Manu Bennett

Did you know?!

1. A role that slipped away

   In August 2002, Bennett landed a screen test for a part in The Cradle of Life, the Tomb Raider sequel, acting opposite Angelina Jolie. Gerard Butler won the role instead.

2. A first

   Bennett was the only cast member of Spartacus to appear in all four seasons, and he starred in more episodes of the series than anyone else.

3. A role that slipped away

   In May 2014, Bennett said he had missed out on two parts to actor Jason Momoa: one in Stargate Atlantis and one in the 2011 film Conan the Barbarian.

4. Early training

   Bennett quit rugby, despite being chosen for the New South Wales Schoolboys Rugby Union Team, to study dance and drama at university, then went to Los Angeles on a scholarship to the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.

5. First role

   Bennett's first leading film role came in 1999 in Tomoko, shot on location in Tokyo, with Rumiko Koyanagi as his co-star.

6. Beyond film

   Bennett played the title role of gamekeeper Oliver Mellors in a 1996 open-air production of Lady Chatterley's Lover, directed by Robert Chuter.