# Tony McNamara (writer)
**Tony McNamara** (born 1966, though some databases give 1967) is an Australian writer and producer best known for the Academy Award-nominated screenplays of *The Favourite* (2018) and *Poor Things* (2023), both directed by [Yorgos Lanthimos](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorgos-lanthimos), and for creating the Hulu series *The Great*.[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/es/name/nm1110111/) He began as a playwright, moved through Australian television, and became an international screenwriter whose work blends historical and fantastical settings with contemporary humor.[3](https://www.screen.nsw.gov.au/news/screen-nsw-masterclass-with-tony-mcnamara)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 per Entertainment.ie; IMDb and doollee list 1967; born in Kilmore, Victoria[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/es/name/nm1110111/) • [4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tony-mcnamara/bio/3000100652/) |
| Training | BA in Film and Television Writing, AFTRS, 1995 (ACMI gives 1996)[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) • [6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) |
| First play | *The Café Latte Kid*, staged by Sydney Theatre Company in 1994 while he was still in film school[7](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/march/harry-windsor/pure-things-tony-mcnamara) |
| Oscar nominations | Best Original Screenplay for *The Favourite* (2019); Best Adapted Screenplay for *Poor Things* (2024)[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) |
| BAFTA | Winner, Best Original Screenplay, for *The Favourite* (2019)[8](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_mcnamara/) |
| Television | Creator and showrunner of *The Great*; Emmy-nominated in 2020 for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series[9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tony-mcnamara) |
| Recent work | *The Roses* (2025); the announced Hulu series *Mosquito*[10](https://www.aactafestival.com/speaker/tony-mcnamara) • [11](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1110111/news/) |
## Early life and theater career
McNamara grew up in Kilmore, Victoria.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tony-mcnamara/bio/3000100652/) Before becoming a playwright he worked as a stockbroker, and he has said he failed year 11 English.[12](https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/film/2020/06/12/oscar-nominated-screenwriter-tony-mcnamara/15919248589980) He decided to become a writer while traveling alone in Rome, initially wanting to write novels, and later said he could write dialogue but not prose.[12](https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/film/2020/06/12/oscar-nominated-screenwriter-tony-mcnamara/15919248589980) Back in Australia, a playwriting class at RMIT confirmed the direction; he wrote his first play, *The Café Latte Kid*, while waiting tables on Brunswick Street in Melbourne, and used the manuscript to apply to the Australian Film Television and Radio School.[7](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/march/harry-windsor/pure-things-tony-mcnamara) • [5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/)
**Sydney Theatre Company premieres.** *The Café Latte Kid* was staged by the [Sydney Theatre Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-theatre-company) in 1994, while McNamara was still at film school, and was nominated for the NSW Premier's Literary Award.[7](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/march/harry-windsor/pure-things-tony-mcnamara) • [6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) In 1995 he won the Phillip Parsons' Award for Young Playwrights.[13](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/the-grenade-readies-for-stc-season/) His subsequent plays received premiere seasons at the company through the following decade and a half: *The John Wayne Principle* (1996), *The Recruit* (2000), *The Virgin Mim* (2002), *The Unlikely Prospect of Happiness* (2004), *The Give and Take* (2005), *The Great* (2008), and *The Grenade* (2010).[6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) He was playwright in residence at Sydney Theatre Company in 1997.[14](https://theagency.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TONY-McNAMARA.pdf) Reviewers described his theater work as wild-swinging satire aimed at the darker side of human nature, and his early plays drew on observations from his years in stockbroking and the money markets.[13](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/the-grenade-readies-for-stc-season/) • [15](https://www.greenleft.org.au/1996/232/culture/world-corporate-carnivores)
## Film school and early screen work
McNamara graduated from AFTRS with a BA in Film and Television Writing in 1995, in a class that included Rachel Perkins and Warwick Thornton.[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) The Beat Manifesto, the short film he made to graduate, earned AFI Awards for both Best Short and Best Screenplay; Nettheim directed it, having also co-written the script with Mathew Schulz and McNamara.[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) *The Café Latte Kid* provided the basis for his first feature, *The Rage in Placid Lake*, starring [Rose Byrne](https://www.edgepedia.org/rose-byrne) and musician [Ben Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-lee), which he also directed.[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) The film's screenplay won the 2003 AFI Award for Best Screenplay, Adapted from Another Source.[4](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tony-mcnamara/bio/3000100652/)
He then wrote for Australian television series including *Love My Way*, *Tangle*, *[Offspring](https://www.edgepedia.org/offspring-tv-series)*, and *The Secret Life of Us*, and created Channel Nine's medical drama *Doctor Doctor*, which ran for five series.[13](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/the-grenade-readies-for-stc-season/) • [12](https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/film/2020/06/12/oscar-nominated-screenwriter-tony-mcnamara/15919248589980) • [6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/)
## The Favourite and international film work
McNamara's international breakthrough came with *The Favourite* (2018), co-written with Deborah Davis and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. According to his own account in interviews, Lanthimos chose him after reviewing hundreds of playwrights.[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/) The screenplay earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2019; the film also won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film.[8](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_mcnamara/) He followed it by co-writing Disney's *Cruella* (2021).[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/)
*Poor Things* (2023), his adaptation of [Alasdair Gray](https://www.edgepedia.org/alasdair-gray)'s novel for Lanthimos, brought a second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Adapted Screenplay, along with nominations at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Critics' Choice Awards.[5](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/) • [8](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_mcnamara/) He won the AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay in Film for it.[16](https://www.aacta.org/our-news/media-room/aacta-announce-the-winners-for-the-2024-aacta-awards-presented-by-foxtel-group/) His most recent film, *The Roses*, directed by [Jay Roach](https://www.edgepedia.org/jay-roach) and starring [Olivia Colman](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-colman) and Benedict Cumberbatch, was released on 28 August 2025.[10](https://www.aactafestival.com/speaker/tony-mcnamara) He is also scripting a Star Wars film and a project called *Evangeline*.[1](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/)
## The Great
*The Great* began as a 2008 Sydney Theatre Company stage play, an imaginative take on the rise of Catherine the Great of Russia, and was McNamara's first period piece after a run of contemporary satires.[6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) • [17](https://sydneyartsguide.com.au/the-great/) In 2018 he wrote and produced the pilot for the Hulu series adaptation, starring [Elle Fanning](https://www.edgepedia.org/elle-fanning) and [Nicholas Hoult](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-hoult); the ten-episode first season screened in 2020.[6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) The show is billed as "an occasionally true story" and condenses history for entertainment value.[18](https://time.com/5835131/the-great-hulu-review/) McNamara was nominated for a 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and the series was nominated for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, at the Golden Globes.[9](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tony-mcnamara) • [6](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/) He has described its tone as a black comedy with a dash of satire, written as a drama with a comic thrust, and cites the comedy-drama *M*A*S*H* as the defining influence on his style.[19](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/its-not-a-history-lesson-writer-tony-mcnamara-talks-the-great/)
A follow-up series, *Mosquito*, reuniting him with Nicholas Hoult alongside [Daisy Edgar-Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/daisy-edgar-jones), received a six-episode straight-to-series order at Hulu.[11](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1110111/news/)
## Style
McNamara's work is characterized by reimagining historical and fantastical worlds through a contemporary lens, blending comedy, drama, and social satire.[3](https://www.screen.nsw.gov.au/news/screen-nsw-masterclass-with-tony-mcnamara) He has said he does not write history lessons: for *The Great* he deliberately dropped fidelity to period dialogue and source material, keeping only the tentpole scenes needed to honor Catherine's story, and focused on her inner life rather than her governing.[19](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/its-not-a-history-lesson-writer-tony-mcnamara-talks-the-great/) He describes himself as unable to write straight drama, saying everything he writes must have some comedy, and works intuitively, often starting from a character's dialogue and building the story backward from it.[19](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/its-not-a-history-lesson-writer-tony-mcnamara-talks-the-great/)
## References
1. [Tony McNamara, Entertainment.ie](https://entertainment.ie/person/tony-mcnamara/)
2. [Tony McNamara, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es/name/nm1110111/)
3. [Screen NSW Masterclass with Tony McNamara](https://www.screen.nsw.gov.au/news/screen-nsw-masterclass-with-tony-mcnamara)
4. [Tony McNamara Biography, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tony-mcnamara/bio/3000100652/)
5. [Oscar Nomination for AFTRS Alum Tony McNamara, AFTRS](https://www.aftrs.edu.au/news/2024/oscar-nomination-for-aftrs-alum-tony-mcnamara/)
6. [Tony McNamara, ACMI](https://www.acmi.net.au/creators/tony-mcnamara/)
7. [Pure Things: Tony McNamara, The Monthly](https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2024/march/harry-windsor/pure-things-tony-mcnamara)
8. [Tony McNamara, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_mcnamara/)
9. [Tony McNamara, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/tony-mcnamara)
10. [Tony McNamara, AACTA Festival](https://www.aactafestival.com/speaker/tony-mcnamara)
11. [Tony McNamara News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1110111/news/)
12. [Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony McNamara, The Saturday Paper](https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/film/2020/06/12/oscar-nominated-screenwriter-tony-mcnamara/15919248589980)
13. [The Grenade readies for STC season, AussieTheatre](https://www.aussietheatre.com.au/news/the-grenade-readies-for-stc-season/)
14. [Tony McNamara CV, The Agency](https://theagency.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/TONY-McNAMARA.pdf)
15. [In the world of corporate carnivores, Green Left](https://www.greenleft.org.au/1996/232/culture/world-corporate-carnivores)
16. [2024 AACTA Awards Winners, AACTA](https://www.aacta.org/our-news/media-room/aacta-announce-the-winners-for-the-2024-aacta-awards-presented-by-foxtel-group/)
17. [The Great review, Sydney Arts Guide](https://sydneyartsguide.com.au/the-great/)
18. [Russia's Inimitable Catherine Gets The Favourite Treatment in Hulu's The Great, TIME](https://time.com/5835131/the-great-hulu-review/)
19. ["It's Not A History Lesson" Writer Tony McNamara Talks 'The Great', Creative Screenwriting](https://www.creativescreenwriting.com/cswcms/its-not-a-history-lesson-writer-tony-mcnamara-talks-the-great/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Theater and dance › Playwrights and dramatists › Anglophone playwrights › Australian and New Zealand dramatists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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