Rachel Griffiths
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Biography
Australian actress Rachel Griffiths burst onto the big screen as Toni Collette's spitfire sidekick in the sleeper hit "Muriel's Wedding" (1994) before going on to appear in over a dozen Australian, British and American films including "Hilary and Jackie" (1998), "Blow" (2001) and "Ned Kelly" (2004). In 2001, the actress - best known for emotional and intellectual characters - was perfectly cast in the highly acclaimed HBO series "Six Feet Under" (HBO, 2001-05), earning a number of award nominations for her five-season run as a woman weighted down by the effects of a dysfunctional family. She turned around to join another dysfunctional family - this time as its anchor - on "Brothers & Sisters" (ABC, 2006-2011) and was again nominated for a Golden Globe award in 2007. Griffiths had a successful run on the popular show until the network decided to end it, allowing the actress to make her Broadway debut and return to appearing in feature films ranging from Hollywood biopic "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013) to WWII drama "Hacksaw Ridge" (2016) which never failed to showcase her unique onscreen appeal.
Rachel Griffiths was born on Dec. 18, 1968, and raised in Melbourne, Australia. A self-proclaimed "grave" child preoccupied with social injustice and Sylvia Plath, she also found herself keenly in tune with the emotions of people around her. She enjoyed mimicking others - not as a cruel sport - but out of an interest to get inside their heads. Good grades and intellectual ambition led her to Melbourne University, where she excelled at heady topics including philosophy, but ultimately the actress found academia unfulfilling. Her search for a more creative pursuit - one that would involve sharing her insights with more than just college professors - led her to the drama department at the Victoria School of the Arts where she at last felt she had found her people. There, Griffiths studied all aspects of drama production including writing and directing, before finally getting comfortable with the idea of being an actress. After college, she began working with the touring youth company Woolly Jumpers Theater Company, as well as the Melbourne Theater Company, where she appeared in dramas like "The Grapes of Wrath," "The Sisters Rosenzweig" and "Sylvia."
Griffiths made a name for herself in 1991 when she wrote and performed in the short film "Barbie Gets Hip," which was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. She landed a few TV spots before she was cast as Rhonda, the ABBA-loving, party-hearty friend who helps Toni Collette break out of her shell in P.J. Hogan's "Muriel's Wedding" (1994). The film was an unexpected hit internationally, jump-starting the careers of both Griffiths and Collette, who suddenly found themselves courted by all manner of agents and directors. An added bonus: Griffiths was honored with an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actress. British director Michael Winterbottom promptly tapped Griffiths to play a pig farmer's lusty daughter in "Jude" (1996). The same year, she reteamed with Collette in the comedy "Cosi," playing the law student girlfriend of a drifter working as a therapist in a mental hospital. Griffiths went on to inject her own brand of vitality to "To Have and to Hold" (1996) as a romance writer wooed by a mysterious Frenchman (Tcheky Karyo) and "Children of the Revolution" (1996) playing the leather-clad policewoman who romances the alleged son of Josef Stalin. One of her strongest roles was her lead as a hard-bitten English prostitute who falls for an older Pakistani cab driver (Om Puri) in the little-seen British comedy, "My Son the Fanatic" (1996).
Griffiths reunited with P.J. Hogan and made her American cinema debut playing Cameron Diaz's Southern belle cousin in "My Best Friend's Wedding" (1997). After a supporting role as one of the oddball residents in Stephan Elliott's "Welcome to Woop Woop" (1997), Griffiths showcased her untapped potential for more introverted characters with her superb portrayal of flautist Hilary du Pre in the biopic "Hilary and Jackie" (1998). While co-star Emily Watson received much attention as the more flamboyant Jacqueline du Pre, Griffiths served as the film's emotional anchor and offered a richly observed characterization; one which the Academy members recognized with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Griffiths followed up with a pair of comedies, delivering a charming performance as an adventurous traveler in "Among Giants" (1998) and a magazine writer glimpsing into the parallel universe of a life that might have been in "Me, Myself I" (1999), which was unfortunately eclipsed by the same year's Renee Zellweger/Jim Carrey comedic romp, "Me, Myself and Irene."
In an unlikely casting choice that ultimately worked, Griffiths was seen as Johnny Depp's suburban mother in the frenzied cocaine crime feature "Blow" (2001) and oddly enough, also starred in that year's "Blow Dry," a comedy about competing hairdressers in a small English town. In the fall of 2001, Griffiths accepted her first major television series role and came aboard Alan Ball's HBO series "Six Feet Under." Her excellent portrayal of the deeply dysfunctional Brenda Chenowith, who was raised as a mental and emotional experiment by her psychologist parents, earned her a pair of Emmy nominations; first as Outstanding Lead Actress in A Drama Series in 2002, and then as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2003. Griffiths stayed with the show during its five years of critical acclaim, while at the same time, continued to appear in feature films. She was seen opposite Dennis Quaid in "The Rookie" (2002) and continued to maintain strong ties to her homeland by appearing in Australian productions "The Hard Word" (2002), the historical biopic "Ned Kelly" (2003) and the television miniseries "After the Deluge" (2003).
After voicing Albertine in the straight-to-video animated feature "The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina" (2004), Griffiths wrapped up "Six Feet Under" when the series aired its fifth and memorable final season in 2005. With a free schedule now, she practically sleepwalked through a performance as the stern headmaster of a performing arts school in "Step Up" (2006), a tediously formulaic coming-of-age drama about a troubled but talented hip-hop dancer (Channing Tatum) from the mean streets of Baltimore. Griffiths was far more captivating on the new television series, "Brothers & Sisters" (ABC, 2006-2011). The family saga centered on five siblings who take up the family's lucrative produce business after the sudden death of their father (Tom Skerritt). Griffiths held things together as Sarah, the intelligent and centered sibling who keeps her unhappiness over a troubled marriage neatly under wraps, while at the same time, adjusting from the high-powered corporate world to the confines of the family business. The show was one of few premiered in the fall of 2006 that earned substantial critical kudos and a full-season pickup.
Meanwhile, Griffiths co-starred in "Comanche Moon" (CBS, 2006), a three-part miniseries prequel to Larry McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove," then starred as a pregnant, middle-class counselor trying to assist a troubled inner city teen (Jonan Everett) in "Angel Rodriguez" (HBO, 2006). In 2007 and 2008, Griffiths was again nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for her performance on "Brothers & Sisters." After that series ended in 2011, Griffiths co-starred in Australian drama "Burning Man" (2011), current-affairs biopic "Underground: The Julian Assange Story" (2012), and Hollywood comedy-drama "Saving Mr. Banks" (2013), a retelling of the fraught production of Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" (1964). Grigffiths returned to television as the star of comedy-drama "Camp" (NBC 2013), a limited summer series that lasted only one season. She followed this with recurring roles on Australian comedy "House Husbands" (Nine 2012- ) and British historical drama "Indian Summers" (Channel 4 2015-16). Griffiths returned to the big screen as the star of Rebecca Daly's indie drama "Mammal" (2016), followed by roles in Mel Gibson's World War II drama "Hacksaw Ridge" (2016) and romantic fantasy "The King's Daughter" (2017) before returned to American television in a supporting role in Dustin Lance Black's LGBT rights-themed miniseries "When We Rise" (ABC 2017).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1991
First role in the short film "Barbie Gets Hip"; screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival
1991
Joined the Australian theater group Woolly Jumpers
1993
Played leading role in the Australian TV series, "Secrets"
1994
Breakthrough screen role in P.J. Hogan's "Muriel's Wedding"; co-starred with Toni Collette as best friends and fellow outcasts
1996
Feaured role as the ill-mannered pig farmer's wife in Michael Winterbottom's "Jude"
1996
Re-teamed with Collette for the Austrailan film "Cosi"
1997
Had leading role in the British film "My Son the Fanatic"
1997
Re-teamed with P.J. Hogan to play a supporting role in "My Best Friend's Wedding"
1998
Had one of her best screen roles as flautist Hilary du Pre, the older sister of famed cellist Jacqueline du Pre (played by Emily Watson) in the biopic "Hilary and Jackie"
1998
Co-starred in "Divorcing Jack," playing a woman who works for a strip-o-gram firm
1998
Directed (also produced and wrote) the 14-minute short "Tulip"
1999
Played a single magazine writer who seemingly enters a parallel world where she finds herself married with children in "Me Myself I"
2001
Cast in the title role of "Very Annie Mary"
2001
Portrayed Johnny Depp's hysterical mother in "Blow"
2001
First major series role on American Television, playing Brenda Chenowith on the award-winning HBO series, "Six Feet Under"
2002
Portrayed Dennis Quaid's wife in "The Rookie"
2003
Cast as the female lead in the dark comedy "The Hard Word"
2004
Starred with Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts and Geoffrey Rush in the Australian crime drama "Ned Kelly"
2006
Cast as the eldest sibling in the ABC drama, "Brothers and Sisters"
2008
Played Inez Scull in the CBS mini-series of Larry McMurtry's "Comanche Moon"
2011
Cast in her Broadway debut in the society drama, "Other Desert Cities"
2013
Cast on "Camp" as Mackenzie 'Mack' Granger
2016
Played General Lynex in sci-fi actioner "The Osiris Child"
2016
Cast in Mel Gibson WWII drama "Hacksaw Ridge"
2017
Appeared on TV mini-series "When We Rise" as Diane Jones
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