Whelan played DEA agent Van Ness in the third season of Netflix original series Narcos.
[6][2] In 2009, he landed a recurring role as Brad Caulfield in the first season of TVNZ 2 comedy-drama series, Go Girls.
[7] In 2011, he starred alongside Michelle Ang in My Wedding and Other Secrets, a New Zealand romantic comedy film.
[1] In 2014, he starred as Zach, the male lead in a Silo Theatre production of Amy Herzog's Belleville.
[9][10] The ten-episode series, chronicles the Playboy founder's life, the rise of the magazine and unveils never-before-seen footage from his private archives.
[18] In 2024, he began starring in A Remarkable Place to Die alongside Rebecca Gibney and Chelsie Preston Crayford.