Luke Ford is a Canadian-born Australian actor, known for his roles in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008), The Black Balloon (2008) and Animal Kingdom (2010).
Early life Ford was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while his father was studying at university. Shortly thereafter, the family travelled to the UK before relocating to Australia, when he was one and a half. He was raised in Sydney, where he grew up in the suburb of Castle Hill and attended Parramatta Marist High School in Westmead, graduating in 1999. He once worked at the Winston Hills Hotel, and did a short stint at Universal Magazines in North Ryde.
Ford studied acting at The Actor's Pulse in Sydney, becoming one of the school's earliest graduates. He later returned to teach the Meisner technique when he was between film roles. He has since, also taught at Sydney Acting Studio.
Career Ford began acting professionally with a string of performances on Australian television, starting with a guest-starring role on Water Rats, followed by a recurring role on McLeod's Daughters, for which he was shortlisted for a 'Best New Talent' Logie Award for his recurring role of Craig Woodland. Actor's Pulse profile
Guest roles followed in Home and Away, Stingers, Breakers and All Saints. He appeared in 2002 TV movie The Junction Boys alongside Tom Berenger and Ryan Kwanten, as Iphicles in the NBC miniseries Hercules, and had a role in the short-lived Australian series HeadLand, playing Seth Baxter.
Ford's film career began with the release of the Australian film Kokoda in 2006, delivering a performance as Burke, a slain soldier on the Kokoda Trail.
Next came 2008 drama film The Black Balloon opposite Toni Collette, for which his performance won him an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actor that same year. In the film, Ford plays Charlie, a teenager with autism. Ford spent six months researching the role, including taking to the streets of Sydney in character to determine the effectiveness of his characterisation. The Black Balloon premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Crystal Bear award.
Immediately following The Black Balloon, Ford signed on to star in the third instalment of the Mummy film series, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opposite Brendan Fraser and Maria Bello. In the film, Ford plays Alex O'Connell, son of Fraser's Rick O'Connell and Bello's Evelyn O'Connell. The film was released in the US on 1 August 2008 and grossed $403 million worldwide.Michael Fleming, "Ford to star in third 'Mummy': Shooting will begin in Montreal 27 July", Variety, 30 April 2007
In 2009, Ford had roles in TV film 3 Acts of Murder playing Snowy Rowles and British sci-fi film Ghost Machine, playing Vic, opposite Rachael Taylor.
The following year, he appeared in the critically-acclaimed David Michôd film Animal Kingdom, alongside Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton and Guy Pearce, in which he played Darren, the youngest of three brothers in a Melbourne crime family being hunted by the police.
In 2011, Ford had roles in several Australian films, including the award-winning Kriv Stenders family film Red Dog and Michael Rymer's drama film Face to Face (an adaptation of the David Williamson play of the same name), playing opposite Vince Colosimo, Sigrid Thornton and Matthew Newton as explosive character Wayne. For the latter, he won the 2011 Best Actor Award at Le Festival Des Antipodes and was nominated for Best Actor (ensemble cast) at the 2011 Inside Film Awards. The same year, Ford appeared on stage in a production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll for Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre, playing the role of Johnnie Dowd.
Ford next had a lead role in Rolf De Heer's 2012 feature The King Is Dead! opposite Dan Wylie and Bojana Novakovic and the following year starred opposite David Gulpilil in Charlie's Country, which was written especially for him by De Heer. In 2014, he appeared in TV movie Parer's War, sci-fi feature Infini and filmed a lead role in The Body in the Yard.
That same year, Ford won an AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama for his turn as Kerry Packer in 2013 miniseries Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War. He then appeared opposite Sam Worthington in 2015 war miniseries Deadline Gallipoli.
Ford's further television credits include the TV movie Blood in the Sand, 2012 miniseries Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (playing Snow, a Comanchero member) and 2013 miniseries Underbelly: Squizzy. He starred opposite Elizabeth Perkins in the TV movie Hercules and had a role in 2015 miniseries Catching Milat. He also appeared in romantic comedy What if it Works? as Adrian, a character who has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 2016 sci-fi film The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One, alongside Isabel Lucas, Kellan Lutz, Temuera Morrison and Rachel Griffiths.
In 2017, Ford appeared in the second season of Cleverman.
Ford played the role of Ash in 2022 action thriller feature Avarice. His most recent film credits include horror The Moogai and martial arts film Life After Fighting, both in 2024.
Awards Year Work Award Category Result Ref. McLeod's Daughters Logie Award Best New Talent 2008 The Black Balloon Australian Film Institute Award Best Supporting Actor 2011 Face to Face Le Festival Des Antipodes Best Actor Award Inside Film Awards Best Actor (Ensemble Cast) 2013 Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War AACTA Award Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama
Filmography
Films Year Title Role Notes 2006 Kokoda Burke 2008 The Black Balloon Charlie Mollison AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Alex O'Connell Replaced Freddie Boath from The Mummy Returns 2009 Ghost Machine Vic 2010 Animal Kingdom Darren Cody 2011 Red Dog Thomas Baker Driver Alek Short film Face to Face Wayne Travers Le Festival Des Antipodes Best Actor Award 2012 The King is Dead Shrek 2013 Charlie's Country Policeman Luke 2015 Infini Chester Huntington Nothing to Declare Lenny 2016 The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One Bill 2017 What If It Works? Adrian McKinnon 2018 Emmanuel Brother John Short film A Suburban Love Story Brett Road Train Sergeant Day 2022 Avarice Ash2024 The Moogai White Man #1 Life After Fighting Victor Dimov 2025 It Will Find You Josh Baker Lotus In development Other You Jerry Flinders / Bill Flinders Post-production Spare Me Michael Pre-production The True Story In development Wake Up Dead Crosby In development
Television Year Title Role Notes 2000 Water Rats Harley Strachan Episode: "Family Ties" Home and Away JT Hanson 3 episodes 2001 Stingers Craig Williams Episode: "Just Another Day" 2001–2004 McLeod's Daughters Craig Woodland 22 episodes 2002 The Junction Boys Perch TV movie All Saints Leon Fahey Episode: "Overload" 2004 Ray Branal Episode: "Bad Seed" 2005 Hercules Iphicles Miniseries, 2 episodes headLand Seth Baxter 5 episodes 2009 3 Acts of Murder Snowy Rowles TV movie 2010 Nomads Zack TV movie 2012 Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms Snow Miniseries, 6 episodes 2013 Underbelly: Squizzy Albert 'Tankbuster' McDonald Miniseries, 8 episodes Power Games: The Packer–Murdoch War Kerry Packer Miniseries, 2 episodes AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama 2014 Parer’s War Ronnie Williams TV movie 2015 Deadline Gallipoli Charlie Hodson Miniseries, 2 episodes Catching Milat Inspector Bob Godden Miniseries, 2 episodes 2017 Cleverman Tim Dolan 6 episodes 2017–2019 The Other Guy Henry 5 episodes 2020 Halifax: Retribution Neil 1 episode2021 Amazing Grace Paul 8 episodes Fires Panicked Man on Phone (voice) Miniseries, 1 episode 2024 Last King of the Cross Valentine Bracks 1 episode 2025 Ten Pound Poms Clive 1 episode Ambos for Hire Marty In development
Video games Year Title Role Notes 2008 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Alex O'Connell Voice
References
External links