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Ian Bliss (born 30 June 1966) is an Australian film, television, and stage character actor, he has appeared in numerous Australian television dramas including Heartbreak High, Wentworth and as several characters in the Underbelly universe.

Education

Bliss graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art. He also attained a Bachelor of Education while studying his acting degree at NIDA.

Career

Bliss starred in an episode of Halifax f.p. in 1996.

He is best known for his role as Bane and Agent Smith in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), for which he was chosen by the Wachowskis because of his accurate impersonation of Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith's program form), and also his partial resemblance to Weaving.

After the Matrix sequels, Bliss took minor roles in the feature films Stealth and Superman Returns. He played the Peacekeeper scientist Drillic in the Farscape episode "Losing Time". Bliss appeared in episode 8 of the 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific as Capt. Le Francois, and appeared in surf series The Reef. He has appeared in several Australian television drama series including Heartbreak High, Underbelly, Blue Murder and Canal Road.

Stage performances include the lead role in War Horse, in Sydney's Lyric Theatre.

Bliss is also a sought-after voice-over artist and has provided his voice to many animated series such as Big Words, Small Stories, Kuu Kuu Harajuku, Get Ace and SheZow. He has also given his voice to the Bowel Cancer Australia campaigns that went to air every year from 2018. Bliss also provided his voice for numerous audiobooks including Dinner with the Schnabels and Final Act.

Bliss appeared in Underbelly adaptation Informer 3838 as Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, the commissioner oversaw the gangland war issuing Taskforce Purana. This was his third appearance in the Underbelly universe, having also appeared in the original Underbelly as "Mr L" and in Fat Tony & Co as Bernie Edwards.

In 2018 Bliss appeared in season 6 of Wentworth, playing Senior Detective Collins; he reprised the role in the final series of Wentworth, appearing in a total of six episodes.

Bliss in 2022 joined the cast for SBS drama Safe Home, where he played Detective O'Connor.

In 2023, he appeared in the horror movie Late Night with the Devil in the role of Carmichael Haig. Bliss revealed later in an interview that he originally was hired as a reader for the movie's audition process and was set to play a different role in the film, but four days before filming began, he was asked to take over the role of Haig. In the same interview, Bliss confirmed that he would appear in the upcoming Netflix series The Survivors.

In 2023 Bliss appeared in the theatre play My Sister Jill.

Personal life

Bliss has been married to actress Jacquie Brennan since 2001. They met on the set of the theatre play Silhouette. Bliss and Brennan have two children together.

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio books

Video games

Theatre

References

1. Jary, Marta. "State of Bliss: Australian Actor Ian Bliss Has a Distinctive Face That Has Been Seen in Homegrown Film Productions Such as Siam Sunset (John Poison, 1999) and the Bank (Robert Connolly, 2001)". Metro Magazine. No. 141 (Summer 2004 ed.).
2. "Ian Bliss | Careers Talk AUS". Retrieved 24 December 2022.
3. "Australian Television: Heartbreak High: cast pictures". australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
4. Palathingal, George (28 March 2013). "My perfect weekend: Ian Bliss, actor". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
5. "Ian Bliss". scoutmanagement.com.au. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
6. "KuuKuu Harajuku series 1 (2016) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
7. "Big Words, Small Stories (2021) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
8. https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Final-Act-Audiobook/B09CG47KJ5?qid=1699882165&sr=1-1&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_1&pf_rd_p=771c6463-05d7-4981-9b47-920dc34a70f1&pf_rd_r=ZDDVY2RW7EK2QMBJ48Z9&pageLoadId=svMKq6tHqTo9uWpF&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=adcc4fec-4d90-49d1-997e-8be21d68ce7f
9. https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Dinner-with-the-Schnabels-Audiobook/B09TBJRLMK?qid=1699882165&sr=1-2&ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&ref=a_search_c3_lProduct_1_2&pf_rd_p=771c6463-05d7-4981-9b47-920dc34a70f1&pf_rd_r=ZDDVY2RW7EK2QMBJ48Z9&pageLoadId=svMKq6tHqTo9uWpF&ref_plink=not_applicable&creativeId=adcc4fec-4d90-49d1-997e-8be21d68ce7f
10. "Australian Television: Informer 3838: cast". www.australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
11. "Australian Television: Underbelly: Cast".
12. "Australian Television: Wentworth: series 6 cast". australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
13. "SBS reveal cast for new Australian thriller series Safe Home". SBS Corporate. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
14. "Stomach-Ripping And Throat-Slitting: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL At SXSW". FANGORIA. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
15. Mendelsohn, Jon (24 June 2022). "David Dastmalchian to Star in Indie Horror 'Late Night With the Devil'". Collider. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
16. Keast, Jackie (12 January 2023). "'Late Night with the Devil', 'Monolith', 'Talk to Me' off to SXSW". IF Magazine. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
17. NIDA (18 April 2024). "Behind the Scenes with Ian Bliss: Exploring the Making of Late Night with the Devil". www.nida.edu.au. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
18. On, Thuy (29 September 2023). "Theatre review: My Sister Jill, Southbank Theatre". www.artshub.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
19. "What's On". www.mtc.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
20. Preston, Kahla (25 April 2020). "How We Met: 'He said if I made him a bread and butter pudding, he'd propose'". honey.nine.com.au. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
21. Australian Television: Blue Murder: cast
22. Australian Television: Heartbreak High: episode guide: series 3
23. Australian Television: The Lost World: guest stars
24. Australian Television: Killing Time: cast
25. "Get Ace (2014) - The Screen Guide - Screen Australia". www.screenaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
26. "South of the River host Alli Harding chats with actor Ian Bliss and true crime writer Emily Webb – podcast now available – 88.3 Southern FM". Southern FM. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
27. "Jasper Jones". www.mtc.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2024.

External links

• Ian Bliss at IMDb
• Ian Bliss at LMCM
• Ian Bliss on Instagram
• Ian Bliss at Scout Management (voice)

• Living people
• Australian male television actors
• Australian male film actors
• 1966 births
• Male actors from Sydney