1979–1995: Rise to prominence Rush made his theatre debut in the QTC's production of
Wrong Side of the Moon. He worked with the QTC for four years, appearing in roles ranging across classical plays and pantomime, from
Juno and the Paycock to
Hamlet on Ice. Following these, Rush left for Paris where he studied further. Rush appears in a 1980 documentary film about Australian
fringe theatre narrated by
Spike Milligan, called
Amazing Scenes. In it, he performs with a group called "Clowneroonies". Rush made his film debut in the Australian film
Hoodwink in 1981. His next film was
Gillian Armstrong's
Starstruck, the following year. Rush's acting credits include
William Shakespeare's plays ''
The Winter's Tale (with the State Theatre Company of South Australia in 1987 at The Playhouse in Adelaide) and Troilus and Cressida'' (at the
Old Museum Building in 1989). He also appeared in an ongoing production of
Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Earnest as John Worthing (Ernest) (in which his wife,
Jane Menelaus, appeared as Gwendolen). In the 1990s Rush appeared in small roles on television dramas, including a role as a dentist in a 1993 episode of the British television series
Lovejoy. Rush starred opposite
Cate Blanchett in a production of
David Mamet's two-character play
Oleanna (1993) at the
Sydney Theatre Company. It was Blanchett's first major role after graduating from the
National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Rush played a university professor entangled with a student played by Blanchett. She described the role as a "seminal one for [her], which hit the world at that time, making it electric." She also described Rush as a mentor to her. Rush also continued his work in theatre. In 1994, Rush played
Horatio in a production of
Hamlet alongside
Richard Roxburgh,
Jacqueline McKenzie and
David Wenham in the
Company B production at the
Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney.
1996–2002: Breakthrough and acclaim in
Elizabeth (1998) Rush made his film breakthrough with his performance in 1996 with
Shine, for which he won the
Academy Award for Best Actor. Rush had once learned piano up until aged fourteen and retook piano lessons again thirty years later for the role, choosing to perform most of the piano playing himself rather than using a
hand double. That same year,
James L. Brooks flew him to Los Angeles to audition for the part of Simon Bishop in
As Good as It Gets and offered him the role, but Rush declined it (it went to
Greg Kinnear). In September 1998, Rush played the title role in the
Beaumarchais play
The Marriage of Figaro for the QTC. This was the opening production of the Optus Playhouse at the
Queensland Performing Arts Centre at
South Bank in
Brisbane. A
pun on Rush's name (and the circumstances) was used in the opening prologue of the play with the comment that the "Optus Playhouse was opening with a Rush". In 1998, he appeared in three major costume dramas. He played
Javert opposite
Liam Neeson as
Jean Valjean in
Les Misérables. The film directed by
Bille August was an adaptation of the
Victor Hugo novel of the same name.
Uma Thurman and
Claire Danes also acted in the film. He also portrayed
Sir Francis Walsingham alongside fellow Australian
Cate Blanchett as
Queen Elizabeth I in the historical drama
Elizabeth. He received a
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for his performance. Finally Rush portrayed
Philip Henslowe in the romantic comedy-drama
Shakespeare in Love acting opposite
Joseph Fiennes,
Gwyneth Paltrow,
Colin Firth,
Tom Wilkinson, and
Judi Dench. For his performance he received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the
Academy Awards,
British Academy Film Awards,
Golden Globe Awards, and
Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 1999, Rush took the lead role as Steven Price in the horror film
House on Haunted Hill, and played the villain in the superhero comedy film
Mystery Men. In 2000, Rush starred in
Philip Kaufman's
Quills where he played the
Marquis de Sade alongside
Kate Winslet,
Joaquin Phoenix and
Michael Caine. The film was written by
Tony Award winning playwright
Doug Wright who adapted the film's screenplay from his play. Rush received widespread critical acclaim for his performance with
Rolling Stone critic
Peter Travers' describing his performance as "volcanic", and "scandalously good". For his performance in the film he received his third
Oscar nomination this time for
Best Actor. Rush's career continued at a fast pace, with nine films released from 2001 to 2003. In 2002, Rush played
Leon Trotsky to
Salma Hayek's
Frida Kahlo in
Julie Taymor's
Frida. In the reaction to the
#MeToo Movement, Hayek wrote an opinion piece in
The New York Times detailing the harassment
Harvey Weinstein perpetrated against her. In the article she wrote about her determination to make the movie and praised Rush as a collaborator and for agreeing to act in the film.
2003–2011: Established actor Rush appeared in several films released in 2003. He played Superintendent Francis Hare in
Ned Kelly with
Heath Ledger,
Orlando Bloom and
Naomi Watts. He voiced Nigel the
brown pelican in the
Disney/
Pixar animated film
Finding Nemo. Late in the year, he appeared in the
Coen Brothers romantic comedy,
Intolerable Cruelty alongside
George Clooney and
Catherine Zeta-Jones. Rush starred in the film
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, released in summer 2003, as Captain
Hector Barbossa. The film was a massive financial success earning $654.3 million. Rush would continue to reprise the role in its sequels, ''
Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011) and Dead Men Tell No Tales'' (2017). In addition, Rush reprised his character's voice for the enhancements at the
Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at the
Disneyland and
Magic Kingdom theme parks, which involved an
audio-animatronic with Rush's likeness being installed (including one at
Tokyo Disneyland). Rush played actor
Peter Sellers in the
HBO television film
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. For this performance, he won various awards including the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie,
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, and
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. In 2005, he appeared in
Steven Spielberg's
Munich as Ephraim, a
Mossad agent. The film is an account of
Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre, the Israeli government's secret retaliation against the
Palestine Liberation Organization after the
Munich massacre at the
1972 Summer Olympics. It was a critical and financial success earning five
Academy Award nominations including for
Best Picture. In 2017, the film was named the 16th "Best Film of the 21st Century So Far" by
The New York Times. In 2006, Rush hosted the
Australian Film Institute Awards for the
Nine Network. He was the
master of ceremonies again at the 2007 AFI Awards. '' in 2011 Rush has appeared on stage for the
Brisbane Arts Theatre and in many other theatre venues. He has also worked as a theatre director. In 2007, he starred as King Berenger in a production of
Eugène Ionesco's
Exit the King at the
Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne and
Company B in Sydney, directed by
Neil Armfield. For this performance, he received a
Helpmann Award nomination for best male actor in a play. In the beginning of 2009, Rush appeared in a series of special edition postage stamps featuring some of Australia's internationally recognised actors. He,
Cate Blanchett,
Russell Crowe, and
Nicole Kidman each appear twice in the series. Rush's image is taken from
Shine. He also appeared in the musical film
Bran Nue Dae as Father Benedictus alongside
Rocky McKenzie,
Ernie Dingo,
Jessica Mauboy,
Missy Higgins,
Deborah Mailman,
Dan Sultan, and
Magda Szubanski. In 2009, Rush made his Broadway debut in a re-staging of
Exit the King under
Malthouse Theatre's touring moniker Malthouse Melbourne and Company B
Belvoir. This re-staging featured a new American cast including
Susan Sarandon. The show opened on 26 March 2009 at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Rush won the
Outer Critics Circle Award,
Theatre World Award,
Drama Desk Award, the Distinguished Performance Award from the
Drama League Award and the 2009
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. In 2010, Rush returned to the stage, playing Man in Chair in
The Drowsy Chaperone on its Australian tour. That same year he also voiced Ezylryb/Lyze of Kiel in
Legend of the Guardians and played
speech and language therapist Lionel Logue in
Tom Hooper's historical drama ''
The King's Speech'' concerning
King George VI, played by
Colin Firth, and his
speech impediment. The film focuses on their unlikely friendship as they work together after
Edward VIII played by
Guy Pearce,
abdicates the throne. The new king relies on Logue to help him make his first wartime radio broadcast upon
Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939. The film also starred
Helena Bonham Carter as
Queen Elizabeth, and
Jennifer Ehle as
Myrtle Logue. The film was a financial success earning $424 million at the box office. Rush's performance was praised by critics and earned him a
British Academy Film Award win and nominations for the
Academy Awards and
Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor. in the miniseries
Genius (2017) earning a
Primetime Emmy Award nomination Rush returned as
Captain Hector Barbossa in
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring
Johnny Depp, in 2011. Rush is also preparing for a film version of
The Drowsy Chaperone, an award-winning stage musical. In addition, he voiced the alien
Tomar-Re in the film adaptation of the
Green Lantern comic book series. In 2011 Rush portrayed Sir Basil Hunter in the Fred Schepisi directed adaptation of Australian Nobel laureate Patrick White's novel,
The Eye of the Storm. In 2011, Rush played the lead in a theatrical adaptation of
Nikolai Gogol's short story
The Diary of a Madman at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music. He won for this role the
Helpmann Award and was nominated for the
Drama Desk Award. From November 2011, Rush played the role of Lady Bracknell in the
Melbourne Theatre Company production of
The Importance of Being Earnest. Other actors from the 1988 production include Jane Menelaus, this time as Miss Prism, and
Bob Hornery, who had played Canon Chasuble, as the two butlers. In 2011, Rush made a cameo in a commercial,
The Potato Peeler, for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), playing a Polish farmer. He spoke his lines in
Polish for the part. From 2011 to 2017, Rush was served as the foundation president of the newly formed
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
2012–present In 2013, Rush appeared alongside
Jim Sturgess in psychological thriller
The Best Offer with
The Hollywood Reporter noting in their mixed review, "[The film] is worth watching for Geoffrey Rush’s sensitive, never pandering performance as an effete master auctioneer who gradually discovers he has a heart". Rush also appeared in the
film adaptation of the best-selling novel
The Book Thief (2013). Dennis Harvey of
Variety Magazine praised his performance writing, that "Rush generously provides the movie's primary warmth and humor". His performance earned him a nomination for the
AACTA International Award for Best Supporting Actor. From 2015 to 2016 Rush returned to the stage portraying the
title character in a revival of
William Shakespeare's
King Lear at the
Roslyn Packer Theatre in Australia. Jason Blake of
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote of his performance, "Like all great clowns, Rush has an instinctive understanding of the abject. What he lacks in a traditional stage monarch's gravitas, he makes up for in willingness and ability to plunge through the merely pitiable and into the realms of anguish and despair." in 2023 Rush returned to television, portraying
Albert Einstein in the first season of
National Geographic's limited anthology series
Genius (2017). The series was executive produced by
Ron Howard and also starred
Emily Watson. Luke Buckmaster of
The Guardian wrote, "[The series] offers a predictably excellent performance from Rush, who since his breakthrough in 1996’s
Shine as the tormented pianist
David Helfgott, has been attracted to eccentric genius characters like a moth to the light." Rush won widespread acclaim earning nominations for the
Primetime Emmy Award,
Golden Globe Award and
Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Television Film. Also in 2017, Rush starred in
Stanley Tucci's film
Final Portrait alongside
Armie Hammer. The film had its world premiere at the
Berlin International Film Festival. The film received positive reviews from critics earning a 73% from
Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "
Final Portrait finds writer-director Stanley Tucci patiently telling a quietly absorbing story, brought to life by a talented ensemble led by Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer. In 2018, Rush played the character of adult Michael Kingley in the family drama
Storm Boy alongside Finn Little,
Jai Courtney, and
Trevor Jamieson. It was released on 17 January 2019. Frank Scheck of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "provide[s] the opportunity for Rush to deliver one of his more subtle, effective performances in recent years". In 2023 it was announced Rush would star opposite
John Lithgow in the horror thriller
The Rule of Jenny Pen. The film received positive reviews with Alison Foreman of
IndieWire writing, "Both Lithgow and Rush [are] fully committed to the twisted two-hander" adding, "Rush enjoys a wonderfully self-contradictory performance that’s equal parts desperate and ferocious. Summoning the bravado he once brought to the
Pirates of the Caribbean films." Lithgow and Rush shared the Best Actor prize at Spain’s
Sitges Film Festival in October 2024. In 2022, he was announced to be starring as
Groucho Marx in an adaptation of the memoir
Raised Eyebrows. The film will be directed by
Oren Moverman and co-star
Sienna Miller and
Charlie Plummer. Rush said of the project that the Marx film is not a biopic, but rather a “tragic comedy about mortality”, about the last three years of Marx’s life. Rush is also set to star opposite
Emma Roberts in the action-comedy film
Verona Spies. In 2025, it was announced Rush would star opposite
Isabelle Huppert in a film adaptation of the
Justin Fleming stage play
Burnt Piano directed by
Fred Schepisi. == Style and influences ==