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Leigh Whannell (born 17 January 1977) is an Australian screenwriter, producer, and actor, best known for his work on the Saw franchise. Whannell was born in Melbourne. A writer since childhood, Whannell worked as a reporter and film critic for several Australian television shows, including ABC's Recovery hosted by Dylan Lewis. He also had a minor role in The Matrix Reloaded, as well as the video game Enter The Matrix as the character Axel. Whannell believes that he inherited his love of storytelling from his mother and his fondness of filmmaking from his father, who worked behind the... MORE

Leigh Whannell (born 17 January 1977) is an Australian screenwriter, producer, and actor, best known for his work on the Saw franchise. Whannell was born in Melbourne. A writer since childhood, Whannell worked as a reporter and film critic for several Australian television shows, including ABC's Recovery hosted by Dylan Lewis. He also had a minor role in The Matrix Reloaded, as well as the video game Enter The Matrix as the character Axel. Whannell believes that he inherited his love of storytelling from his mother and his fondness of filmmaking from his father, who worked behind the camera in the television industry. While in film school, he met James Wan, who would eventually go on to direct the horror film Saw (co-written by Wan and Whannell) in 2004. After making a short film to showcase the intensity of the script, the feature film was made and became a low-budget sleeper hit in late 2004. Whannell played Adam Stanheight in the film, one of the main characters. The popularity of Saw led to a sequel, Saw II, which was directed and co-written by Darren Lynn Bousman, and on which Whannell co-wrote and revised Bousman's original script, titled The Desperate. Whannell also served LESS