Matt Whelan

Acting

Matt Whelan

Place of birth

Christchurch, New Zealand

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

Matt Whelan (born 1985) is a New Zealand actor and comedian known for his roles as Brad Caulfield in the New Zealand television comedy-drama programme Go Girls. He has also played Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in the Amazon Original series American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story. Whelan plays DEA agent Van Ness in the Netflix original series Narcos.

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Apex poster
6.9

A grieving woman pushing her limits on a solo adventure in the Australian wild is ensnared in a twisted game with a cunning killer who thinks she's prey.

Apex

2026

We Bury the Dead poster
6.1

After a catastrophic military disaster reanimates the dead, Ava searches for her missing husband amidst an increasingly hostile world.

We Bury the Dead

2026

The Tank poster
5.1

In 1978 Oregon, Ben and Jules inherit an abandoned coastal property from Ben's late mother, who's never mentioned it. The untouched house has been kept a secret for 40 years and comes with a beautiful private cove and beach. Jules searches for answers while Ben unwittingly awakens a fiercely protective creature.

The Tank

2023

Caterpillar poster
NR

Three generations living under one leaky Wellington roof in 2003, all on the brink of transformation. Sixteen-year-old Cassie is all bravado and vulnerability, drifting into risky territory as she searches for validation in all the wrong places. Her mother Maxine, 52, a formidable single-mother filmmaker on the brink of a long-awaited breakthrough, is finally offered a greenlight - if she can just land a star. Holding everything together is Huia, Cassie’s grandmother, 80, whose life has been defined by quiet service to family and a private obsession with raising monarch caterpillars, dreaming of one day witnessing the legendary butterfly migration in Mexico. But when Huia’s mind begins to fail her, the family is thrust into chaos. Can the maternal line hold together while everything is throwing them apart?

Caterpillar

2026

Fetch poster
NR

On an isolated space station, when a man loses the will to live, his big hearted dog overcomes his own anxieties to save them both.

Fetch

2021

Workmates poster
NR

Lucy and Tom are best mates running a tiny, broke theatre. But when an accident forces them to shut down and Tom threatens to leave, Lucy realises she would do anything to save the theatre and keep her friend... who she might be in love with.

Workmates

2025

2010s · 7 titles

Gary of the Pacific poster
4.0

A comedy about a real estate agent who becomes the last chief of a sinking pacific island.

Gary of the Pacific

2017

Pork Pie poster
6.7

A trio of accidental outlaws travel the length of New Zealand, protesting conformity and chasing lost love, with a posse of cops and a media frenzy in pursuit.

Pork Pie

2017

My Wedding and Other Secrets poster
4.4

A journey through a cultural minefield, navigating the divide between the traditional values of immigrant parents and the contemporary aspirations of their children in a new land.

My Wedding and Other Secrets

2011

The Most Fun You Can Have Dying poster
4.6

Michael has life pretty sweet. His girlfriend adores him, his best mate David is loyal to the end, plus David’s girlfriend doesn’t mind a quick hook-up either. But Michael’s self-regarding lifestyle comes crashing down when he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Desperate not to let his life just fade away, Michael steals the $200,000 raised for his treatment, and catches a one-way flight to London. He isn’t there for long before his nerve and sense of humour earn him a vicious beating in a back alley. Waking up cold and bloodied, he finds himself being watched over by the ethereal Sylvie; a mysterious French drifter. They fall head over heels in love, and attempt to outrun death itself.

The Most Fun You Can Have Dying

2012

Imposter poster
NR

A hyped young director suffers a debilitating case of Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter

2019

1480 Radio Pirates poster
6.0

Set in 1965, a true story of one man’s struggle to bring rock music to a nation, an iconic New Zealand story with a universal ‘David and Goliath’ theme. The youth will find it incredible this actually happened and existed as part of New Zealand society in the 1960′s. It’s a titanic struggle for freedom and ‘the choice to choose’.

1480 Radio Pirates

2014

Daniel poster
NR

A young novice at an isolated convent is confronted with the sudden desire to explore her sexual self in the wake of meeting a blue-tongued lizard. DANIEL is a religious erotic drama set in rural New Zealand.

Daniel

2019

Series credits

Narcos poster
8.1

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

Narcos

2015

My Life Is Murder poster
7.2

Investigator Alexa Crowe, cannot help fighting the good fight – whether it is solving murders or combatting the small frustrations of everyday life. Fearless and unapologetic, Alexa's unique skills and insights into the darker quirks of human nature, allows her to provoke, comfort and push the right buttons as she unravels the truth behind the most baffling of crimes.

My Life Is Murder

2019

A Remarkable Place to Die poster
6.1

Anaís Mallory is a smart and savvy homicide investigator who after returning to her hometown, and taking the lead detective position, faces a series of startlingly complex murders with links to her family's tragic history.

A Remarkable Place to Die

2024

Wanted poster
7.2

Two complete strangers, Lola and Chelsea, intervene in a fatal carjacking while waiting at a suburban bus stop, and are subsequently thrust into a chase from authorities across Australia with a vehicle filled with cash. The strangers must rely solely on each other while on the run.

Wanted

2016

American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story poster
5.8

A fascinating docuseries chronicling Playboy magazine’s charismatic founder, Hugh Hefner, and his impact on global culture. Told from his unique perspective with never-before-seen footage from his private archive, discover the captivating story about the man behind the bunny.

American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story

2017

Go Girls poster
5.5

Amy, Britta and Cody are three young women suffering their quarter century crisis: 25 and what have they achieved? They make a vow that in one year they’ll each fulfill their ambition. Their mate-since-childhood Kevin, admires their pluck but, to be honest, since Amy, Britta and Cody are currently Tragically Poor; Tragically Unknown; and Tragically Single, he reckons it’s going to be a bit of an ask.

Go Girls

2009

Of Kings and Prophets poster
6.2

An epic biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal as told through the eyes of the battle-weary King Saul, the resentful prophet Samuel and the resourceful young shepherd David—all on a collision course with destiny that will change the world. One thousand years before Christ, the first king of the Israelites, Saul, struggles to unify the 12 Israelite tribes and defend his fledgling nation against savage enemy attacks. The prophet Samuel relays a message from God to King Saul that he must destroy one of Israel's ancient enemies. But when Saul defies that message, Samuel prophesies that the Lord will tear the kingdom of Israel from him and choose another in his place. In time, Saul comes to realize that his greatest threat will not come from his enemies, but from the shepherd, David.

Of Kings and Prophets

2016

The Sounds poster
7.4

Set against the backdrop of the stunning Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand, Maggie and Tom arrive to escape his oppressive family and start a business. When Tom disappears, buried secrets and family plots make paradise less than perfect.

The Sounds

2020

Coverband poster
4.0

Twenty-something Matt Gibson had dreams of making it big in the music world with his brother Alex and then-girlfriend, Ivy. They head to L.A. to try their luck. However, things don't always turn out the way you plan and, while Ivy's music career flourishes, he soon finds himself back in New Zealand with his brother and another friend playing gigs as a covers band, 'The Silhouettes'.

Coverband

2014