Toni Collette

Emmy and Golden Globe award winner TONI COLLETTE made an indelible impression on Hollywood with her beautiful portrayal as the hopeless and desperate 'Muriel Heslop' in P.J. Hogan's 1994 film, MURIEL'S WEDDING.  Proving her amazing ability to transform into the characters in which she plays; Collette has since starred in a variety of intriguingly diverse roles both in television and feature films throughout the last two decades.

Born and raised in Australia, Collette was a student at Australia's prestigious National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).  In addition to her undeniable talent on-screen, Collette has had the opportunity to demonstrate her talents on Broadway's stage.  In 2000, she starred in the highly anticipated revival of The Wild Party, alongside Mandy Patinkin and Eartha Kitt.  In the role of 'Queenie,' Collette displayed her extraordinary range as both actress and singer.  Additional stage credits include performances for the Velvoir Street Theater and the Sydney Theater Company.

Collette was seen in JESUS HENRY CHRIST, a comedy produced by Julia Roberts and also starring Michael Sheen. In the film, she played the role of 'Patricia,' a decidedly offbeat woman who has become an ardent feminist raising her brilliant son, who has one of the highest IQs in recorded history. Collette also appears in the films MENTAL, THE WAY, WAY BACK and THE LONG WAY DOWN.

Collette was previously seen starring in Showtime's hit series "United States of Tara," written by Academy-Award winner Diablo Cody (JUNO). Collette portrayed the title character, 'Tara,' a woman struggling to find a balance between her dissociative identity disorder and raising a dysfunctional family. John Corbett and Brie Larsen co-starred in the comedy. The show premiered on January 18, 2009 and garnered Collette both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series," as well as two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. The show ended after three seasons in 2011. In that same year, Collette starred in FOSTER, an independent film directed by Jonathan Newman. Additionally, Collette was seen opposite Colin Farrell in the horror film FRIGHT NIGHT.

In 2009, Collette lent her voice to the Australian animated film, MARY AND MAX, which was written and directed by Academy-Award winner Adam Elliott.  Collette played the voice of Mary, a lonely eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne who becomes pen pals with Max Horovitz (voice of Eric Bana), a 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in New York.

In 2007, Collette starred in THE BLACK BALLOON, an independent film that was awarded the Crystal Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Directed by Elissa Down, Collette portrays the struggling and accepting mother of an autistic child, who is played by Luke Ford.

She starred in the Alan Ball ensemble, TOWELHEAD, which also starred Aaron Eckhart, Peter Macdissi and Maria Bello and was released in fall 2008. In 2007, Focus Features released EVENING, which is about a dying woman (Vanessa Redgrave) reflecting on her youth when she met the love of her life, as her two daughters (Toni Collette and Natasha Richardson) wrestle with her impending death. EVENING, which opened June 29, 2007, is based on the best-selling novel by Susan Minot and is directed by Lajos Koltai.  Also in 2007, Collette starred in the Australian children's film HEY, HEY IT'S ESTHER BLUEBURGER, opposite Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Some of Collette's other projects that have shown her versatility as an actress include The Sundance Film Festival hit, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, that went on to be a huge critical and box-office success. This sleeper hit, which also stars Greg Kinnear, Steve Carrell and Alan Arkin, is about a dysfunctional family hell bent on getting their little girl to win a beauty contest.  Collette also appeared in Miramax's 2006 thriller THE NIGHT LISTENER with Robin Williams and Sandra Oh, written and directed by Terry Anderson.  That same year, she appeared in the Australian film LIKE MINDS, starring Richard Roxborough, where Collette stars as a forensic scientist investigating a schoolboy's murder, and mystery/thriller THE DEAD GIRL alongisde Josh Brolin and Rose Byrne.

In 2005, Collette starred opposite Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine in the critically acclaimed film IN HER SHOES, directed by Curtis Hanson and based on the best-selling novel by Jennifer Weiner.  IN HER SHOES is about two very different sisters, Rose (Collette) who is climbing her way up the corporate ladder and Maggie (Diaz), who is the consummate party girl, with nothing in common with each other but size 8 ½ feet.  IN HER SHOES, a 20th Century Fox film, was produced by Ridley Scott and with the screenplay by Susannah Grant.

Collette received some of the best reviews of her career in the Samuel Goldwyn's release, JAPANESE STORY, for which she garnered extraordinary critical acclaim for her portrayal as 'Sandy,' a geologist whose outlook on life changes when she crosses paths with a Japanese businessman in the Australian desert.  Collette received an Australian Academy Award as well as the 2003 AFI Award for "Best Lead Actress in a Lead Role." The film also received a total of twenty-three awards and completed the Best Film trifecta in Australia, taking home the award at the IF Awards, the FCCA Awards and the AFI Awards.

In 2004 Collette starred in Universal's comedy CONNIE & CARLA, opposite Nia Vardalos.  The film follows two best friends as they flee from Chicago to Los Angeles after a run-in with the mob, finding the perfect undercover hideout: posing as drag queens on the cabaret circuit.  Later that year, Collette went on to co-star opposite Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick and Calista Flockhart in the Touchstone film THE LAST SHOT.

Appearing in four films, 2002 marked a substantial year for Collette's film career. She was seen in CHANGING LANES, a story of coincidence and consequence opposite Samuel L. Jackson; DIRTY DEEDS, an independent film set in 1960s Australia; opposite Hugh Grant in ABOUT A BOY, the hit box office adaptation from Nick Hornby's novel of the same name; and the critically acclaimed film THE HOURS, opposite Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore.

In the summer of 2000, Collette appeared in the remake of SHAFT opposite Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa L. Williams and Busta Rhymes.  Directed by John Singleton, the film garnered strong box-office numbers.

Collette earned an Academy Award nomination for her performance in M. Night Shyamalan's psychological drama THE SIXTH SENSE.  Collette played a mother from South Philadelphia who must cope with the physical and emotional distress surrounding her young son's paranormal powers.

In 1998, Collette was seen in the independent film THE BOYS, by Australian director Rowan Woods, which was adapted from Gordon Graham's play. THE BOYS was shown in competition at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival and also stars David Wenham.  In the same year, Collette appeared as the wife of fictional glam-rock star in the critically acclaimed Miramax film, VELVET GOLDMINE.  She also delivered an unforgettable performance in Miramax's 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's EMMA, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor.

Additional film credits include DINNER WITH FRIENDS, THE MAGIC PUDDING, HOTEL SPLENDIDE, THE JAMES GANG, THE CLOCKWATCHERS, THE PALLBEARER, LILIAN'S STORY, and Mark Joffe's SPOTSWOOD and COSI.

Fox Searchlight Pictures