Rachel Griffiths facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rachel Griffiths AM
Griffiths on the set of Underground: The Julian Assange Story in 2012
Born	Rachel Anne Griffiths 1968 (age 56–57) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Education	Star of the Sea College Rusden College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Andrew Taylor ​ (m. 2002)​
Children	3
Awards	Full list

Rachel Anne Griffiths is a famous Australian actress. She was born in 1968 and grew up mostly in Melbourne. Rachel started her acting journey in an Australian TV show called Secrets. She then got a supporting role in the funny movie Muriel's Wedding (1994). This role helped her win an AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

In 1997, she starred in the drama Amy. She also acted alongside Julia Roberts in the American romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997). Later, she played Hilary du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998). For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

From 2001 to 2005, Rachel played Brenda Chenowith in the HBO TV series Six Feet Under. She won a Golden Globe Award in 2002 for this role and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards. After that, she appeared as Sarah Walker Laurent in the ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2011. She received two more Primetime Emmy Award nominations for this show.

Rachel has also been in movies like Blow (2001), Ned Kelly (2003), and Step Up (2006). She also appeared in the TV movie about Julian Assange, Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012). In 2016, she had a role in Mel Gibson's war drama Hacksaw Ridge. She also appeared in the miniseries When We Rise, which was about important social changes.

On stage, Rachel performed in a play called Proof in Melbourne in 2002, winning a Helpmann Award. She made her Broadway debut in 2011 in the play Other Desert Cities. Besides acting, Rachel also directs. She directed a short film called Tulip in 1998. She also directed several episodes of the Australian TV series Nowhere Boys in 2015.

Early Life and Education

Rachel Griffiths was born in Australia in 1968. She spent her early childhood on the Gold Coast. Her parents are Anna and Edward Martin Griffiths. She has two older brothers, Ben and Samuel. When she was five, she moved to Melbourne with her mother and brothers. Rachel was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. She once said that watching the U.S. miniseries Roots as a child made her want to become an actress.

Rachel went to Star of the Sea College, which is a Catholic high school for girls in Brighton. She studied drama and dance at Victoria College, Rusden, earning a Bachelor of Education degree. After not getting into the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Rachel joined a local theater group called the Woolly Jumpers in Geelong. In 1991, she wrote and performed her own one-woman show called Barbie Gets Hip at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting Out: 1994–2000

Rachel Griffiths played Rhonda Epinstall, the best friend of the main character, in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding. Her acting in this movie was highly praised. She won both the Australian Film Critics Award and the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1996, she appeared in Jude, playing a pig farmer's daughter.

Rachel worked again with the director of Muriel's Wedding, P. J. Hogan, for her first American movie, My Best Friend's Wedding, in 1997. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the real-life flautist Hilary du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998). In this film, she acted opposite Emily Watson, who played Hilary's sister, the famous cellist Jacqueline "Jackie" du Pre. After Hilary and Jackie, Rachel starred in the Australian comedy Me Myself I (1999).

Success in American Television: 2001–2011

In 2001, Rachel was cast in one of the main roles in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. She played Brenda Chenowith, a massage therapist. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Awards. She also received two Emmy Award nominations during the show's five seasons. During the third season, she missed a few episodes because she was pregnant with her first child. Her second pregnancy was written into the show's final season, and she appeared in almost every episode.

While working on Six Feet Under, Rachel also acted in movies. She played the supportive wife of Dennis Quaid in the Walt Disney drama The Rookie (2002). She also appeared in the Australian movie Ned Kelly (2003), alongside Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, and Orlando Bloom. In 2002, she performed in a play called Proof in Melbourne, which won her a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play.

In 2006, she joined the cast of the TV series Brothers & Sisters. She co-starred with Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, and Matthew Rhys. In this show, she played Sarah Walker, who takes over the family business after her father passes away. Rachel was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2007 and 2008 for her work on the series. She also received Golden Globe Award nominations in 2008 and 2009. Rachel stayed on the show until it ended in 2011. She also appeared in the 2008 miniseries Comanche Moon.

Rachel made her Broadway debut in the play Other Desert Cities in 2011. She co-starred with Judith Light and Stockard Channing. Critics praised her performance, with one calling it a "beautifully modulated Broadway debut."

Back to Australia and Directing: 2012–2018

In 2012, Rachel Griffiths moved back to Australia after living and working in the United States for ten years. She wanted to work less and spend more time with her children. She had been working very long hours on shows like Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters.

In 2015, Rachel directed for television for the first time. She directed three episodes of the second season of the Australian teen drama Nowhere Boys.

In 2016, Rachel was cast in the American miniseries When We Rise. This show was a docudrama about important social movements. She played a nurse in the series. The same year, she had a supporting role in the war drama Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson. This role earned her an AACTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 2018, she appeared in the SBS thriller miniseries Dead Lucky. In 2020, Rachel starred in the Amazon Prime TV show, The Wilds, as Gretchen Klein.

Personal Life

Rachel Griffiths married Australian artist Andrew Taylor on December 31, 2002. They got married in the chapel of her high school in Melbourne. They have three children. Their son was born in 2003, followed by a daughter in 2005. In 2009, she gave birth to her third child in Los Angeles. She had a difficult birth but recovered well.

In 2015, Rachel shared that she was a practicing Catholic, the faith she was raised in. In 2017, she spoke out in favor of marriage equality. She has also supported the Global Charter of Basic Rights campaign for Oxfam Australia. Rachel considers herself a feminist, which means she believes in equal rights for women.

In 2020, Rachel Griffiths was honored as a Member of the Order of Australia. This award recognizes her contributions to the arts.

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

As Director

Stage Performances

Awards and Recognition

Rachel Griffiths has been nominated for many awards throughout her career. In 1994, her role in Muriel's Wedding earned her a nomination for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She received five more AACTA nominations. Three were for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Amy (1997), Me Myself I (2000), and The Hard Word (2002). She also received two nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Beautiful Kate (2009) and Hacksaw Ridge (2016). Out of these six nominations, she won two awards: Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Muriel's Wedding and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Beautiful Kate.

Rachel also found great success internationally. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for her role in the film Hilary and Jackie (1998). This made her the seventh Australian woman to be nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category. She has also been nominated for two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards (winning one for Six Feet Under), four Primetime Emmy Awards, and six Screen Actors Guild Awards (winning two for Six Feet Under).

Images for kids

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  Rachel Griffiths on the set of Underground: The Julian Assange Story in 2012

See also

In Spanish: Rachel Griffiths para niños