Kodi Smit-McPhee Biography

Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee was in the spotlight in early 2022 for his Oscar-nominated role as Peter in The Power of the Dog (2021).

By that time, Smit-McPhee had had more than a dozen years in the business, with an onscreen career that started in 2006 in Australia.

His first big breakthrough was as Eric Bana’s son in Romulus, My Father (2007).

Smit-McPhee’s second big breakthrough was as Viggo Mortensen’s son in The Road (2009, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy).

He followed that with a critically acclaimed performance in the 2010 vampire movie Let Me In.

Smit-McPhee got into acting because of his father, actor Andy McPhee. Kodi’s sister, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, is also an actor. Kodi began his screen career in Australia, but eventually the family moved to Los Angeles to pursue their acting careers.

Early on, Smit-McPhee showed a maturity that earned him a reputation for being able to do serious drama, with an “otherness” that informed his many roles as an outsider.

Kodi’s other movie credits include The Tender Hook (2006), A Birder’s Guide to Everything (2013), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and Slow West (2015).

He’s also appeared as Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019).