Toni Collette Biography
Summary
"Toni Collette" (born November 1, 1972) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress and musician. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films "The Sixth Sense", "Muriel's Wedding", "In Her Shoes" and "Little Miss Sunshine".
Biography
Early life
Collette was born "Antonia Collette" in Blacktown, Sydney, New South Wales to Bob Collette, a male stripper, and Judy, a customer-service representative. She has two younger brothers, Benji and Christopher. When Collette was eleven years old she faked appendicitis out of boredom and longing for attention. She was so convincing that doctors removed her appendix, even though tests showed nothing wrong with it. She attended Blacktown Girls High School until the age of 16, and then later attended both the Australian Theatre for Young People and NIDA.
Career
Collette has won four Australian Film Institute awards, including the Australian Best Actress in a Lead Role for "Muriel's Wedding" in 1994, a role for which she gained 18kg (40lb) in seven weeks. In 1996, she was part of the ensemble cast of the comedy, "Cosi". She received an Academy Award nomination for her role as the mother of troubled boy Cole in the U.S. film "The Sixth Sense", which also starred Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment.
She has also received broad acclaim on Broadway, starring as Queenie in Michael John LaChiusa's musical work, "The Wild Party". For this demanding role, Collette received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. In 2006, she played the mother Sheryl in "Little Miss Sunshine", for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy. After filming three films consecutively in the fall of 2006, Collette said in a recent interview that she wants to take a year off from acting and spend time with her friends and family. She has also stated that she wants to take roles in Australian films rather than mainstream US films.
Collette had to turn down the title role in Bridget Jones's Diary because she was committed to perform on Broadway at the time. She then auditioned for the role of ambitious murderess 'Roxie Hart' in the hit film 'Chicago', she almost got the part but, because she wasn't a well known enough actress, she lost the role to Zellweger.
In October 2006, she began touring Australia to promote her first vocal album "Beautiful Awkward Pictures", released on Hoola Hoop Records under the band name Toni Collette & the Finish, a band whose drummer is her husband. Collette recently appeared on the Australian television show Cool Aid and performed the song 'Look Up' off of her album. Collette and the Finish were a headlining act at the Sydney show of Live Earth. She sang T-Rex's 'Children Of The Revolution' with The Finish.
Personal life
Collette has been married to Dave Galafassi since 11 January, 2003 and owns homes in both Australia and the Republic of Ireland. Collette is a supporter of animal rights and PETA. She recently urged Prime Minister John Howard to end the Australian practice of mulesing sheep, which is considered by many animal rights activists to be cruel. She later revised her position after doing her own research of the Australian wool industry.
It was recently announced that she is pregnant with her and her husband's first child, due in December.
Awards
"Won"
Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 1994 AFI Awards for her role in "Muriel's Wedding"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1996 AFI Awards for her role in "Lilian's Story"
Best Actress in a Suporting Role at the 1998 AFI Awards for her role in "The Boys"
Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2003 AFI Awards for her role in "Japanese Story"
"Nominated"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1991 AFI Awards for her role in "Spotswood"
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical at the 1996 Golden Globes for her role in "Muriel's Wedding"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 2000 Academy Awards for her role in "The Sixth Sense"
Best Supporting Actress at the 2003 BAFTA's for her role in "About a Boy"
Internation Award for Best Actress at the 2006 AFI Awards for her role in "In Her Shoes"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for her role in "Tsunami: The Aftermath" at the 2007 Golden Globes
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy at the 2007 Golden Globes for her role in "Little Miss Sunshine"
Best Supporting Actress at the 2007 BAFTA's for her role in "Little Miss Sunshine"
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie at The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards for "Tsunami: The Aftermath"
Filmography
"Spotswood" (1992), Wendy Robinson
"This Marching Girl Thing" (1994), Cindy
"Muriel's Wedding" (1994), Muriel Heslop/Marial Heslop-Van Arckle
"Lilian's Story" (1995), Young Lilian Singer
"Arabian Knight" (1995), Nurse/Good Witch
"Cosi" (1996), Julie
"The Pallbearer" (1996), Cynthia
"Emma" (1996), Harriet Smith
"Clockwatchers" (1997), Iris Chapman
"The James Gang" (1997), Julia Armstrong
"Diana & Me" (1997), Diana Spencer
"The Boys" (1998), Michelle
"Velvet Goldmine" (1998), Mandy Slade
"8˝ Women" (1999), Griselda/Sister Concordia
"The Sixth Sense" (1999), Lynn Sear
"Shaft" (2000), Diane Palmieri
"Hotel Splendide" (2000), Kath
"The Magic Pudding" (2000), Meg Bluegum (voice)
"Dinner with Friends" (2001) (TV), Beth
"Changing Lanes" (2002), Michelle
"About a Boy" (2002), Fiona Brewer
"Dirty Deeds" (2002), Sharon
"The Hours" (2002), Kitty Barlowe
"Japanese Story" (2003), Sandy Edwards
"Connie and Carla" (2004), Carla
"The Last Shot" (2004), Emily French
"In Her Shoes" (2005), Rose Feller
"Like Minds" (2006), Sally Rowe
"Little Miss Sunshine" (2006), Sheryl
"The Night Listener" (2006), Donna Logand
"The Dead Girl" (2006)
"The Black Balloon" (2007), Maggie Mollison
"Evening" (2007), Nina
"Nothing is Private" (2007), Melina
External links
Collete & The Finish myspace http://www.myspace.com/tonicolletteandthefinish
Collette & the Finish Website http://www.tonicolletteandthefinish.com/
Collette's (Online Résumé)
(Toni Collette) - Australian Film Commission
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Toni Collette.
