He was a co-founder of Rogue Stars Productions[2] with fellow actors Brendan Cowell and Leland Kean[1] in 1999.[3]
Although primarily a screen actor, Hayes does voice over work as well.[4]
Joel Edgerton nicknamed him 'The King of Western Grit' during the shooting of The Square,[5] The moniker later became the name of a Facebook page, with a collection of movie posters with Hayes' face on them.
Anthony co-wrote the film Gold with writer Polly Smyth. It stars Zac Efron, Susie Porter and himself. He directed and produced it through his company Rogue Star Pictures. The film was shot in South Australia in 2020.
Hayes appeared in all three series of ABC political drama Total Control.[6]
In 2023, Hayes was announced as part of the cast for controversial two part miniseries Warnie in the role of Terry 'TJ' Jenner. The decision to produce the miniseries about Warne after his death was criticised by Warne's daughter Brooke who described it as "beyond disrespectful".[7] The trailer for the miniseries also attracted negative commentary on social media when it was first shown on 31 May 2023. The telemovie garnered mostly negative reviews from the press and public.
Activism
In April 2015, Hayes, with his partner Writer Polly Smyth, organised the #saveourboys video featuring celebrities including: Bryan Brown, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush, Joel Edgerton, Luke Hemsworth, Brendan Cowell and Peter Helliar.[8] The video called upon Australian Prime MinisterTony Abbott to step up and secure the lives of reformed drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in the last 24 hours before their execution. In the video, Hayes himself said: "show some ticker Tony Abbott. Get to Indonesia. It's your job." The video went viral and amassed much support on social media. Despite many stating the government had done all it could leading up to their deaths, it was later claimed by human rights lawyer Geoffrey RobertsonQC that a number of avenues could have been taken.[9][10]
