Mark Jensen

An experienced actor who is in management both Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Mark Jensen is well noted for his performance as Michael in the Shakespeare-inspired, 'Eloise' (2002), and as a dying father in The Bobsy Boys (2004), for which he got the Best Actor award at Newcastle Film Festival. He has shown himself to be a very competent and dedicated actor in the Australian film industry, and aside from films, he has been active on television, commercials, radio, and in the theatre. Jensen got into acting fairly late in his thirties after working on radio and television. He received acting tuition from a number of tutors for 12 years, during which he made appearances on TV programs such as "Home and Away" (1989 -) and "All Saints" (1998 -), and in many short-length films. By the time he was working on 'Eloise', he had done approximately 30 short films (of a total of about 60 that he has done so far). 'Eloise' was the modern version of the Shakespearean dramatization, `Othello', and had Mark Jensen in the lead as the Othello character Michael, paired with P.J. Parker as Bruce and Melanie Holt as the title heroine. The movie got the Best Australian Film Jury Prize at Aust Fest Film Festival. In early 2003, he had a change of air from drama. He played the police inspector Hector in the Indian comedy film, 'Nala Damayanthi' (2003), which was his first foreign film that also starred India's heartthrob Madhavan. His part as the inspector got good reviews including one scene said to be one of the funniest two scenes in the motion picture, which must be the interrogation between the inspector and an Indian illegal immigrant with poor education. In this scene, the illegal immigrant (portrayed by Madhavan) tries to recount to the inspector how a bunch of baddies came and kicked his balls!! 'Nala Damayanthi' was an enriching experience for Jensen, for he got to learn the Indian side to filmmaking, and as he said in response to a question posed in the 'FilmInk Magazine', he thought that the "cultural differences [between India and Australia] add a wonderful spice to filmmaking and story telling." To Jensen, the film was the "most bizarre and wonderful acting experience" he had ever done. By some coincidence, Mark Jensen got to work with his friend and fellow-actor, Bruno Xavier, on the set of 'Nala Damayanthi'. They had previously worked before in association with a group called Parnassus Den, in which they read scripts of films in pre-production before an audience of writers for the critical response. Both Xavier and Jensen think that this process is important in Australian filmmaking. Currently Jensen is doing another foreign film in Korea, called 'Taepung' ('Typhoon'), in which he acts as a US ambassador to Korea. The film's due for release in Korea in 2006.