Bryan Brown grew up in Western Sydney, with his mother and sister, and achieved a near perfect leaving score from school. Not sure what he wanted to study, Bryan began working at AMP as an actuarial, before auditioning for the company end of year revue to expand his social circle.

The first time Bryan ever felt excited to go to work was the first day of rehearsal.

Bryan became a salesman for AMP which was great, because no one had a clue or care where you were as long as you got your figures in on the Friday afternoon. This meant Bryan could devote most of his time to amateur theatre.

At 25, Bryan quit his job, sold his car, and moved to London to pursue a career in the theatre. Bryan chased every opportunity he could; moving around sets, performing for schools, making friends with directors, before he was offered a one-year contract with the National Theatre.

Bryan returned to Australia and resumed theatre, before scoring jobs in a few films.

In 1980, Bryan starred in Breaker Morant, which had huge acclaim from international audiences, and suddenly Hollywood beckoned.

Bryan starred in The Thorn Birds in 1983, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe and Emmy. It was on this project that Bryan also met Rachel Ward, who he would marry 10 months later.

Bryan has worked with some incredible talent over his career; including Paul McCartney, Tom Cruise, Judy Davis, Sigourney Weaver, Ben Stiller and many, many more.

In 2005, Bryan received an Order of Australia for his work with charities and contribution to the film industry, and in 2023, Bryan was invited to address the National Press Club on the need to keep financing the Australian film industry.

Bryan has published three works; Sweet Jimmy, a collection of short stories, and the crime fiction novels The Drowning in 2023, and most recently, The Hidden.