Rose Byrne Biography

Mary Rose Byrne (born 24 July 1979) is an Australian actress.

Byrne made her screen debut in 1994 with a small role in the film Dallas Doll. In 2000, she played a leading role in the Australian film The Goddess of 1967, which brought her a Venice Film Festival award for Best Actress.

Since 2007, she has played Ellen Parsons in the cable television series Damages, which has earned her two Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations. She continued playing this role until the series finale which aired in September 2012. Along with Glenn Close, she appeared in all of the show's fifty-nine episodes. In 2011, she starred in the critically acclaimed and financially successful films Insidious, X-Men: First Class and Bridesmaids.

Early life

Byrne was born in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and is of Irish and Scottish descent. She is the daughter of Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher. She is the youngest of their four children; she has an older brother, George, and two older sisters, Alice and Lucy. Both of her parents are atheists, and she describes herself as agnostic. Byrne attended Balmain Public School and Hunters Hill High School before attending Bradfield College in Crows Nest. She began taking acting classes at age eight, joining the Australian Theatre for Young People and later attended the University of Sydney. In 1999, Byrne studied acting at the Atlantic Theatre Company, which was developed by David Mamet and William H. Macy.

Career

Acting

Byrne was cast in her first film role, Dallas Doll, when she was 13 years old. She has appeared in several Australian television shows, such as Heartbreak High and Echo Point, and the film Two Hands with Heath Ledger. She appeared in The Date, My Mother Frank, and Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967, the latter of which gained her the Volpi Cup for "Best Actress" at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. Byrne revealed in a post-award interview that, prior to winning the prestigious Venice Film Festival award, she was surprised by her own performance and found it confronting watching the film because her acting was "too depressing". Byrne admitted that "watching myself is confronting because I'm convinced I can't act and I want to get out, that's how insecure I am."

Byrne appeared as a guest in an episode of the police drama series Murder Call. On stage, she played a lead role in La Dispute and in a production of Anton Chekhov's classic Three Sisters at the Sydney Theatre Company. In 2002, Byrne made her first appearance in a Hollywood film with a small role as Dormé, the handmaiden to Natalie Portman's Senator Padmé Amidala, in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. She appeared the same year in City of Ghosts with Matt Dillon.

The year previously she had flown to the UK to shoot I Capture the Castle, Tim Fywell's adaptation of the 1948 novel of the same title by Dodie Smith. In the 2003 release, she portrayed Rose Mortmain, the elder sister of Romola Garai's Cassandra. In 2003, she starred in three Australian films: The Night We Called It a Day with Melanie Griffith and Dennis Hopper; The Rage in Placid Lake for which she was named Best Actress at the Australian Film Institute; and Take Away, another comedy. In 2004, Byrne starred as Briseis in Wolfgang Petersen's epic Troy. She then reunited with Peter O'Toole in the BBC TV drama Casanova. Byrne appeared with Snoop Dogg in Danny Green's film The Tenants, based on Bernard Malamud's novel, and starred as Alex with Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger in the romantic psychological thriller Wicker Park.

In 2006, Byrne portrayed Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, a French aristocrat and friend of Marie Antoinette, in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, with Kirsten Dunst, and appeared in The Dead Girl, directed by Karen Moncrieff. In 2007, she played Cassie, the pilot in Danny Boyle's science fiction suspense film Sunshine; followed by Scarlett Ross, an army medical officer in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's science fiction horror 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Boyle's 28 Days Later; then appeared in the independent film Just Buried, a Canadian dark comedy written and directed by Chaz Thorne. From 2007, Byrne starred as Ellen Parsons in the FX drama production Damages, which ran for five seasons. She appeared in the Australian film noir The Tender Hook with Hugo Weaving.

In 2009, Byrne co-starred with Nicolas Cage in the science fiction thriller Knowing. Later that year, she appeared in the indie film Adam, with Hugh Dancy. She appeared in the 2010 comedy film Get Him to the Greek, starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, and she was joint lead in the James Wan horror film Insidious, which premiered in September 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on general release on 1 April 2011. Byrne also starred in the Kristen Wiig comedy Bridesmaids, released on 13 May 2011. She played Moira MacTaggert in the X-Men spin-off X-Men: First Class, directed by Matthew Vaughn. The movie opened 3 June 2011.

In 2013, Byrne appeared in the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines, with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, and will appear in the comedy, The Internship, in which Byrne stars opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson; and The Turning, a short film instalment in a Tim Winton omnibus feature. Byrne also played the newlywed wife in I Give It a Year, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a couple during their first year of marriage.

Byrne worked again with fellow Australians James Wan and Leigh Whannell for the sequel to Insidious (the original film grossed US$97 million after a production budget of US$1.5 million was invested by Wan and Whannell). Insidious: Chapter 2 was released on Friday, 13 September 2013, and also features actors Patrick Wilson and Lin Shaye. The film received mixed reviews from critics and became the biggest opening day in US box office history for the month of September following its release.

Other activities

Byrne was the face of Max Factor between 2004 and 2006 and named in the Most Beautiful People of 2007 list in Who Magazine.

Byrne has supported UNICEF Australia by being the face of the 2007 Designers United campaign and a member of Tropfest jury in 2006 and Tropfest@Tribeca in 2007. She is a graduate and ambassador for NIDA's (National Institute of Dramatic Art) Young Actors Studio.

Personal life

Byrne was in a relationship with Australian writer, director and actor Brendan Cowell for over six years. Cowell moved from Sydney to New York City, following Byrne's success on Damages. The relationship ended in January 2010. Previously, she dated Australian writer/director Gregor Jordan, who directed her in Two Hands.

In June 2013, she began dating actor Bobby Cannavale. Cannavale confirmed their relationship at the 2013 Emmy Awards ceremony during his acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award, "And I want to thank the love of my life, Rose [Byrne]."

Byrne resides in New York and has revealed that, as of this stage in her life, she remains insecure about a stable career, explaining, "I don't think that [insecurity] ever leaves you. You're a freelancer. There's always an element of uncertainty."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Dallas Doll	Rastus Sommers
1999	Two Hands	Alex
1999	'	Sophie
2000	My Mother Frank	Jenny
2000	'	BG	Volpi Cup for Best Actress
2001	'	Girl
2002	Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones	Dormé
2002	City of Ghosts	Sabrina
2003	I Capture the Castle	Rose Mortmain
2003	'	Audrey Appleby
2003	Monster	Uncredited Role
2003	'	Gemma Taylor	Nominated"?Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
2003	Take Away	Sonja Stilano
2004	Troy	Briseis
2004	Wicker Park	Alex
2005	'	Irene Bell
2006	Marie Antoinette	Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac
2006	'	Leah
2007	Sunshine	Cassie
2007	28 Weeks Later	Major Scarlet Levy
2008	Just Buried	Roberta Knickle
2008	'	Iris	a.k.a. The Boxer and the Bombshell
2009	Knowing	Diana Wayland
2009	Adam	Beth Buchwald
2010	I Love You Too	Drunk Passenger	Cameo
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Jackie Q
2011	Insidious	Renai Lambert	Nominated "? 2011 Scream Awards for Best Horror Actress
2011	Bridesmaids	Helen Harris
2011	X-Men: First Class	Moira MacTaggert
2012	The Place Beyond the Pines	Jennifer
2013	I Give It a Year	Nat
2013	The Internship	Dana
2013	The Turning	Raelene
2013	Insidious: Chapter 2	Renai Lambert	Completed
2013	Unity	Narrator	Post-Production
TBA	This Is Where I Leave You	Penny
2014	Neighbors	Kelly Radner	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Echo Point	Belinda O Conor	Lead character
1997	Fallen Angels	Siobhan	Guest (1 episode)
1997	Wildside	Heidi Benson	Guest (2 episodes)
1999	Big Sky	Angie	Guest (1 episode)
1999	Heartbreak High	Carly Whitely	Guest (3 episodes)
2000	Murder Call	Sarah Watson	Guest (1 episode)
2005	Casanova	Edith	BBC Mini series
2007"2012	Damages	Ellen Parsons	Lead character
2009	'	Herself
2013	Portlandia	Fred's date	Guest (1 episode)

Awards

Year	Award	Nominated work	Category	Result
2000	Venice Film Festival	The Goddess of 1967	Best Actress
2002	Film Critics Circle of Australia		Best Actor " Female
2003	Australian Film Institute	The Rage in Placid Lake	Best Actress in a Leading Role
2007		Damages	Best Actress " International
2008	Golden Globe		Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film
	Movie Extra Filmink Award	Sunshine	Best Performance by an Aussie in an Overseas Movie
2009	Australian Film Institute	Damages	Best Actress " International
	Primetime Emmy Award		Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2010
	Golden Globe Awards		Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film
	Satellite Awards		Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film
2011	Phoenix Film Critics Society	Bridesmaids	Best Acting Ensemble
2012	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Insidious	Best Actress
	Broadcast Film Critics Association	Bridesmaids	Best Cast
	Central Ohio Film Critics Association		Best Ensemble
	MTV Movie Awards		Best Gut-Wrenching Performance
			Best Cast
	Screen Actors Guild Awards		Best Cast in a Motion Picture