Vernon George Wells (born 31 December 1945) is an Australian character actor. He began appearing on Australian television shows in the mid-1970s, such as Homicide, Matlock Police and All the Rivers Run. He is best known to international audiences for his role of Wez in the 1981 science fiction action film Mad Max 2 and Bennett in the military action film Commando.

After Mad Max 2, Wells began appearing in Hollywood films, such as science fiction comedies Weird Science (1985) and Innerspace (1987). In the 2000s, Wells acted in the television series Power Rangers Time Force portraying the series' main villain Ransik. Since the 2010s and 2020s, he has been a staple in American action B-movies.

Career 1970s Wells worked in a quarry, then as a salesman, and then in theatre and rock bands. In the 1970s, he was selected by casting agents to appear in a theatre play, and he started to appear in Australian TV commercials, print advertisements, local Australian TV shows such as Homicide and Matlock Police and historical TV mini-series like Against The Wind, Sara Dane and All The Rivers Run.

His first cinema appearance was a minor role in Felicity (1979), a low-budget, erotic fantasy film.

1980s Wells was cast as the homicidal biker Wez, in Mad Max 2 (1981), filmed around Silverton near Broken Hill in outback New South Wales, Australia. It is the role for which he is probably best known to international audiences, as Wells portrays a psychotic, post-apocalyptic henchman who relentlessly pursues hero Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), before meeting a spectacular death at the film's finale.

Hollywood beckoned for Wells, and he spoofed his mad biker role in the popular 1985 teen comedy Weird Science, written and directed by John Hughes and produced by Joel Silver. Wells so impressed Silver with his work in that film that he was immediately secured for the role of Bennett opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985). When first approached for the role in Commando, Wells was in Australia working on the feature film, Fortress, based on the real-life Faraday School kidnapping, in a starring role opposite Rachel Ward. Wells appeared as Roo Marcus in Last Man Standing (1987). Wells played a role in the season 4 episode "Hills of Fire".

1990s and 2000s In 1992, Wells appeared in one of the few roles in which he is not cast as a villain, in the short-lived 1992 television comedy series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys. The show was about a professor who accidentally enlarged three Sea-Monkeys to human-size, and then had to deal with their comical ineptness in the world. In 1993, Wells starred in the science fiction film Fortress with Christopher Lambert (no connection to the previous movie of the same name).

Many of Wells's roles 1990s and 2000s portrayed villains, as in the films Circuitry Man (1990), Kick of Death (1997), Starforce (2000) and Power Rangers Time Force (2001). In the Power Rangers episodes, he played the role of Ransik, a mutant crime lord from the year 3000 who travels back in time to take over the world. In 2002, he reprised this role for the Power Rangers Wild Force/Time Force two-part team-up episode "Reinforcements from the Future". Wells starred in the 2009 horror film Silent Night, Zombie Night. Wells also starred in an award-winning role in “Trouble Is My Business (2018)”.

Grace, his current wife, is Japanese, and in 2015, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Commando production, he sent a congratulatory message video to his Japanese fans, partly in Japanese.

Wells lost his Pacific Palisades home, belongings and memorabilia in the Palisades Fire in January 2025.

Wells most recent film Censor Addiction is released on March 3, 2026 where he plays the character Wizard. He is also credited as Co-Producer.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28477511/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cst_sm

Selected filmography

Mad Max 2 (1981) as Wez Weird Science (1985) as Lord General Commando (1985) as Bennett Fortress (1985) as Dabby Duck MacGyver (1985) as Catlin Coming of Age (1986) as Chuck Proby (Donald) Hunter (1986) as Sonny Zajak Innerspace (1987) as Mr. Igoe Last Man Standing (1987) as Roo Marcus P.I. Private Investigations (1987) as Detective North Sunset (1988) as Houseman MacGyver (1988) as Paul Donnay Nam Angels (1989) as Chard American Eagle (1989) as Johnny Burke Enemy Unssen (1989) as Steiger Undeclared War (1990) as Hannibal (Sheng zhan feng yun) Circuitry Man (1990) as Plughead The Shrimp on the Barbie (1990) as Bruce Fortress (1992) as Maddox Ultimatum (1994) as Gerard Richter Plughead Rewired: Circuitry Man II (1994) as Plughead Manosaurus (1994) as Professor Sorenson Space Truckers (1996) as Mr. Cutt Vulcan (1997) as Greg Mitchum Billy Frankenstein (1998) as Otto von Sloane Power Rangers Time Force (2001, TV Series) as Ransik Power Rangers Wild Force (2002, TV Series) as Ransik Beneath Loch Ness (2001) as Constable Curse of the Forty-Niner (2003) as Jeremiah Stone Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as Acme VP, Child Labor Devil's Knight (2003) as Frank King of the Ants (2003) as Beckett Chastity (2005) as Trucker The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2006) as Dr. Dennis Lanyon Tru Loved (2007) as Coach Wesley Green Street 2: Stand Your Ground (2009) as Tankersley Governor The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie (2010) as Scott the Network Head Silent Night, Zombie Night (2011) as Paul Irwin Jurassic Attack (2013) as Agent Grimaldi Throwback (2014) as Detective McNab Jurassic City (2015) as Agent LaFranco Relentless Justice (2015) as Mayor Jason Macendale Timber the Treasure Dog (2016) as Wolf (Voice) The Perfect Weapon (2016) as The Interrogator Death House (2017) as Nela Landfall (2017) as Wexler Der Vertrag (2017) as Cooper Ryan (Television film) Trouble Is My Business (2018) as Detective Barry Tate Lilith (2018) as Phillip Loss Prevention (2018) as CEO Reginald Bachman Glass Jaw (2018) as Happy The City of Gold (2018) as The Inquisitor Impact Event (2018) as Ed Crossbreed (2019) as Murphy The Silent Natural (2019) as Sarah's Father Eason's Gold (2019) as Eason Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) as Prison Guard #1 Zombies V the C.W.A. (2019) as Narrator (Short) Emerald Run (2020) as Dodson No Chance (2020) as Barrett Transformed Debt Collectors (2020) as Cyrus Skinner Kill Giggles (2020) as Malcolm Fossor (Giggles) Await the Dawn (2020) as Zed Maverick N Grundy (2020) as Wesley Camp Twilight (2020) as Detective Bennett Charlie's Christmas Wish (2020) as Hank Wentworth Starspawn: Overture (2020) as Randolph Sutton (Short) Social Distance (2020) as Gil Oldman Jr. Red Snow (2021) as Julius King Frost (2021) as Grant Christmas Collision (2021) as Ronan The Price We Pay (2022) as The Doctor Forbearance (2022) as Dr. George Ross A Bachelor's Valentine (2022) as Stuart Knapp Sally Floss: Digital Detective (2022) as Papa Ghost (2023) as Jeremiah The Green Oak Guardian (2023) as Lemmy LaRoux Apex Predators 2: The Spawning (2024) as Bartender Wells Censor Addiction (2026) as Wizard Days of Sodom: A Crow Fan Film as Mayor "Mino"

Video games Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan (2005) Ridge Darksiders (2010) Samael Darksiders II (2012) Samael Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016) Jim Miller Darksiders Genesis (2019) as Samael

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2014 The Scare-A-Con Film Festival Best Supporting Actor 2020 NYC Indie Film Awards Best Actor 2020 Rome Prisma Independent Film Awards Best Supporting Actor 2020 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival BEST ACTOR (Short Film) 2021 Film Invasion L.A. Best Actor in a Lead Role

References

External links