff Parkins Gillespie	Miniseries
2005	Jeopardy	Gerry Simmons	19 episodes
2006	Love My Way	Steven	9 episodes
	McLeod's Daughters	Hugh Doyle	1 episode
2007–2008	Home and Away	Noel Anderson	23 episodes
2009	Satisfaction	Terence	3 episodes
2012	Underbelly: Badness	Police Commander	8 episodes
2013	Packed to the Rafters	Mark Mackey	3 episodes
	Dance Academy	Neil Webster	8 episodes
2014	Rake	NSW Premier	3 episodes

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
1980	The Jubilee Horror or Sherlock Holmes' Finest Hour	Q Theatre Workshop member	Bankstown Town Hall Theatre Restaurant with Q Theatre	[27]
1982	Spring Awakening	Melchior	NIDA Theatre, Sydney	[27]
	The Cherry Orchard	Simeonov-Pishchik		[27]
	Measure for Measure	Angelo		[27]
1983	The Money or the Box?			[27]
	Traitors	Joseph Rubin		[27]
	Love's Labour's Lost	Dull	NIDA Theatre, Sydney, Playhouse, Canberra, University of Newcastle	[27]
	Summer Rain	Peter Bannister	NIDA Theatre, Sydney	[27]
1985	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Lysander	Seymour Centre, Sydney	[27][11]
1987	Hamlet / Henry IV, Part 1		STC	[27]
	Onkaparinga		Festival of Sydney with DT2 Company	[11]
1987–1988	Away	Tom / Ric	Sydney Opera House with STC	[27][11]
1988		Tom	Pepsico Summerfare New York with STC	[27][11]
	Summer of the Seventeenth Doll	Johnny		[27][11]
	1841		Sydney Opera House with STC, Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA	[27]
	The Seagull	Konstantin	Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA	[27][11]
1989	The Tempest	Caliban		[27][11]
1990	Words of One Syllable	Robert	Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney	[27][11]
1991	Henry IV, Part 1	Gadshill / Douglas / various	Sydney Olympic Park, Blackfriars Theatre, Sydney with STC	[27][11]
	King Golgrutha	Achilles / Simon from Loans / Georg, the Ex	Playhouse, Adelaide with STCSA	[27][11]
1992	Britannicus	Nero	NIDA Theatre, Sydney	[27][11]
	Lost in Yonkers	Uncle Louie / Eddie	Australian tour with STC	[11][28]
1993	Picasso at the Lapin Agile		Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne with Playbox Theatre Company	[27][11]
1994	Hamlet	Fortinbras / various	Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney	[27][11]
1999	Popcorn	Bruce	Pictures This Productions	[11]
Undated	Planet Pres	Hero	Playhouse, Perth	[11]
Undated	Death of a Salesman		STC	[11]
Undated	Development Site		HSC Schools Program with STC	[11]
Undated	King Lear	Goneril / various	STC	[11]

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
1984	The Blood of Others	Trainee assistant director
1991	Blood Runners	Director	Short film
1993	Fishing	Writer / Director / Producer	Short film	[4]
1994	Hell, Texas & Home	Writer	Short film	[11]
1995	Audacious	Script editor	Short film
1997	Blackrock	Director / Script editor		[25]
2009	Handyman	Writer	As yet unproduced	[4]
2010	Horrendo's Curse	Writer	As yet unproduced	[29]
2012	The Fourth Knot	Writer	As yet unproduced	[2][4]
2019	Standing Up for Sunny	Writer / Director		[3][26]

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
1995	G.P.	Writer	Season 7, episode 9: "Not Fade Away"
1998	A Difficult Woman	Co-writer	Miniseries, 3 episodes	[3]
2000	Above the Law	Writer	Season 1, episode 19: "Redline"
2001	Corridors of Power	Writer	Season 1, episode 2
	Finding Hope	Second Unit Director	TV movie
2003	La bête du Gévaudan (aka Beast of Gévaudan)	Storyboard artist	TV movie
2011	SLiDE	Script producer		[2]
2011; 2012	Neighbours	Writer	3 episodes
Undated	Home and Away	Script producer		[2]
Undated	Hi-5	Writer / Lyricist		[2]

Year	Title	Role	Note	Ref.
2025	The Vanya Variations	Writer		[30]