Matthew Sunderland

Matthew Sunderland is a New Zealand actor, writer, and director known for his versatile career in film, theatre, and television. Born in 1972, Sunderland embarked on his artistic journey with education from the renowned institute, Toi Whakaari, where he graduated in 1997. He achieved significant acclaim for his leading role as David Gray in the thought-provoking film, 'Out of the Blue', which was based on the distressing events of the Aramoana Massacre. His profound performance won him the Best Actor Award at the New Zealand Screen Awards in 2008.

Over the years, Sunderland's career encompassed a variety of roles and genres. Notably, he played Uncle Rory in Daniel Borgman's debut feature 'The Weight of Elephants' and was nominated for the Best Actor Award for his role in 'Nature's Way', a film that competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006. His other movie roles include films such as 'A Song of Good', 'Christmas', 'Stringer Woodenhead Existence', and 'The Devil's Rock'. Expanding his scope of work, Sunderland ventured into direction and screenwriting with the short film 'Tuffy' which captures the estrangement between a father and son in a small town in New Zealand. Further recognition followed as he performed in stage adaptations, appeared in popular television series like 'Shortland Street', played a character in a music video, and then portrayed the role of Joseph Pritchard in the 2020 miniseries, 'The Luminaries'.