A versatile artist, Leigh Whannel is an Australian screenwriter, producer, director, and actor who is best known for his frequent collaboration with acclaimed directed James Wan and writing for his films. Credited as the creators of the Saw series along with Wan, Leigh is also the writer of the Saw video game.
Leigh, who believes that he inherited the art of storytelling from his mother and the art of the filmmaking from his father, Whannell, before making it big in the film industry, worked as a report and film critic for several TV shows in Australia including ABC`s Recovery. Whanell started his career in the entertainment industry as an actor with a TV series titled Neighbors in 1996. In the initial years, he mostly appeared in small and supporting roles. Some of his most notable film credits as an actor include Saw (2004), Saw II (2005), Saw III (2006), The Pardon (2009), Insidious (2011), Cooties (2014), and Insidious: The Last Key (2018).
The actor-turned-writer made his debut as a writer with the first film in the Saw franchise in 2004. He later went on to write for all the films in the series. His other notable films as a writer include Dead Silence (2007), The Mule (2014), Stem (2017) and
Insidious: The Last Key (2018). His 2020 release includes
The Invisible Man.