Hugo Weaving AO (b. 1960) graduated from NIDA in 1981 and made his television debut in the 1984 series Bodyline. After appearing in Bangkok Hilton (1989) he won the AFI Best Actor Award for his performance in Proof (1991). Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) and Babe (1995) helped him to establish an international reputation. Between 1999 and 2003 he starred as Agent Smith in the blockbuster The Matrix and its two sequels. He played the elf-king Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001–2003) and has since appeared in many film and theatre roles. Weaving first performed with the Sydney Theatre Company in 1982, and has worked on more than twenty of its productions.
Nicholas Harding was an avid theatregoer and came to know Hugo Weaving over the years. In this portrait, an Archibald Prize finalist, Harding emphasised his famous friend’s love of domesticity through the inclusion of elements such as his tea in a handmade cup and glimpses of a painting by his wife, a sculpture by his son and his daughter's ukulele. 'Hugo is a man of many horizons', Harding said. 'I've sought to capture him in an unguarded, pensive moment, looking away to the garden outside to evoke a sense of privacy.'
Purchased with funds provided by the Liangis family 2012
© Nicholas Harding
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