Mojean Aria

Mojean Aria is an Australian actor, writer, and producer, born in Sydney, Australia. He began his acting training at the age of six, later attending advanced adult classes at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) at fourteen. In 2004, he received a scholarship to The McDonald College High School of Performing Arts. Aria secured his first lead role in the feature film ‘Cross Life’ in 2007, directed by Claire McCarthy, which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival. Following this, he moved to Los Angeles to further his acting career, taking on various roles in short films such as ‘Fate Train’ (2009), ‘Purgatory’ (2010), and ‘The Sweetest Chord’ (2012).

A significant career milestone for Aria came in 2017 when he became the first unsigned recipient and the first person of multicultural background to win the Heath Ledger Scholarship. The judging panel included notable industry figures such as Gary Oldman and Bruna Papandrea, with support from benefactors like Michelle Williams and Nicole Kidman. Kimberly Peirce, a judge, described Aria’s work as “rich, nuanced, precise, beautiful, authentic, emotive and fierce.” After receiving the scholarship, Aria quickly landed a role in the limited series ‘Dead Lucky’ alongside Rachel Griffiths and played a pivotal role in the 2019 feature film ‘Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan’, written and produced by Stuart Beattie.

His career continued to expand in 2019 with an appearance in Apple TV+’s series ‘SEE’, created by Steven Knight and starring Jason Momoa. Aria’s performance as Gether Bax contributed to increased recognition, and he developed a professional relationship with Momoa. In 2021, he co-starred with Hugh Jackman in the Warner Brothers sci-fi film ‘Reminiscence’, directed by Lisa Joy. More recently, in 2022, Aria took on a starring role in ‘The Enforcer’ with Antonio Banderas, and in 2023, he co-starred in ‘Shayda’, executive produced by Cate Blanchett. ‘Shayda’ opened the World Cinema competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, and Aria was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 2024 AACTA Awards. He has also ventured into production and writing, with projects such as the Hawaiian fantasy drama ‘KaPō’ (2020) and the Academy Award-qualifying short film ‘LUCY’ (2020), which he wrote and directed. Aria has also established the first scholarship for MENA actors in Australia, demonstrating his commitment beyond acting.