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Toni Collette
Collette at the Orange British Academy Film Awards, February 2007
Born	Antonia Collette 1 November 1972 (1972-11-01) (age 36) Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse(s)	Dave Galafassi (2003-Present)
Awards won Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actress 1994 Muriel's Wedding 2003 Japanese Story Best Supporting Actress 1995 Lilian's Story 1998 The Boys Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture 2006 Little Miss Sunshine Other awards BSFC Award for Best Supporting Actress 2002 The Hours ; About a Boy

Antonia "Toni" Collette (born 1 November 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.

Biography

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 Collete showed a talent for acting early. She faked appendicitis when she was eleven years old and was so convincing that doctors actually removed her appendix, 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.

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.

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 began on 14 April 2008.⁵

Personal life

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

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 Supporting 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
• Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama for In Her Shoes
• Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress for 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/Mariel Heslop-Van Arkle
• 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
• 8½ Women (1999), Griselda/Sister Concordia
• The Sixth Sense (1999), Lynn Sear (Academy Award Nomination)
• 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 Hoover
• Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006), Kathy Graham
• The Night Listener (2006), Donna Logand
• The Dead Girl (2006), Arden
• Evening (2007), Nina
• Nothing is Private (2007), Melina
• The Black Balloon (2008), Maggie Mollison
• Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger (2008), Mary

Discography

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

References

External links

• Toni Collette at the Internet Movie Database
• Collete & The Finish myspace http://www.myspace.com/tonicolletteandthefinish
• Collette & the Finish Website http://www.tonicolletteandthefinish.com/
• Toni Collette - Australian Film Commission
• Collette & Sage Photo http://www.cozyfaux.com/press.htm