Biography:
Sydney actress Rose Byrne landed her first role at the age of 12 in the little known Australian feature film Dallas Doll, which starred American comedienne Sandra Bernhard. Whilst the movie hardly made an impact, Rose had discovered the career she wanted to pursue.

Over the next few years, Rose appeared in a variety of Australian television series including high school drama Heartbreak High, as well as Echo Point, the short-lived Network Ten challenger to Home and Away. She also had a number of guest roles in drama series including GP, Big Sky, Wildside and Murder Call. During this period, Rose graduated from the Australian Theatre for Young People. She has since commenced an Arts degree at Sydney University.

In 1999, Rose rocketed to fame in Australia with her role as Alex in Gregor Jordan’s gritty crime comedy Two Hands, which also starred the then relatively unknown Heath Ledger. The film was a hit and won both public and critical acclaim.

Rose’s next film was her first lead role in Clara Law’s surreal The Goddess of 1967 – the goddess being a Citroen DS car. Rose was awarded the Copa Volpi for Best Actress at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival for her outstanding portrayal as BG, a flame-haired blind girl who hooks up with a young Japanese man (played by Prada model Rikiya Kurokawa). The pair end up on an outback road trip with a difference.

Next up for Rose was the critically acclaimed My Mother Frank, which also starred Sinead Cusack, Sam Neill and Matthew Newton. Rose, this time as a brunette, played the object of Matthew Newton’s desire.

When Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones hit Sydney’s Fox Studios, Rose was one of a number of Australian actors to seal themselves a cult following by being cast in the latest instalment of George Lucas’ sci-fi series. She played the role of Dormé, Padmé Amidala’s (Natalie Portman) loyal handmaiden. Like most Australians cast, including Joel Edgerton, Jack Thompson and Susie Porter, Rose wasn’t sure if her scenes would be included in the final cut of the film – they of course were. Dormé was, however cut from the IMAX version of the film, which had to be shortened to fit the IMAX format. Dormé has gone on to cult status, with a Dormé Forever web forum devoted to her, as well as an online petition to toy makers Hasbro for a Dormé action figure to be released (with almost 500 signatures to date).

Attack Of The Clones was Rose’s first experience on a truly international film set, and she noted the main difference between it and the Australian films she had to date worked on....the food! - “...free Snickers, Coke, chewing gum, shapes...on a usual set there’s a couple of crusty Arnott’s and stale Lan Choo Tea!”

In 2001 she featured in the The Pitch, a notorious sub 3 minute short film directed by Nash Edgerton (brother of Joel) which was created as the trailer for Tropfest 2001. She also appeared in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of La Dispute, performing on stage at nights after being up since 4am working on Star Wars.

The international exposure from Star Wars, along with a visit to LA to screen test for a few roles, led to Rose being cast in a raft of films, including a small part in Matt Dillon’s directorial debut City of Ghosts, filmed primarily in Cambodia; and a feature role in the Samuel Goldwyn/BBC co-production I Capture the Castle, a 1930’s English romance based on the book by 101 Dalmatians author Dodie Smith.

Rose has also been busy filming in Australia in recent times, and this year saw the release of three local films in which she featured – The Rage In Placid Lake, an off-beat coming of age tale also starring musician Ben Lee (boyfriend of Claire Danes) in his feature film debut; The Night We Called It A Day, based on the true events of Frank Sinatra’s controversial 1974 trip to Australia and starring Dennis Hopper (as Ol’ Blue Eyes), Melanie Griffith and Joel Edgerton; and Take Away, a story of rival fish and chip shop owners who join forces to take on a multi-national burger chain. This comedy was co-written by Melbourne’s Nova 100 FM breakfast co-host and comedian Dave O’Neil. Rose also featured in former Savage Garden frontman Darren Hayes’ music video for his single I Miss You which was realeased earlier this year.

In January this year, Rose returned from Montreal, Canada, where she wrapped up filming of the psychological drama Wicker Park, also starring Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger. The film is slated for release in the US in early 2004.

Rose made headlines with the news that she had been cast in the role of Briseis in the upcoming big budget epic film Troy, the story of the Trojan War based on Homer’s poem The Iliad as well as other historical sources. Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, also stars Brad Pitt, another Australian in The Hulk’s Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julie Christie, Peter O’Toole, Sean Bean and Saffron Burrows. Shooting commenced late April at London’s Shepperton Studios, moved to Malta, and finished off in Mexico in October. The release date for Troy has been set for May 2004.

Like Kate Winslet and fellow Australian Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne has the chameleon like ability to take on starkly different characters and appearances from film to film. With her ethereal beauty, screen presence (and ever changing hair colours!), we will no doubt be seeing lots more of Rose Byrne in the years to come.

-TheRoseByrneSite.com