Why Brenton Thwaites wants to buy a Brisbane council bus

If you were casting an actor to play the city of Brisbane you could do no better than Brenton Thwaites. He’s good-looking; great for raising kids (he has five); is sunny and upbeat; and despite everything still flies a bit under the radar.

He also happens to be a huge advocate for the place that launched his acting career.

“People are realising Brisbane is a cool place to live,” he says, in a cafe opposite City Hall, having taken off his black hat to reveal long hair tied in a bun.

“You know, it’s safe, it’s got culture, it’s got South Bank.

“Things are developing here so quick, not just construction, but people and culture and art. In the lead-up to the Olympics, it’ll be great to see that culture just continue to swell.”

Thwaites, who lives on the Gold Coast, has had major roles in huge blockbuster films including Maleficent and Gods of Egypt. In Pirates of the Caribbean 5, he played the son of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.

He also starred as Batman’s estranged offsider Robin (aka Nightwing) in four seasons of the dark DC series Titans.

But he’s back in Brisbane spruiking a locally made romantic series for Paramount+ called Two Years Later, in which he plays a Brisbane accountant, Ryan, opposite Phoebe Tonkin’s journalist Emily.

The two are acquaintances who enjoy trading quips on the bus ride to work. Reunited on the commute after COVID-19, Ryan impulsively asks Emily to marry him.

Once this rom-commy conceit is out of the way, the series starts painting in the gritty details.

“I thought, what a great opportunity to take off some layers a little bit, and do something that’s a little bit closer to home.”

Two Years Later was a homecoming for Thwaites in more ways than one.

He grew up in Cairns but got to know Brisbane when studying acting at QUT and working in local bars and restaurants.

On graduating in 2010, he packed up his life and drove to Sydney, only to get an invite to fly back the next day to audition for Brisbane-set Fox8 series SLiDE – a River City answer to Skins.

The schedule was tight, and Thwaites was asked to wait while the producers decided whether he’d gotten the part or not.

“It was kind of agonising, but at the same time, I loved that they kept me there and told me, right then and there.”

“I can still remember him sitting on the floor going, ‘Are you gonna give it to me?’” says Tracey Robertson, chief executive of Brisbane’s Hoodlum Entertainment, who made both Slide and Two Years Later.

“It was such a breakout role for him, and he was so good in it. We’ve kind of kept in contact with Brenton, and then we heard