Ian Bliss

Ian Bliss (born 30 June 1966) is an Australian film, television, and stage character actor, he has appeared in numerous Australian television dramas including Heartbreak High, Wentworth and as several characters in the Underbelly universe.

Bliss graduated from Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art. Bliss also attained a Bachelor of Education while studying his acting degree at NIDA.

Bliss starred in an episode of Halifax f.p. in 1996.

He is best known for his role as Bane and Agent Smith in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (2003), for which he was chosen by the Wachowskis because of his accurate impersonation of Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith's program form), and also his partial resemblance to Weaving.

After the Matrix sequels, Bliss took minor roles in the feature films Stealth and Superman Returns. He played the Peacekeeper scientist Drillic in the Farscape episode "Losing Time". Bliss appeared in episode 8 of the 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific as Capt. Le Francois, and appeared in surf series The Reef. He has appeared in several Australian television drama series including Heartbreak High, Underbelly, Blue Murder and Canal Road.

Stage performances include the lead role in War Horse, in Sydney's Lyric Theatre.

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 has also given his voice to the Bowel Cancer Australia campaigns that went to air every year from 2018. Bliss also provided his voice for numerous audiobooks including Dinner with the Schnabels and Final Act.

Bliss appeared in 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 universe, having also appeared in the original Underbelly as 'Mr L' and in Fat Tony & Co as Bernie Edwards. [ 11]

In 2018 Bliss appeared in season 6 of Wentworth, playing Senior Detective Collins; he reprised the role in the final series of Wentworth, appearing in a total of six episodes.[ 12]

Bliss in 2022 joined the cast for SBS drama Safe Home, where he played Detective O'Connor.[ 13]

In 2023, he appeared in the horror movie Late Night with the Devil in the role of Carmichael Haig.[ 14] [ 15] [ 16] Bliss revealed later in an interview that he originally was hired as a reader for the movie's audition process and was set to play a different role in the film, but four days before filming began, he was asked to take over the role of Haig.[ 17] In the same interview, Bliss confirmed that he would appear in the upcoming Netflix series The Survivors.

In 2023, Bliss appeared in the theatre play My Sister Jill.[ 18] [ 19]

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.[ 20]

Bliss has been married to actress Jacquie Brennan since 2001. They both met on the production of the theatre play Silhouette. Bliss and Brennan have two children together.[ 21]