Toni Collette

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Toni Collette

Collette at the Orange British Academy Film Awards, February 2007
Born Antonia Collette
November 1, 1972 (1972-11-01) (age 35)
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse(s) Dave Galafassi (2003-)

Antonia "Toni" Collette (born November 1, 1972) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated Australian actress and musician. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films Muriel's Wedding (1994), The Sixth Sense (1999), and Little Miss Sunshine (2006). She is currently working on her next project in which she will play the title character in the upcoming Showtime series, The United States of Tara.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Collette was born in Blacktown, New South Wales, the daughter of Judy, a customer-service representative, and Bob Collette, a truck driver. She has two younger brothers, Ben and Christopher.[1] 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.[2] She attended Blacktown Girls High School until the age of 16, and then later attended both the Australian Theatre for Young People and NIDA.

[edit] 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 a troubled boy 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 role, Collette received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.

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 Renee Zellweger.[3]

In 2006, she played 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.[citation needed] In October 2006, she began touring Australia to promote her first vocal album Beautiful Awkward Pictures, released on Hoola Hoop Records under the name Toni Collette & the Finish, a band for which her husband drums. 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.

“ Thank you so much, it is heartwarming to see so many people here today in the name of going green, and in the name of very necessary change. Just by being here today, just by turning up is helping to create awareness of this very life threatening situation. So I take my hat off to you.[4] ”

Recently, Collette accepted the leading role in the upcoming Showtime series, The United States of Tara. The show was created by Steven Spielberg and developed by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Juno, Diablo Cody. She will play a wife and mother of two with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Filming will began on April 14, 2008.[5]

[edit] Personal life

Collette at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival
Collette at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival

Collette has previously dated Jonathan Rhys Meyers.[6] She 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 urged former Prime Minister John Howard to end the Australian practice of mulesing sheep, which is considered by many animal rights activists to be cruel.[7] She later revised her position after doing her own research of the Australian wool industry.[8] She gave birth to her first daughter Sage Florence in Sydney on 9 January 2008.[9]

[edit] Awards

Won

Nominated

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Discography

  • Beautiful Awkward Pictures (2006) - Toni Collette & The Finish

[edit] References

  1. ^ Toni Collette Biography - Yahoo! Movies
  2. ^ Sanjiv Bhattacharya meets Hollywood's leading lady Toni Collette | Interviews | guardian.co.uk Film
  3. ^ Golden moments with Toni - Music - Entertainment - theage.com.au
  4. ^ http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22033650-1702,00.html
  5. ^ Showtime announces "The United States of Tara" | AfterEllen.com
  6. ^ http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/toni_collette_biog/4
  7. ^ Save the Sheep! > Australian Actor Toni Collette Urges Prime Minister John Howard to End Cruelty to Sheep
  8. ^ Actress backs down on call for mulesing ban - 18/07/2005
  9. ^ Toni Collette Has a Girl - Babies, Toni Collette : People.com

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Collette, Toni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Collette, Antonia
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian actress and musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1972-11-1
PLACE OF BIRTH Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH