• Biography
• Movies

• More ...
• Filmbug Top 100
• Movie Dictionary

Browse ..
A-Z
By Date
By Year
By State
By Country

•  

Mia Wasikowska has established herself as a rising star of the big screen. A trained ballerina turned actress, Wasikowska has been challenging herself as a performer since the age of 9.

Wasikowska made her debut to US audiences as the tormented and suicidal teen Sophie in HBO's series In Treatment. Produced by Mark Wahlberg and directed by Rodrigo Garcia, In Treatment focuses on the relationship between a therapist (Gabriel Byrne) and his patients. In recognition of her performance, Wasikowska was honored by the Los Angeles-based organization Australians in Film (whose Host Committee includes Cate Blanchett, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, among others) with the Breakthrough Actress Award. The series was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series.

In January 2009, Wasikowska was seen in a supporting role in the film Defiance, directed by Ed Zwick. Based on a true story, three Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell) escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarusan forest where they encounter a village of Russian resistance fighters. Wasikowska plays a young villager who builds a relationship with one of the brothers.

In October 2009, Wasikowska appeared in a supporting role in Fox Searchlight's film Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere for director Mira Nair. Wasikowska portrayed a young fan of Earhart. During the same month, Wasikowska shared the screen with Hal Holbrook in the independent picture That Evening Sun, directed by Scott Teems. Wasikowska earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a naïve Tennessee teenager.

Wasikowska appears in the upcoming Gus Van Sant-directed film Restless alongside Henry Hopper. The film, produced by Imagine Entertainment with Bryce Dallas Howard, features Wasikowska as a terminally ill girl who falls in love with a death-obsessed teenage boy. Columbia Pictures will release the film in 2010.

She also appears in the upcoming independent film The Kids Are Alright opposite Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko, the film features Wasikowska as a teenage daughter of lesbian parents who sets out to find her sperm-donor father. The family comedy-drama is an official entry at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. In March 2010, Wasikowska will portray Jane Eyre in the screen adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel for director Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre). Shooting will take place in the U.K.

Wasikowska began her acting career in her home country of Australia, landing a recurring role on the popular medical drama All Saints. Upon securing her first major role in the independent film Suburban Mayhem, Wasikowska was recognized by the Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Young Actor. She followed up these projects with acclaimed performances in Lens Love Story, Skin (a short film), September, and in the Australian horror film Rogue, alongside Michael Vartan and Radha Mitchell. Pronounced Vah-she-kov-ska"