Hunter Page-Lochard

Hunter Djali Yumunu Page-Lochard is an Australian stage and screen actor of both Aboriginal Australian and African-American descent. He is known for his roles in the films The Sapphires (2012), Around the Block (2013) and the 2016 TV series Cleverman.

Page-Lochard is the son of Stephen Page, who is from Brisbane, and Cynthia Lochard, who is from Manhattan.^[1] He was born in Sydney. His mother, who is of African-American descent, was a dancer for the New York City Ballet^[2] and is now a teacher for the Pilates Method. His father, who is descended from the Nunukul people and the Munaldjali of the Yugambeh people from southeast Queensland, was a dancer turned choreographer and became the artistic director for Bangarra Dance Theatre.^[3][4] Page-Lochard credits his his father, along with 11 uncles and aunts, with giving him much of his education, including at Bangarra.^[5]

He attended St Mary's Cathedral College, Sydney.^[5]

In 2012, Page-Lochard graduated from Australian Film, Television and Radio School^[6] with a Graduate Certificate in Story Development and Screenwriting Fundamentals,^[7] and completed an Actors Residency course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.^{[citation needed]}

Page-Lochard first appeared on stage at six months old, held by his dad when he was dancing.^[8] He later appeared in Skin (2000); Boomerang (2005); Bloodland (2012, for the Sydney Theatre Company and Adelaide Festival by Bangarra Dance Theatre); and Blak (2013).^{[citation needed]}

He featured in Wesley Enoch's, Black Diggers (2014) a Queensland Theatre Company production. He then played the lead in Brothers Wreck (2014) by Jada Alberts at Sydney's Belvoir directed by Leah Purcell.^[9] He played a role in ATYP's Sugarland (2014). He won the Sydney Theatre Awards' Best Newcomer Award for Black Diggers, Brothers Wreck and Sugarland.^[10] He was nominated for a Helpmann Award in 2015 for Brothers Wreck.^{[citation needed]} In 2015, he starred as Orestes in Belvoir's Elektra/Orestes.^[11][12]

As a child, Page-Lochard appeared in short films, including Adrian Russell Wills' Arcadia (2002)^[13] and Wayne Blair's The Djarn Djarns (2005), which won the Crystal Bear Award for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.^[14][15]

He appeared in guest roles on Water Rats (2001), East West 101 (2007), directed by Peter Andrikidis and ABC2's Soul Mates (2014).^{[citation needed]}

He made his feature film debut in Rachel Perkins' award-winning film, Bran Nue Dae (2010).^[16] He appeared in Wayne Blair's The Sapphires, which screened in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival.^[17] He also featured as the lead in Sarah Spillane's feature film, Around the Block (2013) alongside Christina Ricci.^[18]

In 2015, he attended the Toronto International Film Festival for his father's feature film debut Spear (2015), in which he played the lead role as Djali.^[19]

Page-Lochard appears as the lead in Wayne Blair and Leah Purcell's Cleverman on ABC Television in 2016.^[19][20][21]

He directed and co-wrote (with Eryk Lenartowicz) his first short film Djali in 2017. It was selected for screening at the Sydney Film Festival and CinefestOZ in 2018.^[22][23]

In 2020 he appeared in and co-directed the children's TV series Thalu, commissioned by National Indigenous Television and ABC Me.^[24][25]

In 2023, Page-Lochard appeared in ABC drama The Newsreader,^[26] for which he won an AACTA Award for best supporting actor.^[5]

He plays a drug dealer in the police drama Critical Incident, released on 12 August 2024 on Stan.^[5]

Page-Lochard stars in a 2022 Hyundai television ad, called "Have you tried it?",^[27] which was filmed in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.^[28]

• Hunter Page-Lochard at IMDb
• Hunter Page-Lochard at Bangarra