Leigh Whannell
Highest Rated: 91% The Invisible Man (2020)
Lowest Rated: 10% Saw 3D (2010)
Birthday: Jan 17, 1977
Birthplace: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Born in 1977 and raised in Melbourne, Aussie screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor Leigh Whannell alternated between work as a reporter and assignments as a TV-based movie critic on his native continent prior to his decision to attend film school in the early 2000s. As a production student, Whannell met aspiring director James Wan; the two forged a tight creative bond and quickly devised the premise for a new slasher franchise, Saw, co-authoring the screenplay of the premier installment. The by-now infamous story of Saw concerns the plight of two successful men who black out, regain consciousness, and find themselves chained to rusty pipes in a subterranean bathroom. They are then tortured in unspeakable manners by an evasive predator in clown makeup, known alternately as The Jigsaw Killer and simply Jigsaw. To sell this genre effort, Whannell and Wan followed a marketing strategy identical to the one that Joel and Ethan Coen used to sell their debut, Blood Simple, 20 years prior: the budding filmmakers shot a "trailer" that showcased the film's atmosphere of relentless tension and high-wire suspense to secure a production deal. The gamble paid off; Lionsgate green-lit the project and sent it into production between 2003 and 2004. Meanwhile, Whannell embarked on an acting career; he joined the ensemble cast of 2003's Wachowski Bros. sequel The Matrix Reloaded (as Axel) and assumed the lead role of Adam in Saw. With Wan in the director's chair and Stacey Testro, Peter Block, and Jason Constantine as executive producers, Saw became a massive runaway hit and -- as predicted -- yielded two successful sequels in 2005 and 2006 that further detail the exploits of Jigsaw. The boys scripted the second and third installments, though Wan declined the offer to direct either. Saw II, which debuted in late 2005, has eight people -- instead of the original two -- locked up by the diabolical Jigsaw in a dungeon and attempting to escape. In Saw III, Jigsaw -- now on his deathbed -- instructs his protégé, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), in the ways of evil, ordering her to kidnap and torture a physician and another victim, Jeff (Angus MacFadyen). Mirroring the innumerable A-budget horror franchises that preceded Saw, the first sequel did astonishing box office but was eviscerated by critics, and Saw III echoed this response on both critical and commercial fronts. Meanwhile, instead, of directing Saw II or Saw III, Wan and Whannell set to work on a Saw follow-up, 2007's Dead Silence (aka Shhhh...). The suspenser stars Donnie Wahlberg and supermodel Amber Valletta (Hitch), and concerns a recently widowed young man who returns to his hometown to unearth the shadowy details surrounding his beloved's demise. Universal Pictures slated the release for January 2007.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
Movies
| Credit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet | Spiral | Executive Producer | — | 2021 |
| 91% | The Invisible Man | Executive Producer Screenwriter Director | — | 2020 |
| 88% | Upgrade | Director Screenwriter | — | 2018 |
| 33% | Insidious: The Last Key | Screenwriter Specs | $29.6M | 2018 |
| 89% | 78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene | Actor | — | 2017 |
| 45% | Cooties | Doug Screenwriter Executive Producer | — | 2015 |
| 57% | Insidious: Chapter 3 | Specs Director Screenwriter | — | 2015 |
| 87% | The Mule | Executive Producer | — | 2014 |
| 45% | Raze | Elevator Guard | $4K | 2014 |
| 39% | Insidious: Chapter 2 | Screenwriter Specs | $71.5M | 2013 |
| No Score Yet | Crush | David | — | 2013 |
| No Score Yet | The Pardon | Clement Moss | $3.4K | 2013 |
| 66% | Insidious | Screenwriter Specs | $53.8M | 2011 |
| 10% | Saw 3D | Executive Producer | $45.7M | 2010 |
| 51% | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | Jatt | $54.5M | 2010 |
| No Score Yet | Bump | Actor | — | 2010 |
| 39% | Saw VI | Executive Producer | $27.7M | 2009 |
| 50% | Dying Breed | Matt | — | 2009 |
| 13% | Saw V | Executive Producer | $56.8M | 2008 |
| 20% | Saw IV | Executive Producer | $63.3M | 2007 |
| 21% | Death Sentence | Spink | $9.5M | 2007 |
| 20% | Dead Silence | Screenwriter | $16.6M | 2007 |
| 28% | Saw III | Screenwriter Adam Executive Producer | $80.3M | 2006 |
| 37% | Saw II | Executive Producer Screenwriter | $87.1M | 2005 |
| 49% | Saw | Adam Screenwriter | $55.2M | 2004 |
| No Score Yet | Saw (short film) | Actor | — | 2003 |
| 73% | The Matrix Reloaded | Axel | $281.6M | 2003 |
TV
| Credit | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No Score Yet |
The View 1997 |
Guest |
2015 |
| No Score Yet |
The Mo'Nique Show 2009-2011 |
Guest |
2011 |
QUOTES FROM Leigh Whannell CHARACTERS
Dr. Lawrence Gordon says: I did not cheat on her!!!!
Dr. Lawrence Gordon says: I did not cheat on her!
Adam says: What do you care what I think anyway?? I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15-hooker gangbang!!!
Adam says: What do you care what I think anyway? I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15-hooker gang bang!
Adam says: I just a-shit ma pants!
Adam says: I went back to my shit hole apartment, and woke up in an actual shit hole.
Adam says: My last girlfriend was a feminist, vegan punk who broke up with me because she thought I was too angry.
John/Jigsaw says: Rise and shine, Adam. You're probably wondering where you are. I'll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room that you die in. Up until now, you've simply sat in the shadows watching others live out their lives. But what do voyeurs see when they look into the mirror? Now I see you as a strange mix of someone angry, yet apathetic. But mostly just pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die here today, Adam, or do something about it?
Adam says: I don't get it.
Adam says: Why do you care what I think? I don't care if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a fifth-teen hooker gang-bang.
Adam says: "I wouldn't care if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15-hooker gang bang."
Adam says: I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15 hooker gang bang!
Adam says: I went to bed in my shit hole apartment, then I woke up in an actual shit hole.
Adam says: I went to bed in my shithole apartment and I woke up in an actual shithole.
Adam says: See?! This is what they do to you! They tub you, they drug you, and next thing you now your kidneys are on e-bay!
Adam says: Huh? This is what they do man! They kidnap and drug you, before you know it you're lying in a bathtub and your kidneys are on eBay!
Dr. Lawrence Gordon says: What's your name?
Adam says: My name is Very Fucking Confused; what's your name?
Adam says: This the most fun i've had without lube!
Adam says: This is the most fun I've had without lubricant!
Adam says: I don't give a crap if you covered yourself in peanut butter and had a 15 hooker gang bang!
Adam says: I went to bed in my shithole apartment and I woke up in an actual shithole.