Until 2019, Antony Starr was probably best known for his role as Lucas Hood in Cinemax's original series,Banshee,and as Billy Newwood in Paramount Picture'sWithout A Paddle. As Homelander, Starr made an immediate impact in the Amazon Prime series,The Boys.But before his notoriety on the hit series, Starr's claim to fame stemmed mostly from television and movies in his island country of New Zealand.
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In New Zealand, fans knew him as Jethro and Van West in the beloved comedy-drama television series,Outrageous Fortune.He has won various awards, including the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Award, the Qantas Television Award, and the Air New Zealand Screen Award. It is unexpectedly enlightening to discover the actor's varied roles in both television and movies.
Gutterbee (2019) 6.7
In this 2019 comedy, Antony Starr plays Mike Dankworth McCoid, a former flunky of the town sheriff. Fresh out of prison, he meets Edward (Ewen Breemer), a German sausage maker who wants to open a restaurant of his own. But the patriotic sheriff, Jimmy Lee Jerry Jones, Jr. played by veteran actor W. Earl Brown, and his counterpart, Luke Kenneth Hosewall (Clark Middleton), wants hot dogs, not Frankfurters. It is a story of a German sausage maker versus the righteous Christian community in a little small American town.
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Unfortunately, Gutterbee does not accentuate Starr's acting abilities. His character is clown-like, with not a lot of material or intriguing dialogue.
American Gothic (2016) 6.7
A wealthy Boston family, the Hawthorne's must find a way of changing public opinion of the family after discovering that their recently deceased father, Mitchell Arnold (Justin Mitchell) could have been a serial killer. But crazy seems to run in the family, any one of them couldbe a suspect. Especially the absent, squandering eldest brother, Garrett Hawthorne, played by Antony Starr, who returned 14 years after the murders stopped.
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American Gothichad an all-star cast that includedDune'sVirginia Madsen andShameless'sJustin Chatwin, but it only lasted for one season. The absurd soap opera-style family murder mystery did not hold or maintain the television audience's appeal.
Lowdown (2010 - 2012) 7.3
Created by Amanda Brotchie and Adam Zwar, Lowdown was an Australian television comedy series starring Paul Denny, Beth Buchanan Dailan Evans, Kim Gyngell, and narrated by The Pirates f the Caribbean:Curse of the Black Pearl's Geoffrey Rush. The two-season television series centered around celebrity journalism.
Antony Starr played Stuart King in six episodes of season 2, which increased both his public appeal and popularity. In 2013, for its second season, Lowdown won the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts award (AACTA) for the best comedy series.
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Mercy Peak (2001 - 2003) 7.3
Mercy Peakwas a New Zealand television series that consisted of an ensemble cast that centered around Dr. Nicky Somerville, portrayed by Sara Wiseman. Dr. Somerville left the city to work in the small town of Bassett with the "straight and narrow" doctor, William Kinglsey (Jeffrey Thomas).
Antony Starr played Todd Van der Velter, one of the devious Southern boys, the Van der Velter Brothers. Although he was not a main cast member, Starr had a guest role throughout the run of the series.Mercy Peakwas revered for its unmistakable cast, strong scripts, and superior acting. The series won three awards at the 2002 New Zealand Television Awards.
In My Father's Den (2004) 7.5
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Starring Mathew Mcfadyen and Emily Barclay,In My Father's Den, tells a story of a well-known war photographer (Mcfadyen) who returns to his hometown in the South Island of New Zealand, where he reunites with his younger brother, Andrew (Colin Moy). Andrew convinces him to stay and take care of some family business, but his return has unlocked some dark secrets from the past.
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Antony Starr plays Gareth, the boyfriend of Paul's (McFadyen) former girlfriend, Jackie (Jodie Rimmer). Gareth (Starr) resents Paul (Mcfadyen) because of his troublesome attachment to Celia (Emily Barclay), the daughter of Paul's ex-girlfriend. The film was accepted admired by both critics and audience members and scored a 100 percent "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rush (2008 - 2011) 7.5
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Rushwas a police drama series that followed the lives of the members of a Police Tactical Response team in Melbourne and starred Rodger Corser, Callan Mulvey, and Nicole da Silva. It was based on the real-life Victoria Police Critical Incident Response Team, which responds to violent incidents similar to America's S.W.A.T. team.
Antony Starr joined the cast in the fourth and final season, as Senior Sergeant Charlie Lewis, after the new boss Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli (Ashley Zukerman) was fired to go on an undercover mission. In 2010,Rushwon the AFI (American Film Institute) award for best television drama.
The World's Fastest Indian (2005) 7.8
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The World's Fastest Indian is based on a true story about New Zealander Burt Munro, who used his dream Indian motorcycle to break the world's record for speed in 1967. Munro is played bySilent of the Lamb'sAnthony Hopkins.
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Although Starr co-starred alongside Hopkins as his nephew Jeff, they did not share any dialogue, but did speak considerably off-screen. Starr admitted in a 2018 NZ on-screen interview that he sat and watched Hopkins for three weeks and marveled at his acting intelligence.The World's Fastest Indianbecame the highest-grossing local film at the box office in New Zealand, in 2005.
Outrageous Fortune (2005 - 2010) 8.3
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Arguably the role that put Antony Starr on the map was his role as Jethro West and his twin brother, Van West, in the hit comedy series, Outrageous Fortune.Jethro is the smarter of the twins and the first to graduate. Van West is the younger of the twins, having been born a few minutes later.
The series took its episode names from Shakespearean quotes. Like Mercy Peak, Outrageous Fortune is a South Pacific Production. It lasted six seasons and became the longest drama series in New England history. Starr won the 2007 Air New Zealand Screen Award for his performance as Van and Jethro West.
The Boys (2019 - ) 8.3
Based on the graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson that shares the same name, Amazon Prime's hit show,The Boysis about a small team of vigilantes who hunt superheroes, The Seven, who abuse their abilities for their gain, rather than to benefit the public that they are meant to protect.
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One of his most popular roles to date, Antony Starr plays the leader of The Seven, Homelander. With the wit, charm, and face of a movie idol, Homelander's true character is that of a sociopath, who is both arrogant, selfish, and rash in thought, with childlike tendencies. He's a superhero who can destroy anything and everything with a snap of a finger and in a blink of an eye and those who truly know him are hesitant to cross him.
Banshee (2013 - 2016) 8.4
Antony Starr played an ex-convict who took on the identity of Lucas Hood, a sheriff who was murdered in Banshee, Pennsylvania. Trying to hide from a crime boss, Starr's character was trying to reconnect with his old lover, Anastasia, played byThe 100'sIvana Milicevic and the daughter of the crime boss, Rabbit. In soap opera fashion, Anastasia had assumed another identity, got married, and had a new family since Hood was in prison.
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Like HBOand Showtime, Cinemax wanted to develop original content. The series debuted in January of 2013 and ran for three-seasons until May of 2016.
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