He began his career as a stage actor in Brisbane, Australia performing under the direction of renown Shakespearean director Bryan Nason AM.
[1] before again performing under the direction of Bryan Nason in dual roles as Ea and Utnapishtim, in The Royal Queensland Theatre Company's production of Gilgamesh.
Whilst living in the UK, he also undertook private voice studies with Alan Woodhouse at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.
He relocated to Sydney in 1995 after gaining the role of series regular, Hopper Hadley in the Network 10 television drama Echo Point, along with fellow actors, Rose Byrne (28 Weeks Later) and Martin Henderson (The Ring).
Woodley has performed roles in many Australian drama series including the award-winning ABC TV series Rake as well as US productions of Spartacus - Gods of the Arena and Legend of the Seeker Woodley plays Mike Evans in the first installment of the Science Fiction Trilogy The Three-Body Problem adapted from the novel of the same name written by acclaimed Chinese author and winner of the 2015 Hugo Awards, Liu Cixin.