Matt Whelan

Christchurch-raised Matt Whelan made his screen debut playing himself — as an acting student on 2005 reality series Tough Act. His big screen break was 2008‘s Show of Hands. But it was three seasons as a lovesick finance man on Go Girls that brought him a wider audience. Three award-nominated roles saw him in starring roles at the movies: cross-cultural romance My Wedding and Other Secrets, travel drama Most Fun You Can Have Dying, and Radio Hauraki tale 3 Mile Limit. In 2017 he was Hugh Hefner in Amazon series American Playboy — before flying to Columbia to chase drug cartels, for Netflix hit Narcos.

I got it through my agent. I saw it and thought, perfect, this guy is tall and skinny and he has to speak a bit of Mandarin. Matt Whelan, on hearing about the male lead's requirements for My Wedding and Other Secrets