Rachel Griffiths (b. 1968), actor, gained a bachelor of education in drama and dance at a little-known Melbourne college and began her performing career with community theatre group Woolly Jumpers, Inc in the 1980s. Her early short film Barbie Gets Hip attracted attention at the 1991 Melbourne Film Festival, and she appeared on television before the feisty character of Rhonda in the film Muriel's Wedding (1994) won her international acclaim and an AFI award for best supporting actress. Since then she has made films in Britain - including Jude (1995) and Hilary and Jackie (1998), for which she earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination - and Hollywood - including My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) and Blow (2001), in which she played Johnny Depp's character's mother. She won a Golden Globe for her work over five seasons of the US television series Six Feet Under (2001-2005) and starred in Brothers and Sisters from 2006 to 2011. Throughout her international career, the mother of three has continued to appear in Australian films including Me Myself I (1999), The Hard Word (2002), Ned Kelly (2003) and Beautiful Kate (2009). A resident of Melbourne, she has recently appeared in the Irish film Mammal (2016), Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and the SBS television series Dead Lucky (2018) and made her debut as a director with Ride Like a Girl (2019), the story of champion Australian jockey Michelle Payne.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Purchased 2005
© Karin Catt
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