Meet Joseph Zada, who plays Johnny Sinclair in We Were Liars: the Australian will also play a young version of Woody Harrelson’s character in The Hunger Games prequel – but got the news via Instagram

Jul 8 , 2025

Joseph Zada planned to pursue a football career until he caught the acting bug. Photo: @josephzada/Instagram

With his mother, father and brother all in film, Zada was initially set on a football career, but he eventually succumbed to the acting bug, and is set to be Hollywood’s new favourite Aussie

Australian actor Joseph Zada, 19, recently hit screens in Amazon Prime’s latest series We Were Liars, adapted from E. Lockhart’s 2014 novel of the same name.

Joseph Zada stars in the new psychological thriller We Were Liars. Photo: @josephzada/Instagram

The psychological thriller revolves around the wealthy and seemingly perfect Sinclair family, who spend their summers on a private island. The story unfolds as Cadence Sinclair Eastman, who has suffered a head injury, tries to piece together her memories with the help of her friend Gat Patil (played by Shubham Maheshwari) and two older cousins, Mirren Sinclair Sheffield (played by Esther McGregor) and Johnny Sinclair Dennis (played by Zada).

Joseph Zada currently stars in Amazon Prime’s We Were Liars. Photo: @primevideo/Instagram

Zada has also been tapped to star in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a young Haymitch Abernathy, the character played by Woody Harrelson.

The film, set to premiere in 2026, has a stacked cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke and Billy Porter. It will also be Zada’s biggest project since his debut in 2019.

Here’s everything you need to know about We Were Liars’ Joseph Zada.

He comes from a family of actors

Joseph Zada comes from a family of actors – his father, Jeremy Cumpston, appeared in the Australian medical drama All Saints. Photo: @josephzada/Instagram

Joseph Zada made his acting debut in the 2019 film Bilched alongside his older brother, Hal Cumpston. The comedy drama was directed by Zada’s father, the doctor-turned-actor Jeremy Cumpston, who is best known for his role on the Australian medical drama show All Saints.

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