Ian Bliss
Ian Bliss is an Australian film, television, and stage character actor, who has appeared in numerous Australian television dramas including Heartbreak High, Wentworth and as several characters in the Underbelly franchise, as well as his best known role as Bane in The Matrix film series.
Early life and education
Bliss grew up in a creative family; his mother was a dancer and his father was a singer. After a family friend who was involved with an amateur theatre company hired Bliss for a role, he continued to work with the company throughout his school years. In addition to performance he also learned direction, stage management, set building, lighting and sound design.After having predominantly studied the sciences at high school, Bliss undertook his senior year at a TAFE, focusing on arts and humanities, to prepare him for pursuing study in acting. He went on to university, where he studied a Bachelor of Education majoring in drama, dance and psychology. After his graduation, he secured an agent and started procuring professional acting jobs.
Bliss then auditioned for Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art at the age of 23 and was accepted into their acting course. After graduating, he registered with one of Australia's top acting agents.
Career
Film and television
Bliss's first screen television appearance was a minor role in children's series Pugwall in 1991. After a part in 1994 film Country Life alongside Sam Neill, he landed the regular role of Andrew Bell in Australian drama series Heartbreak High from 1995 to 1996. Other early television credits include Cody, miniseries Blue Murder, Halifax f.p. and Big Sky, Murder Call, Good Guys, Bad Guys and Water Rats. In 1997, he played the recurring role of Kye Lyons, love interest of Isla Fisher’s character Shannon, in long-running soap opera Home and Away. He played the Peacekeeper scientist Drillic in the 2001 Farscape episode "Losing Time".Bliss then landed his best known role as Bane and Agent Smith in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, for which he was chosen by the Wachowskis because of his accurate impersonation of Hugo Weaving, and also his partial resemblance to Weaving.
After the Matrix sequels, Bliss appeared in local television film The Postcard Bandit and took minor roles in American blockbusters Stealth and Superman Returns. He also had further television roles in Stingers, Blue Heelers, Love My Way, McLeod's Daughters and All Saints.
Bliss played the recurring role of 'Mr L' in the original Underbelly series and made an appearance in drama series Canal Road that same year. In 2010, he had a role in episode 8 of 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific as Captain Le Francois.
He continued to make guest appearances in numerous television series before playing Senior Detective Collins in season 6 of Wentworth. He reprised the role in the final season, appearing in a total of six episodes. He also appeared in 2019 surf series Reef Break.
Bliss appeared in 2020 Underbelly adaptation Informer 3838 as Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, the commissioner who oversaw the gangland war issuing Taskforce Purana. This was his third appearance in the Underbelly franchise, having also appeared in the in 2014 series Fat Tony & Co as Bernie Edwards. In 2022, he joined the cast for SBS drama Safe Home, in which he played Detective O'Connor.
Bliss appeared in the 2023 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 cast script reader for the movie's audition process and was set to play a totally 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 2025 Netflix miniseries The Survivors. He played the role of Geoff Mallott.
On 5 March 2025, Bliss was announced as a nominee for Best Supporting Actor for the Australian Film Critics Association Awards for his role in ''Late Night with the Devil.''
Stage
Bliss's theatre performances included playing the lead role in War Horse, at Sydney's Lyric Theatre. In 2015, his performance in North by Northwest for Melbourne Theatre Company won him a Green Room Award as part of the ensemble cast.In 2023, Bliss appeared in the play My Sister Jill for Melbourne Theatre Company, again, winning a Green Room Award in 2024, as part of the ensemble cast.
Voiceover
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 voiced the Bowel Cancer Australia campaigns that went to air every year from 2018. Other television commercials have included Bupa, BMW, British Paints, Spirit of Tasmania, Mercedes-Benz, Crown Lager and Victoria University.
Bliss has also narrated several audiobooks including Dinner with the Schnabels and Final Act.