Dustin Clare

Mud and Blade

Dustin Clare was born in Grafton in 1982 and grew up in a rural environment far removed from the spotlight of Sydney. He studied at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and graduated in 2004. That was the year he began to understand that the Australian industry is a small world where everyone knows each other.

His first steps on local television with McLeod's Daughters brought him domestic fame, which is often a trap for young actors. He played Riley Ward for nearly fifty episodes. But Clare wanted to step out of his comfort zone in rural drama.

In 2011, the Starz network was looking for a lead for Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. The challenge was enormous because he had to carry a prequel while the original star, Andy Whitfield, was battling illness. Clare brought a technical swagger and a physicality that didn't rely solely on the gym.

Mud and Steel was not part of his original plans.

That performance as Gannicus gave him international visibility. It was an extremely physical role that required months of training in New Zealand. But what really interested him was the longevity of the character. He reprised the role in the following seasons, Vengeance and War of the Damned, closing the chapter in 2013.

Behind-the-camera control

Many Australian actors move to Los Angeles and wait for the phone to ring. Clare preferred to invest his money in his own setup. He founded the production company Fighting Chance Films to develop his own stories. He didn't want to depend on the casting processes of the big studios.

In 2014 he wrote, produced and starred in Sunday. It was a small film shot in the ruins of Christchurch after the New Zealand earthquake. That shoot cost less than the catering on a big-budget blockbuster, but it allowed him to explore a dry, understated dramatic style far removed from action.

And the gamble paid off.

The film was distributed independently and helped put his production company on the festival circuit. From there, he alternated commercial work with personal projects. In 2018, he took part in Pacific Rim: Uprising, a 150-million-dollar blockbuster. It was a supporting role, but a necessary one to keep him visible in the global market.

Maturity in Streaming

The rise of digital platforms allowed him to return to Australia to shoot high-quality content. In 2019 he joined the cast of Glitch and Tidelands. These productions make the most of the Australian landscape, but their storytelling is designed for quick consumption in other parts of the world.

His pace of work has not slowed down since then.

In 2022 he joined the series Surviving Summer as Thommo. It is a teen surf drama in which he plays an adult figure and mentor. It is a comfortable role that lets him shoot close to home while keeping his production projects active.

By 2024, his participation in the thriller All Her Fault, filmed in Melbourne, was confirmed. He shares the screen with Sarah Snook in a Peacock production adapting Andrea Mara's novel. The series was scheduled to shoot on an estimated budget of AU$40 million.