Wenham was born in Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia, the son of Kath and Bill Wenham. He has five older sisters, Maree, Kathy, Helen, Carmel and Anne, and an older brother, Peter. Wenham was raised in the Catholic religion and attended Christian Brothers' High School, Lewisham. He worked as a bingo caller and an insurance clerk before becoming successful as an actor.

Wenham's television credits include several telemovies, such as his AFI award winning role in the 1996 telemovie Simone de Beauvoir's Babies; and his role as the outwardly laid back but deeply enigmatic diver Dan Della Bosca in the 1998 and 1999 seasons of the highly successful ABC television series SeaChange. His role as "Diver Dan" has made the actor something of a sex symbol, although he dislikes thinking of himself as such, and he has been voted Australia's "sexiest man alive". A portrait of Wenham by artist Adam Cullen won the Archibald Prize in 2000. Wenham is signed to Storm Model Management in London.

In film, Wenham seems to have been much more successful in Australia than abroad. Australian films Wenham has starred in include the critically acclaimed The Boys (1998) based on the play of the same name premiered at Griffin Theatre Company and in turn based on the Anita Cobby murder; Molokai (1999), based on the life of Father Damien; The Bank (2001); Gettin' Square (2003) and Three Dollars (2005). Wenham has periodically appeared in Hollywood films. The film role for which he is most known for worldwide is the fictional character Faramir, son of Denethor, in New Line Cinema's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Wenham jokes about that he was cast in The Lord of the Rings because of his resemblance to his on-screen brother, Sean Bean. As he notes, they both have big noses. Has appeared with two of 2001's Best Supporting Actor Nominees. That year's winner was Jim Broadbent, with whom he appeared in Moulin Rouge. The other was Ian McKellen, who reprised his Oscar-nominated role opposite Wenham in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

He was also seen in Van Helsing playing Hugh Jackman's sidekick, Friar Carl. His character, Dilios, narrated and appeared in the movie 300. Minor roles of Wenham's in overseas films include in The Crocodile Hunter as a park ranger, and briefly in Moulin Rouge! as Audrey. Wenham stars in the music video for Alex Lloyd's single "Brand New Day".

In both Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and 300, Wenham's character is the sole survivor returned from an ill-fated battle (the Battle at Osgiliath and the Battle of Thermopylae, respectively). He reprises his role of Dilios in the videogame 300: March to Glory for Sony Playstation Portable, which contains a lot of new dialogue.

He has one daughter, Eliza Jane, with his longtime girlfriend, Kate Agnew. His nickname, "Daisy", originates from his childhood.

Wenham read a poem by Rupert McCall at the memorial service for naturalist Steve Irwin. The poem was entitled "The Crocodiles are Crying".

In 1999, he presented the Village Roadshow Pictures Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

• Sons and Daughters
• Jack Simpson: A Willesee Documentary (1987) (TV) (uncredited) .... Wounded soldier
• Poor Man's Orange (1987) (mini) TV Series .... Party Youth
• The Heroes(1988) (TV) .... Horrie Young
• Come in Spinner (1990) (TV) .... Australian Soldier
• Police Rescue
• Greenkeeping(1992) .... Trevor
• Seeing Red(1992) .... Frank No 2
• A Country Practice
• Heartland(1994) (mini) TV Series .... Warwick Bone
• Gino(1994) .... Trevor
• Tran the Man (1994) .... Raymond "Tran" Moss
• No Escape(1994) .... Hotel Guard #2
• Escape from Jupiter (1994)... Dr Chrobak
• One of Us(1995) .... Luke Potter
• Roses Are Red(1995) .... Brian
• Twisted Tales
• Cosi (1996) .... Doug
• Idiot Box(1996) .... Bank Teller with a History
• Return to Jupiter (1997) TV Series .... Dr. Chrobak
• Simone de Beauvoir's Babies(1997) (mini) TV Series .... Ian
• The Boys(1998) .... Brett Sprague
• Dark City(1998) .... Schreber's Assistant
• A Little Bit of Soul (1998) .... Dr. Richard Shorkinghorn
• SeaChange(1998) TV Series .... Daniel 'Diver Dan' Della Bosca (1998-1999)
• Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999) .... Father Damien
• Better Than Sex (2000) .... Josh
• Russian Doll (2001) .... Ethan
• Moulin Rouge!(2001) .... Audrey
• The Bank(2001) .... Jim Doyle
• Dust (2001/I) .... Luke
• The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course(2002) .... Sam Flynn
• Pure(2002) .... Lenny
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) .... Faramir
• After the Deluge (2003) (mini) TV Series .... Alex Kirby
• Gettin' Square(2003) .... Johnny Spitieri
• Basilisk Stare(2003) .... Dave
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) .... Faramir
• Van Helsing: The London Assignment(2004) (V) (voice) .... Carl
• Van Helsing(2004) .... Carl
• Stiff(2004) (TV) .... Murray Whelan
• The Brush-Off(2004) (TV) .... Murray Whelan
• Three Dollars (2005) .... Eddie Harnovey
• The Proposition(2005) .... Eden Fletcher
• Answered by Fire(2006) (mini) TV Series .... Mark Waldman
• 300(2007) .... Dilios
• Married Life (2008) ... John O'Brien
• The Children of Huang Shi(2008) .... TBA
• Australia(2008) .... Neil Fletcher
• Public Enemies(2009) .... Harry Pierpont
• Pope Joan(2009 film) (2009) .... Gerold

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