He had an early role playing Senior Constable Theo Rahme in the Network 10 police drama series White Collar Blue (2002–2003) for two seasons. He also played Dr. Chris Havel in the Network 10 comedy-drama series Offspring (2010–2011). In 2014, he starred in the prison drama film Healing, for which he received a Best Actor award nomination from the Film Critics Circle of Australia. In 2017, he starred in the romantic comedy film Ali's Wedding, for which he received a nomination for AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He played Dr. Mackenzie in the Showcase mystery romantic drama series Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018). He also played the Australian prime minister in the second season of Showcase political thriller television series Secret City (2019).
He is best known to American audiences for starring in the NBC medical comedy-drama series Heartbeat (2016).
Early life
Hany was born in 1975 in Hornsby on Sydney's Upper North Shore to an Iraqi[1] father, Tewfiq, and a Hungarian mother, Csilla;[2] his father is a classically-trained pianist and restaurateur, and his mother is a doctor of economics. Hany's maternal great-grandfather was shot dead outside his home in Miskolc by the Red Army, who mistook him for a German soldier.[2] In 1946, Hany's maternal grandfather joined the Hungarian Communist Party.[2] His parents met in Budapest in the 1960s and they emigrated to Australia in 1970.[2] Csilla rejected the communist doctrine of her native country and Tewfiq spurned the Islamic beliefs of his upbringing. His parents divorced during his adolescence, and he and his twin brother were raised by their mother.[2] He grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales.[2] Hany attended high school in the Netherlands for one year as an exchange student, and later completed a degree in dramatic arts at the University of Western Sydney Nepean.[3]
Career
In 1998, Hany began his television career, starring in the soapie Breakers. In 2000, he had a small role in Water Rats. In 2002, he had a role in the telemovie Heroes' Mountain and in the police drama White Collar Blue.[4] He later moved to Los Angeles to complete shooting for the short film Winning the Peace. Hany plays an Iraqi-American Marine deployed to Baghdad, and he went on to win the Best Actor award at Method Fest in 2005.[5]
In 2010, he joined the main cast of the Foxtel drama Tangle, playing politician Spiros Georgiades. He also joined Channel Ten's comedy-drama series Offspring, in the role of paediatrician Chris Havel. He played the love interest and colleague of the series' protagonist, Dr Nina Proudman, played by Asher Keddie.[4] In 2011, he was nominated for the Logie Award for Most Popular Actor for his roles in Tangle and Offspring.
In 2013, Hany took the lead role of Sam Callaghan in the HBO Asia production Serangoon Road. The following year, Hany appeared in The Broken Shore, a telemovie that aired on the ABC. He also starred in the mini-series Devil's Playground. In the same year, he appeared in the fifth season of Who Do You Think You Are?.[2][13] In 2014, he played the lead role in the Australian drama film Healing, alongside Hugo Weaving. Hany plays Viktor, an Iranian prisoner in a low-security correctional centre, close to the end of his 18-year prison sentence.[13] The film garnered acclaim, including a four-star review from Margaret Pomeranz on At the Movies for ABC.[14][15] Megan Lehmann of The Hollywood Reporter was also enthusiastic Hany's performance: "Weaving is terrific as Matt Perry...But the film belongs to Don Hany, a veteran of Australian television starring in his first major film."[16] Hany was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 2014 Film Critics Circle of Australia, losing out to Russell Crowe for The Water Diviner.[17]
In 2014, he was cast as the male lead in Warriors, a pilot for the American Broadcasting Company. The medical drama series, with Hany playing a military doctor, was not picked up for a series order.[18][19] However, he was later cast as Dr. Jesse Shane, chief of surgery at St. Matthew's Hospital in the NBC medical comedy-drama series Heartbeat (2016).[20] In 2017, he starred in the critically acclaimed Australian romantic comedy Ali's Wedding.[21] He received a nomination for AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role, losing out to Dev Patel in Lion.[22]
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