A timeline is yet to be set for Geoffrey Rush's legal action against a Sydney newspaper which published allegations the 66-year-old behaved inappropriately toward a theatre colleague.
Rush is suing the Daily Telegraph for defamation, saying the allegations have left his career in tatters.
The tabloid published allegations the actor behaved inappropriately to a colleague during a Sydney Theatre Company production of King Lear in 2015.
"(Rush's) reputation as an actor has been irreparably harmed such that he is likely to be shunned by employers in the future," the defamation suit lodged in the Federal Court of Australia on Friday read.
Rush told journalists he was seeking "vindication of my good name".
"It is an action I am taking in order to redress the slurs, innuendo and hyperbole that they have created around my standing in the entertainment industry and in the greater community," he said at his lawyer's office in Melbourne.
The Daily Telegraph will defend its reporting.
"The Daily Telegraph accurately reported the Sydney Theatre Company received a complaint alleging that Mr Geoffrey Rush had engaged in inappropriate behaviour," editor Chris Dore said in a statement.
Rush's lawyer Nicholas Pullen said police had not been in contact with his client over the allegations.
Rush stepped down as president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts on Saturday after the Telegraph published the allegations.
No date had been set for the matter to be mentioned in the Federal Court.
