Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Career
1.3 Personal life
2 Awards
3 Filmography
3.1 Films
3.2 televisão credits
4 References
5 External links
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Byrne was born in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, of Irish and Scottish descent, the daughter of Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher.[1] She attended Balmain Public School and Hunters colina High School before attending Bradfield Senior College in North Sydney. She has an older brother, George, and two older sisters, Alice and Lucy. She began taking atuação classes at age eight, joining the Australian Theatre for Young People and also attended the universidade of Sydney. In 1999 Byrne studied atuação at the Atlantic Theatre Company developed por David Mamet and William H. Macy. Known to family and close family friends as Chabs after a family cat she had in her youth named Chablis, after the wine, a favourite of her native Australia.
[edit] Career
Byrne[2] was cast in her first film role, Dallas Doll, when she was 12 years old. She has appeared in a variety of Australian televisão shows including Heartbreak High, Echo Point, and the film Two Hands alongside Heath Ledger. She appeared in The Date, My Mother Frank, and Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967 for which she obtained the Female Volpi Cup at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. Meanwhile, she appeared as a guest in an episode of the cop drama series Murder Call. She also acted on stage, playing a lead role in La Dispute and starred in a production of Anton Chekhov's classic Three Sisters at the Sydney Theatre Company.
Byrne appeared in the música video of Darren Hayes's single I Miss You and starred with Australian musician Alex Lloyd in the música video for his single Black The Sun and was featured on the cover artwork for the EP. She also appeared in the TV Commercial for Sony and reunited with Alex Lloyd, appearing in his música video for 1000 Miles from the album Distant Light.
In 2002, Byrne entered Hollywood with a small role as Dormé, the loyal handmaiden to Natalie Portman's Senator Padmé Amidala, in George Lucas' estrela Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. and appeared the same ano in the movie City of Ghosts with Matt Dillon.
The seguinte year, she flew to the UK to shoot I Capture the Castle, Tim Fywell's adaptation of the 1948 novel of the same título por Dodie Smith. In the film, which relates the adventures of the eccentric Mortmain family struggling to survive in a decaying English castelo in the 1930s, she portrayed Rose Mortmain, the elder sister of Romola Garai's Cassandra. She starred the same ano in three Australian films: The Night We Called It a dia alongside Melanie Griffith and Dennis Hopper; The Rage in Placid Lake for which she was named Best Actress at the Australian Film Institute with singer Ben Lee; and Take Away another comedy.
In 2004, Byrne starred as Briseis the Trojan priestess who was abducted during the Trojan War por Achilles (played por Brad Pitt), in Wolfgang Petersen's epic Troy,[3] also starring Eric Bana, Peter O’Toole, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom. She then reunited with Peter O'Toole in the acclaimed BBC TV drama Casanova. Byrne appeared with Snoop Dogg in Danny Green's film The Tenants, based on Bernard Malamud's novel, and starred with Josh Hartnett[4] and Diane Kruger in the romantic psychological thriller Wicker Park where she played Alex, the woman who manipulated Josh Hartnett's character to keep him apart from the woman he falls in amor with.
In 2006 Byrne portrayed Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac a French aristocrat and friend of Marie Antoinette, in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, alongside Kirsten Dunst and The Dead Girl[5] directed por Karen Moncrieff.
In 2007, she played Cassie,[6] the pilot in Danny Boyle's science fiction suspense film[7] Sunshine,[8] and then portrayed Scarlett Ross, an army medical officer in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sci-fi horror 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Boyle's 28 Days Later.
She will seguinte be seen in the independent film Just Buried,[9] a Canadian dark comedy written and directed por Chaz Thorne as well as an Australian film noir The Tender Hook with Hugo Weaving.
Byrne[10] is currently in a FX[11] drama production Damages,[12] playing the regular lead role of Ellen Parsons,[13] a young attorney torn between her hard-hitting, high-stakes new boss (Glenn Close) and her own ambitions.
She and Marie Antoinette director Sofia Coppola have both played handmaidens in the estrela Wars prequels: Coppola appeared in The Phantom Menace, Byrne in Attack of the Clones. She was the face of Max Factor between 2004 and 2006 and named in the Most Beautiful People of 2007 list in Who Magazine.[14]
Byrne has supported UNICEF Australia por being the face of the 2007 Designers United campaign and a member of tropfest jury in 2006 and tropfest@tribeca[15] in 2007. She is a graduate and ambassador for NIDA's (National Institute of Dramatic Art) Young Actors Studio. She was recently named the first patron of Chauvel Cinemas presented por the Brisbane International Film Festival and named in honour of Charles Chauvel.
Byrne has used several different accents in her films: Australian, British,[2] American,[10] and the Canadian.[16]
[edit] Personal life
Byrne has been in a relationship with Australian writer, director and actor Brendan Cowell for over five years. The couple have maintained a long-distance for much of their relationship, with work commitments meaning they were often on separate continents. However, Cowell has planned a mover from Sydney to New York City, due to Byrne's success on Damages.
Previously she dated Australian writer, director Gregor Jordan who directed her in Two Hands.
[edit] Awards
Nominated
Golden Globes
2008- Golden Globe for Best Performance por an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for televisão for Damages (2007)
Movie Extra Filmink Awards
2008- Best Performance por an Aussie In An Overseas Movie for Sunshine (2007)
Australian Film Institute
2003- AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Rage in Placid Lake (2003)
Film Critics círculo of Australia Awards
2002- FCCA Award for Best Actress for The Goddess of 1967 (2000)
Won
Australian Film Institute
2007- International Award for Best Actress for Damages (2007)
Venice Film Festival
2000- Volpi Cup for Best Actress for The Goddess of 1967 (2000)
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Films
ano título Role
1999 Two Hands Alex
2000 My Mother Frank Jenny
The Goddess of 1967 BG
2002 estrela Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Dormé
City of Ghosts Sabrina
2003 I Capture the castelo Rose Mortmain
The Night We Called It a dia Audrey Appleby
The Rage in Placid Lake Gemma Taylor
Take Away Sonja Stilano
2004 Troy Briseis
Wicker Park Alex
2005 The Tenants Irene sino
2006 Marie Antoinette Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac
The Dead Girl Leah
2007 Sunshine Cassie
28 Weeks Later Major Scarlett Ross
2008 Just Buried Roberta Knickle
The Tender Hook Iris
2009 Knowing Diana Whelan
[edit] televisão credits
ano título Role Other notes
1995 Echo Point Belinda O Conor Lead character
1997 Fallen anjos Siobhan Guest(1 episode)
Wildside Heidi Benson Guest(2 episodes)
1999 Big Sky Angie Guest (1 episode)
Heartbreak High Carly Whitely Guest (3 episodes)
2000 Murder Call Sarah Watson Guest(1 episode)
2005 Casanova Edith BBC Mini series
2007–2010 Damages Ellen Parsons Lead character
