Thomas Budge (born 15 March 1982) is an Australian television and film actor.

Early life Budge was born in Melbourne, Victoria.

Career

Screen Early in his acting career, Budge appeared in a number of Australian television shows, beginning with a recurring guest role in long-running soap opera Neighbours. He also had regular roles in children's series Round the Twist, playing Tiger Gleeson in seasons 3 and 4, from 2001 to 2002, and comedy-drama series Shock Jock as Clive Rank from 2001 to 2002.

Budge then transitioned from television to film, making his silver screen debut alongside Nathan Phillips and Luke Carroll as Pickles in 2002 sports drama Australian Rules. He reunited with Phillips in 2003 comedy film Take Away, which also starred Rose Byrne, Vince Colosimo and Stephen Curry. That same year, he played the role of Normie Norman in comedy film The Honourable Wally Norman.

In 2005, Budge appeared in western film The Proposition, playing opposite Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone as Samuel Stoat and in Three Dollars with David Wenham and Frances O'Connor. 2006 saw him appear in several films, including World War II feature Kokoda with Angus Sampson and Ewen Leslie and romantic drama Candy, alongside Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. For his performance as Trev in 2006 thriller Last Train to Freo, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at both the Australian Film Institute Awards and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.

In 2008, Budge joined the cast of Ten Empty, including Jack Thompson and Brendan Cowell, playing the role of Brett. That same year, he was tipped to play AC/DC guitarist Angus Young in a movie about the former AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott. From 2008 to 2009, Budge appeared in several episodes of the television drama East of Everything, before landing a role in 2009 musical comedy drama Bran Nue Dae with Geoffrey Rush and Jessica Mauboy. He then played PFC Ronnie Gibson in Steven Spielberg-produced HBO World War 2 miniseries The Pacific, which aired in 2010.

Budge featured opposite Deborah Mailman in 2012 biographical TV movie Mabo, about Torres Strait Islander activist Eddie Mabo, who campaigned for Indigenous land rights. He then appeared opposite Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites in 2014 crime drama film Son of a Gun, playing the role of Josh. In 2015, he portrayed Cliff Sutton in the World War I miniseries Gallipoli, starring Kodi Smit-McPhee. He then had an ongoing role as Jeremy in comedy-drama series The Wrong Girl, with Jessica Marais, in 2017.

In 2019, Budge played town mayor Mr. Frankly in Mirrah Foulkes’ directorial debut feature film Judy and Punch, alongside Damon Herriman and Mia Wasikowska. He then played the regular role of Shane in sci-fi mystery drama series Bloom, opposite Bryan Brown, Jacki Weaver and Phoebe Tonkin. In early 2020, it was announced that Budge had been cast in an undisclosed role in The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. In March 2021, he walked away from the role due to creative differences, saying that "after recently seeing the first episodes shot over the last year, Amazon has decided to go in another direction with the character I was portraying."

Budge had a recurring guest role in comedy-drama series Upright in 2022, playing Geert, opposite Tim Minchin. In 2024, he starred as writer/producer Guy Chambers in the Robbie Williams biographical musical drama film Better Man, reuniting with his Judy and Punch co-star Herriman. That same year, he played Simpkins in comedy drama film Runt, alongside Jai Courtney and Jack Thompson.

Stage Budge has also performed for the stage, including in the Belvoir production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2004 Helpmann Awards. In 2013, he was again nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Eddie Perfect’s The Beast, with the Melbourne Theatre Company.

Budge won rave reviews for both his roles as Clov in Andrew Upton and Hugo Weaving’s 2015 production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame with the Sydney Theatre Company, and The Rasputin Affair at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre in 2017.

Music When not acting, Budge has said that he enjoys playing guitar and singing. He also performs in The Tom Budge Band, and has toured both in Australia and internationally. In the 2005 film The Proposition, Budge's character sang the Canadian folk song "Peggy Gordon", which can be found on YouTube.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2002 Australian Rules Pickles Feature film 2003 The Night We Called It a Day (aka All the Way: The Kidnapping of a Music Legend) Geeky Kid Feature film The Honourable Wally Norman Normie Norman Feature film Take Away Tarquin Feature film The Rouseabout Tom Short film Pity 24 Short film 2004 Apprentice Crash Phil Feature film2005 Three Dollars Chicken Shop Assistant Feature film The Proposition Samuel Stoat Feature film The Opposite of Velocity Trevor 2006 Candy Schumann Feature film Kokoda (aka Kokoda: 39th Battalion) Johnno Feature film The Cow Thief Robert Short film Last Train to Freo Trev Feature film 2007 Damned Abraham 2008 Ten Empty Brett Feature film $9.99 Bisley (voice) Animated feature film 2009 Everything's Alright Crash Austin 2010 Bran Nue Dae Slippery Feature film 2011 Larry Crowne Stan Feature film 2014 Son of a Gun Josh Feature film 2019 Judy and Punch Mr Frankly Feature film 2024 Better Man Guy Chambers Feature film Runt Simpkins Feature film

Television Year Title Role Notes Ref. 1999; 2000 Neighbours Tim Harrison 4 episodes 2000 The Games Michael 1 episode 2000–2001 Round the Twist Tiger Gleeson 24 episodes 2001 Horace & Tina Cameron 1 episode 2001–2002 Shock Jock Clive Rank 26 episodes 2003 Welcher & Welcher Jake Buzzo 1 episode 2005 The Glenmoore Job Peter TV series 2008–2009 East of Everything Dale 7 episodes 2009 The Pacific Ronnie 'The Kid' Gibson Miniseries 2012 Mabo Greg McIntyre TV film 2015 Gallipoli Cliff Sutton Miniseries, 7 episodes 2016 Wentworth Daz 1 episode2017 Here Come the Habibs Neville 1 episode The Wrong Girl Jeremy 10 episodes The Doctor Blake Mysteries Walter Gregan 1 episode 2018 True Story with Hamish & Andy Brett 1 episode2019 Glitch Rob 1 episode Utopia Martin 1 episode Secret Bridesmaids' Business Detective McKenzie 2 episodes 2019–2020 Bloom Shane 10 episodes 2020 How to Stay Married Dale 1 episode 2021 Artist 2 Artist William (voice) 2022 Upright Geert 2 episodes

Theatre Year Title Role Notes Ref. 2003 The Lieutenant of Inishmore Davey Belvoir Street Theatre 2013 The Beast Southbank Theatre. Melbourne with MTC 2015 Endgame Clov Sydney Theatre Company 2017 The Rasputin Affair Felix Ensemble Theatre

Awards Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2004 The Lieutenant of Inishmore Helpmann Awards Best Supporting Actor 2006 Last Train to Freo AFI Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role FCCA Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role 2013 The Beast Helpmann Awards Best Supporting Actor

References

External links