Matt Levett is an Australian actor known for playing Andrew Swanson in Australian period drama series A Place to Call Home and Brendan Mahony in 2014 miniseries Devil's Playground.
Early life and education Levett was born in Sydney, Australia, where he grew up alongside brother Simon, performing in plays for the neighbourhood. He then went on to act in plays and musicals at high school.
Levett studied film at Sydney's Macquarie University, before being accepted into the acting course Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at the age of 23, from where he graduated in 2009. In his time at WAAPA, he was awarded the Sally Burton prize for Most Outstanding Performance in a Classical Text, and the Lesley Anderson award.
Career Levett's first on screen role was in the controversial 2005 Australian short film Boys Grammar, opposite Jai Courtney and Adam J. Yeend. He had early guest roles in several television series including short-lived drama The Cooks and medical drama All Saints in 2005, followed by mystery anthology series Two Twisted in 2006. He also appeared in the recurring guest role of Charlie McKinnon in long-running soap opera Home and Away.
Levett's first supporting role in a TV series was in the 2010 third season of comedy-drama Bed of Roses as Holly's friend Sean Smithwick. He took over the role from Tim Phillipps. In 2012, the short film Unwanted Friend, directed and produced by Levett, was a finalist in the Tropfest short film festival. That same year, he had a recurring guest role in Winners and Losers as Spencer Campbell in 2012, before guesting as Brick in teen dance drama series Dance Academy in 2013.
Levett's then landed his best known role, as Andrew Swanson in period drama series A Place to Call Home, which he played from 2013. Following this, he took on the role of Brendan Mahoney in 2014 AACTA and Logie Award-winning miniseries Devil's Playground, a sequel to the 1976 classic Fred Schepisi film of the same name.
In 2015, Levett was awarded the prestigious Heath Ledger Scholarship in Los Angeles, with judges for that year including Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Vince Vaughn, Kieran Darcy-Smith and Gregor Jordan. That same year, he played the lead role of champion lifesaver, Len Smithy, in the critically acclaimed 2015 Australian feature film Drown. As a member of filmmakers collective, ScreenInkMedia, he also wrote and directed 2015 short film Kid.
In 2016, Levett joined the cast of drama series The Secret Daughter in the role of Jack's youngest son, Jamie Norton and appeared in two episodes of horror series Wolf Creek. The following year, he wrote, directed and produced the short film The Death of George Montgomery, also starring in the titular role. In 2018, he served as associate producer on D.C. Fairhurst's debut feature film Reaching Distance. Then in 2019, he was a recipient of the NIDA Gloria Payten Fellowship.
Levett starred as stockbroker Matt Markovich in 2021 mob revenge action thriller film Payback. In 2022, he played the lead role in black and white feature film Misplaced, shot entirely on an iPhone 11. He is set to appear in the upcoming romantic comedy film Pickpockets, opposite Tim Minchin.
Additionally, Levett has provided voiceover work for numerous advertising campaigns including Hungry Jack's, Mazda, Commonwealth Bank, Red Cross, Griffith University, Vodafone and Medibank and has also appeared in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold and AMF Bowling.
Levett is the founder of Sydney-based acting studio The Actors Workout. Before establishing the studio, he taught and directed at NIDA, The Hub Studio, Screenwise, The Actors Centre and Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP).
Acting credits
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref 2005 Boys Grammar Gareth Short film (segment of anthology film Boys Briefs 3: Between the Boys) 2006 Afterlife Simon Short film 2009 Sorrento Short film 2011 Blue Monday Short film 2013 Adore (aka Adoration or Two Mothers Workshop Performer Feature film The Fragments Dom Short film Showboy Asher Short film 2015 Drown Len Smithy Feature film Kid Danny Short film 2017 The Death of George Montgomery George Montgomery Short film 2018 Blood Orange Michael Short film 2021 Payback Mike Markovich Feature film Sunset People Sebastian 2022 Misplaced Him Feature film 2024 It Will Find You Robert Short film 2025 It Will Find You Robert Feature film 2026 Drax Nickolas Eryulan Feature film Flow Boyfriend Short film Bite the Hand Dusty Short film;completed Pickpockets Post-production
Television Year Title Role Notes Ref2005 The Cooks Boy #3 1 episode All Saints Marcus McCallum 1 episode 2006 Home and Away Charlie McKinnon 8 episodes Two Twisted Matthew 2 episodes 2010 Rescue: Special Ops Luke Mortley 1 episode 2010–2011 Bed of Roses Sean Smithwick Season 3, 12 episodes 2012 Winners and Losers Spencer Campbell 4 episodes 2013 Dance Academy Brick Season 3, 1 episode 2013–2014; 2018 A Place to Call Home Andrew Swanson 13 episodes 2014 Devil's Playground Brendan Mahoney Miniseries, 6 episodes 2016 The Secret Daughter Jamie Norton 12 episodes Wolf Creek Kevin 2 episodes
Theatre Year Title Role Notes Ref 2011 Girl's Backstage Choices Newtown Theatre, Sydney 2019 Things I Know to Be True Ben Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
Writer / director / producer credits
Film Year Title Role Notes Ref 2012 Unwanted Friend Director / Producer / Editor Short film 2015 Kid Director / Producer / Editor Short film 2017 The Death of George Montgomery Writer / Director / Producer Short film 2018 Reaching Distance Associate producer Feature film
Theatre Year Title Role Notes Ref 2011 Girl's Backstage Choices Director Newtown Theatre, Sydney
References
External links
Matt Levett at Scout Management