Vernon Wells (actor)

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This article is about the Australian actor. For the American baseball player, see Vernon Wells (baseball player).

Vernon Wells
Wells as Bennett in Commando
Born	December 30, 1945 Rushworth, Victoria, Australia
Other name(s)	Vernon G. Wells

Vernon Wells (born December 30, 1945 in Rushworth, Victoria, Australia) is an actor.

Wells initially worked in a quarry, and then as a salesman. He then worked extensively in theatre and rock bands before being noticed by casting agents during a long-lived hit theatre play, and started to appear in Australian TV commercials, print ads, local Australian TV shows such as Homicide and Matlock Police and historical TV mini-series like Against The Wind, Sara Dane and All The Rivers Run.

His first cinema appearance was a minor role in Felicity (1979), a low budget, erotic fantasy film. However, Wells was cast as the homicidal biker "Wez", in the big budget Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) filmed around Silverton near Broken Hill in outback New South Wales, Australia. It's the role for which he is probably best known to international audiences, as Wells portrays a psychotic, post-apocalyptic gang leader who relentlessly pursues hero Mel Gibson, before meeting a spectacular death at the film's finale. Hollywood beckoned for Wells, and he spoofed his mad biker role in the popular 1985 teen comedy Weird Science, written and directed by John Hughes and produced by Joel Silver. Wells so impressed Silver with his work in that film that he was immediately secured for the role of Bennett, who double crosses Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985).

Although Vernon Wells is also credited as a writer, director and producer of several highly acclaimed films, he continued to find regular work as a villain, of one description or another, predominantly in thrillers or action films including Last Man Standing (1988), Circuitry Man (1990), Kick of Death (1997) and Starforce (2000).

Although not a regular, he also appeared in the short-lived 1992 TV series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys.

Wells then landed a role in 2001's Power Rangers: Time Force as Ransik, a mutant crime lord from the year 3000 who escapes capture and travels back in time to take over the world of 2001. In 2002, he also guest starred in the Power Rangers Wild Force/Time Force 2-part team-up episode, "Reinforcements From the Future," again in the role of Ransik.

When first approached for the role in Commando, Wells was in Australia working on the feature film, Fortress based on the real life Faraday School kidnapping, in a starring role opposite Rachel Ward. Wells had originally auditioned for the lead character John Matrix role in Commando.