Essie Davis
Essie Davis (born 1970 in Hobart, Tasmania ) is an Australian actress.
Biography
Essie Davis was born and grew up as the daughter of the locally famous artist George Davis in Tasmania. In her youth she worked as a singer in school bands before turning to acting. The late 1980s, Davis was a member of the theater group Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania and completed her acting training at the National Institute of Dramatic Art ( NIDA ) in Sydney. While she appeared increasingly in Australian theater productions, Davis celebrated in 1993 her film debut with a supporting role in John Dingwalls Drama Double Game in the Anthony LaPaglia and Hugo Weaving come as a detective of corruption in their own ranks on the track. This was followed by major film roles as Tony Mahood Drama River Street (1996 ), the television movie The Ripper (1997), of the mystery of Jack the Ripper made use of, as well as appearances in Australian television series. In 2001, Davis was honored for her role in Mark Piper TV movie Halifax fp: The Spider and the Fly nominated by the Australian Film Institute for Best Actress in a TV movie or TV miniseries.
2001 Essie Davis received a commitment for the Anglo- Australian co-production of Oscar Wilde's comedy theater The Importance of Being Earnest in which she stood in London's Savoy Theatre in collaboration with Patricia Routledge on stage. Later, she auditioned for a role in a movie that should be made by Glenn Close and impressed the American actress. Although the film project was never realized, Close Davis gave half a year later a audition for the role of Stella in the theater revival of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (2002) at London's Royal National Theatre, which she received. Under the direction of Trevor Nunn and on the side of Glenn Close, who starred in the lead role of Blanche DuBois, Davis was critically acclaimed and awarded in 2003 with the prestigious theater award Laurence Olivier for Best Supporting Actor.
After the success of A Streetcar Named Desire Essie Davis appeared in the role of the jealous wife of Jan Vermeer (played by Colin Firth ) in Peter Webber's costume drama The Girl with a Pearl Earring ( 2003). The film won the favor of critics and was nominated in several categories for the Oscar, Golden Globe Award and British Academy Film Awards 2004. In mid-June, 2003, Davis was again obliged in a theater production at the Royal National Theatres. In the revival of Tom Stoppard's philosophical piece jumper, she appeared in the role of Dottie in which they also interpreted vocals. Nicholas Hytner's production with Davis and Beale was moved from the Lyttelton Theatre in London's West End and later transferred to Broadway, where it was performed from April to July 2004, close to ninety times. For her Broadway debut in the same year Davis was rewarded with a nomination for the prestigious American Theatre Tony Award as Best Supporting Actress, but had to admit defeat of the US-American Audra McDonald (A Raisin in the Sun ). Her other film credits include among others the part of Maggie in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both 2003), as well as the female lead roles in two television films Sweeney Todd and The Silence (both 2006). 2006 Davis played the mother of film Dakota Fanning in Charlotte's friends, in the well-known co-stars like Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates and Robert Redford took speaking roles. In 2007, she starred opposite Toni Collette in the Australian film production Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger, a youth drama about a 13- year-old girl (played by Keisha Castle -Hughes ), trying in a prestigious private school and at the same time a public school connection to find.
After minor roles in Australian films such as Australia ( 2008) and Burning Man (2011; nomination for the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award ) joined Davis primarily in Australian television productions in appearance. For the part of Dolly Prickles in the miniseries Cloudstreet, which accompanies two Australian families from the working class over a period of 20 years from the 1940s to the 1960s, she received a nomination for the Australian AACTA Award for Best Actress. Since 2012 she plays the title role in the detective series Miss Fisher, based on the crime novels by Kerry Greenwood.
Essie Davis is married and lives in Hobart, Tasmania.
Filmography (selection)
Plays ( selection)
- 2001: The Importance of Being Earnest
- 2002: A Streetcar Named Desire (A Streetcar Named Desire )
- 2003: Jumpers, London
- 2004: Jumpers, New York's Broadway