Pushing past a media throng as he left the Supreme Court of NSW in Sydney on Thursday, Geoffrey Rush held the hand of his wife Jane Menelaus, his Oscar-winning face carefully blank.

At no point did Rush’s expression reflect that he had just been awarded an initial $850,000 payout – with more to come – in his defamation battle against The Daily Telegraph.

It might have just been his acting training, or it could have been that Rush suspects his exoneration in a sexual harassment case might not automatically restore his fabled career to its previous financial and critical heights.

“It’s a tricky time in history to have mud thrown at you, however unfair,” a Melbourne theatre source told The New Daily after the Rush verdict.

“Geoffrey is in the clear, but mud sticks. And from what I hear, this whole thing has taken a toll on him, his family. He might not have the same appetite, that drive, to be back in the spotlight.

“Actors run on their egos and confidence, and the court stuff has beaten the hell out of his,” the source said.

There was no immediate comment from Rush or News Corp about the outcome.

Tearful at times during his case, Rush has said he suffered an “emotional spiral” because of the newspaper’s allegations he sexually harassed co-star Eryn Jean Norvill in a 2015-16 Sydney production of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

Alleging he had suffered damage to his reputation and earning power, Rush, 67, had sought more than $20 million in damages.

The figure is almost $17 million more than the record defamation payout awarded, with Rush’s lawyers arguing he is entitled to special damages based on lost future income.

As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, public documents uploaded to the Federal Court’s website in November that were ineffectively redacted revealed Rush banked almost $38 million between 2003 and 2017.

Later, the court heard he earned $128,000 a month before the stories were published.

But according to Hollywood agent Fred Specktor, who has represented Rush for 23 years, the star is worth it.

Mr Specktor has Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and Dan Aykroyd on his books. He told the Federal Court during the trial that Rush is a bona fide A-lister who had expected his marketability and opportunities to continue well into future decades.

“All of my actors are stars. All are older. They work as much as they want and they are all well paid,” he said.

But with the global headlines made by the court case, Mr Specktor feared Mr Rush would find it hard to return to his previous professional profile as “[this has] been very destructive to him in terms of his psyche”.

He said that Mr Rush is picky when it comes to choosing jobs, and likes to play “complicated” characters.

The New Daily contacted Mr Specktor after the verdict to ask if he expects to start fielding new roles for Rush.

Rush’s lawyers had argued it might take the actor a year to find work again after the trial.

“There will be many people, particularly in the context of the ‘Me Too’ movement, who will not accept the court’s findings irrespective of what they are,” the barristers argued.

“In circumstances where millions of dollars are invested in films, it is unlikely that, given the allegations, film studios will take the risk.”

Bruce McClintock SC said “there is a significant risk” his client Rush will not work again.

“It does not take much of a taint to destroy a career. What they did to my client has disabled him from working.”

Said the Melbourne theatre source: “There’s definitely sympathy for Geoffrey, but there’s also sympathy for [Norvill.]

“Nobody’s a winner here. I don’t think Geoffrey will have gone out and celebrated with champagne and oysters. It might take him a while to work out what his next move is.”