Toni Collette - Biography

Last Editor: megmeg4787				Toni Collette Biography -   Name : Toni Collette Birth date : 1st November, 1972 Birth place : Australia Birth name : Antonia Collette Height : 5' 6 Profession : Actress

Toni Collette Trivia -

Nominated for a 2000 Tony Award for her performance as "Queenie" in Michael John LaChiusa's musical "The Wild Party" on Broadway. Won the Australian equivalent of the Academy Award in 1994 for Muriel's Wedding (1994). Starred as Sonya in the Sydney Theatre Company's 1992 Production of Chekov's "Uncle Vanya". Gained 40 pounds in 7 weeks for Muriel's Wedding (1994) with the help of a dietitian. Born on the same day as actress/model Jenny McCarthy. Starred as Sonya in the Sydney Theatre Company's 1992 Production of Anton Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya".

Toni Collette Detailed Biography -

Born in Sydney, Australia, on November 1, 1972, Collette became interested in acting as a child. She made her stage debut at the age of 14 in a school production of Godspell, and went on to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Quitting the prestigious school after less than two years in order to work with a talented stage director, she appeared in a number of plays and in 1991 made her screen debut in Spotswood, acting in the company of Anthony Hopkins and a then unheard-of Russell Crowe. Three years later, Collette had her big break with Muriel's Wedding, a sleeper hit in both Australia and the U.S. Following the hoopla surrounding the film's success, the actor appeared in a number of small films, including the 1996 comedy Cosi and Clockwatchers (1997), a poignant office comedy that featured Collette, Lisa Kudrow, Parker Posey, and Alanna Ubach as dissatisfied temps. Recognized by keen-eyed observers as Gwyneth Paltrow's shy friend Harriet in Douglas McGrath's 1996 adaptation of Emma, and as the Angie Bowie-esque wife of a glam rocker in Todd Haynes' much maligned Velvet Goldmined (1998), Collette found her biggest audience to date -- as well as some of her biggest raves -- in M. Night Shalyaman's The Sixth Sense (1999). Cast as the mother of a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who sees dead people, Collette earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance. Unfortunately, she followed the film with Shaft (2000), more or less wasting her talents in the role of a woman who the titular private dick has to save from the bad guys. Collette's talents were put to greater use in the made-for-TV movie Dinner With Friends (2001), which cast her as a woman who breaks up with her husband (Greg Kinnear) after 12 years of marriage. The movie, which also starred Andie MacDowell and Dennis Quaid, won warm reviews, particularly for the strong ensemble work of its four principle actors. Collette's subsequent workload reflected her growing popularity; in addition to Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2001), which she starred in alongside a cast that included Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, and Ed Harris, she also appeared opposite Hugh Grant in the 2002 adaptation of author Nick Hornby's About a Boy.