# Sullivan Stapleton
**Sullivan Stapleton** (born 1977) is an Australian actor and producer known for the crime film *Animal Kingdom* (2010), the action series *Strike Back* (Cinemax, 2010–15), the film *300: Rise of an Empire* (2014), and the NBC series *Blindspot* (2015).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) He built his career in Australian television before his international breakthrough, and he has since worked across American and Australian film and television.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) |
| Profession | Actor and producer; height 6′ 1″ (1.85 m)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) |
| Breakthrough role | Craig Cody in *Animal Kingdom* (2010), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and earned him an AFI Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/) |
| Signature TV roles | Sgt. Damien Scott in *Strike Back* (Cinemax, 2010–15) and FBI Agent Kurt Weller in *Blindspot* (NBC, 2015)[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/) • [5](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/manliest-man-television-7694/) |
| Lead film role | Themistokles in *300: Rise of an Empire* (2014), which grossed $338 million worldwide[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) • [6](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sullivan-stapleton) |
| Recognition | Australians in Film Breakthrough Award, presented at a Benefit Dinner in Los Angeles on October 24, 2013[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) |
| Career span | Active from 1994, with more than 41 film and television credits[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton) • [7](https://www.archytele.com/person/sullivan-stapleton) |
## Early life and Australian television
Stapleton was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1977.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) He entered the industry through childhood modeling and commercials: his mother enrolled him and his sister in a children's modeling agency after an aunt did the same with his cousins, and he appeared in television commercials from the age of 11.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) • [8](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/bio/3000513131/) A director who saw his photographs invited him to act in a short film, and he later trained at Melbourne's St. Martin's Theater.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) • [9](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2009321/biographies)
His first onscreen appearance came in the Australian TV movie *Baby Bath Massacre* (1994).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton) After a string of little-seen features and homegrown dramas, he joined the long-running soap opera *Neighbours*, taking a recurring role in 1998 as the boyfriend of an aspiring swimmer played by Emily Milburn.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton) He then appeared on the cult favorite serial *The Secret Life of Us* (Network Ten, 2001–05), which followed young professionals living in the same apartment building in the beachside Melbourne suburb of St Kilda.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton) Through the late 1990s and 2000s he was also a regular on Australian series including *Stingers*, *Something in the Air*, *Underbelly*, and *Rush*.[10](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx) • [11](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/credits/3000513131/)
His first mainstream feature role came in 2007 with the action thriller *The Condemned*, about prisoners sent to a remote island to fight to the death for a television producer; the same year he played Fearless, a carnival motorbike rider, in the coming-of-age drama *December Boys* starring [Daniel Radcliffe](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-radcliffe).[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/)
## Breakthrough: Animal Kingdom
*Animal Kingdom* (2010), [David Michôd](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-michod)'s crime drama about a notorious Melbourne armed-robbery family, cast Stapleton as Craig Cody, one of the sons of [Jacki Weaver](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacki-weaver)'s matriarch Smurf, alongside [Guy Pearce](https://www.edgepedia.org/guy-pearce), Joel Edgerton, and Ben Mendelsohn.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/) • [12](https://www.filmink.com.au/family-business-making-animal-kingdom/) The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and earned Stapleton a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Australian Film Institute Awards.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/) It remains his highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes at 94 percent.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton)
The role changed his career trajectory. He has said that around the time of the film he was considering quitting acting to work as a grip or a full-time builder, and he marked the film's importance by having its title tattooed on his arm in [Thai script](https://www.edgepedia.org/thai-script).[12](https://www.filmink.com.au/family-business-making-animal-kingdom/) After the film's Sundance success he returned to Los Angeles, signed with an agent, and soon auditioned for *Strike Back*.[13](https://www.artsbeatla.com/2014/03/300-roe/)
## International career
**Strike Back.** In 2011 Stapleton co-starred with [Philip Winchester](https://www.edgepedia.org/philip-winchester) on the military drama *Strike Back* (Cinemax, 2010–15), playing an American Delta Force operative who teams with a British intelligence officer against an international terrorist organization.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/) The series became his breakthrough international television role, and he spent months shooting in South Africa.[10](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx)
**Hollywood films.** His first American film was *Gangster Squad* (2013), in which he appeared with [Ryan Gosling](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-gosling), Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and [Emma Stone](https://www.edgepedia.org/emma-stone) in [Ruben Fleischer](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruben-fleischer)'s story of the LAPD's fight against a Brooklyn-born mobster in 1949 Los Angeles.[10](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx) He then took the lead role of the Greek general Themistokles in *300: Rise of an Empire* (2014), the sequel to Zack Snyder's 2007 film *300*, directed by Noam Murro.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) • [10](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx) The film had an opening-week global gross of $136 million and went on to gross $338 million worldwide.[14](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meet-300-hero-sullivan-stapleton-hollywood-next-leading-162059988.html) • [6](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sullivan-stapleton) Preparing for the role while still shooting *Strike Back*, he trained three hours a day, splitting the time between sword work and the gym.[15](https://www.filmink.com.au/sullivan-stapleton-takes-aim-with-strike-back/)
**Blindspot.** In 2015 he took the lead as FBI Agent Kurt Weller in the NBC series *Blindspot*, created by Martin Gero, in which a tattooed amnesiac ([Jaimie Alexander](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaimie-alexander)) is found in [Times Square](https://www.edgepedia.org/times-square) and each episode decodes clues inked on her skin.[5](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/manliest-man-television-7694/) Gero said Stapleton was at the top of his list for the role, needing an actor who could combine physical competence with emotional vulnerability.[5](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/manliest-man-television-7694/)
**Later work.** His subsequent credits include the Australian films *Cut Snake* (2014), *[Kill Me Three Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/kill-me-three-times)* (2014), *Ride Like a Girl* (2019), and *A Sunburnt Christmas* (2020), the action film *[Renegades](https://www.edgepedia.org/renegades-2017-film)* (2017), and the television series *After the Verdict* (2022).[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/) He also served as executive producer on *A Boy Called Sailboat* (2018).[11](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/credits/3000513131/)
## Recognition and personal life
In August 2013, [Australians](https://www.edgepedia.org/australians) in Film announced that Stapleton would receive the organization's Breakthrough Award at a Benefit Dinner held October 24, 2013, in Los Angeles.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) His other nominations include the 2010 AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor for *Animal Kingdom* and the 2015 AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor.[8](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/bio/3000513131/)
He is the brother of actress Jacinta Stapleton, known for *Neighbours*, and was the former partner of actress Carla Bonner, splitting in late 2007 after two and a half years together.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/) Between acting jobs he has worked on building sites and as a grip, a lighting technician, on film and television productions.[10](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx)
## References
1. [Sullivan Stapleton, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/)
2. [Sullivan Stapleton Movies & TV Shows List, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/sullivan-stapleton)
3. [Sullivan Stapleton Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0822982/bio/)
4. [Sullivan Stapleton, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/sullivan-stapleton/)
5. [Who Is the 'Manliest Man on Television'?, Backstage Magazine](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/manliest-man-television-7694/)
6. [Sullivan Stapleton: Movies, Awards & Box Office, What's After the Movie](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/sullivan-stapleton)
7. [Sullivan Stapleton: Movies, TV Shows & Biography, Archytele](https://www.archytele.com/person/sullivan-stapleton)
8. [Sullivan Stapleton Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/bio/3000513131/)
9. [Biographies: Sullivan Stapleton, ElCinema](https://elcinema.com/en/person/2009321/biographies)
10. [Stapleton breaks out after Animal Kingdom, SBS What's On](https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/stapleton-breaks-out-after-animal-kingdom/7cwrfesqx)
11. [Sullivan Stapleton List of Movies and TV Shows, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sullivan-stapleton/credits/3000513131/)
12. [Family Business: The Making Of Animal Kingdom, FilmInk](https://www.filmink.com.au/family-business-making-animal-kingdom/)
13. [Interview with Sullivan Stapleton, ArtsBeatLA](https://www.artsbeatla.com/2014/03/300-roe/)
14. [Meet '300' Hero Sullivan Stapleton, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/meet-300-hero-sullivan-stapleton-hollywood-next-leading-162059988.html)
15. [Sullivan Stapleton: Takes Aim With Strike Back, FilmInk](https://www.filmink.com.au/sullivan-stapleton-takes-aim-with-strike-back/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames O to S*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license