Played by Rose Byrne
Bio
Ever since she was a little girl, Rose Byrne has been entertaining. In fact,
it was her older sisters who encouraged her to pursue a career in acting
by enrolling in acting classes. Rose attended the Australian Theatre for
Young People. ‘They offered various courses,’ she said, ‘and
I started there when I was about eight and went ’til I was about 15.’
She then attempted to get into NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art
Sydney Australia) or one of its competitors, but with no luck. ‘I
auditioned for them all, but didn’t get in. I was shattered!’
However, she now serves as an ambassador for the Young Actors Studio, NIDA.
After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People, she attended Bradfield College in northern Sydney for years 11 and 12. ‘It’s like a university, where you don’t wear a uniform and you can smoke on campus if you want, and where you call the teachers by their first names. They had a really good drama department there, which is why I went.’
When she was thirteen, she auditioned for and got the part in her first film role, Dallas Doll. ‘It was the first audition I'd ever done, so I was sort of very “wow!”, and once I got there, I thought: “Well, OK, this is what I want to do!”’ She then proceeded to appear in minor roles in various Australian soap operas (Echo Point, Fallen Angels, Wildside, Heartbreak High). In 1999, Rose appeared in two low-budget theatrical films: The Date and Two Hands (co-starring Heath Ledger). She then did a two-month acting course in Manhattan, New York. In 2000, Rose was awarded Best Female Performance at the Venice Festival for her role in The Goddess of 1967. During this time, she also appeared in three stage plays with the Sydney Theatre Company, including Three Sisters and La Dispute.
Rose broke into Hollywood in 2002, appearing in a minor role in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. ‘Star Wars, for me, was very easy, in a way, because I only had twelve days on set in Sydney and I really just had to stand behind Natalie Portman looking very demure.’ She then went on to star in I Capture the Castle (2003). She starred opposite Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger in Wicker Park (2004) played Brad Pitt’s hand-picked love interest in Troy. In 2005, she appeared in a BBC television adaptation of Casanova and starred alongside Snoop Dogg and Dylan McDermott in The Tenants. In 2006, she appeared in Marie Antoinette. Currently, she has three films scheduled for release in 2007: The Dead Girl, Sunshine, The Dead Girl, and 28 Weeks Later. She has also accepted a part in the an FX television show starring alongside Glenn Close and a film noir, The Tender Hook.
It's safe to say Rose will always know success, but in her immortal words: ‘Knowing there’s no guarantees is one of the things that keeps you sane. You just have to keep at it.’
Stats
Name: Rose Judith Esther Byrne
Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Birthday: 24 July 1979
Height: 5’6¼" (1.68 m)
Location: Home is Australia, but owns a home in London and house-sits in
Los Feliz (Los Angeles)
Parents: father is in market research and mother in the principal of an
aboriginal school
Siblings: youngest of four
Lucy (+7 years) works in publishing; Rose and she own a house in London
borough Hackney
Alice (+5 years) is a painter in Melbourne
George (+3 years) is a singer/songwriter in Sydney
SO: Dated fellow Australian actor/writer Brendan Cowell 2004-2005, but broke
up during the filming Troy and Wicker Park. Long-distance seemed to be the
major factor in the break-up, but they have since gotten back together and
are currently dating (as of Jan. 2007)
Best friend: fellow Australian actress Nadia Townsend (since they were eight)
Random Facts
Once punched a man because he didn’t want to kiss her (she
was drunk at the time and has since apologised more than once, though she
didn’t regret throwing the right-hook)
Starred in Darren Hayes’s music video ‘I Miss You’.
Starred in M.Craft’s music video ‘Sweets’.
Is of Irish and Scottish descent
Ranked #16 on FHM’s Sexiest women in the world, Australian edition. (2006)
She and her Marie Antoinette director, Sophia Coppola, both played handmaidens in the Star Wars prequels. Sophia Coppola appeared in Episode I, Byrne in Episode II.
QUOTES BY AND ABOUT ROSE
about LA: ‘There’s so much opportunity here. Politics aside, you have a lot of possibilities here that you don’t have other places. The British are so culturally themselves. That’s always a shock. They’re polite, almost to the point of pathological self-deprecation. Americans are so much more gregarious and loud and out-going and open-minded.’
‘The worst was the time I spent in Los Angeles, which runs on bullshit and clichés. But then, it’s really easy to diss the place. The physical environment of LA is really beautiful. It’s actually kinda fun, too, if you’re working. It’s just not really fun if you’re not working and you don’t know anybody.’
on love: ‘I am no stranger to wanting to fall in love. I don’t want to go out with just anyone—someone really has to get me going in my mind.’
On her most dreadful crush— ‘I used to drive, pretty pathetically, I’d just drive by their house all the time and they didn’t know who I was. I’d just drive by the house all the time. I once knocked on the window and I thought, “What am I doing? What am I going to say if they come to the door and don’t know who I am?”‘.
on acting: ‘When I’m working, it’s fun and awesome and I absolutely love it. But then the next minute a project falls apart, or you’re waiting for your agent to call back about an audition. I think that’s the part you actually get paid for.’
‘I don’t take it seriously. Because I’m the one living my life. I mean, I’ve got this tiny part in this big Brad Pitt movie, and everyone here thinks I’m playing Sally to Brad Pitt’s Harry. I’m not, and I’m constantly having to say that.’
‘I think it’s important to keep an element of fear about yourself because it makes you appreciate the jobs.’
Other People on Rose
Ben Lee (co-star)—’In her heart of hearts, Rose is
fearless. She knows too much about real emotion to ever turn away from a
challenge. When you talk to her, it is like part of her is watching you
from the outside, studying you, weighing you up.’
George (her brother)— ‘Rose is the performer in the family; she loves the limelight.’
Paul Goldman (Director of The Night We Called It A Day) said Dennis Hopper told him— ‘in passing that he had slept with the cream of Hollywood actresses in his time and he said that Rose Byrne was as beautiful as any of them. I didn’t tell that to Rose until the end.’
Information compiled from various resources: interviews, articles,
etc. by Cariel