Rachel Griffiths
{{short description|Australian actress (born 1968)}}
{{for multi|the American poet|Rachel Eliza Griffiths|the Anglo-American economist|Rachel Griffith}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rachel Griffiths
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AM}}
| image = Rachel Griffiths 2012 (cropped).jpg
| image_size =
| birth_name = Rachel Anne Griffiths
| caption = Griffiths on the set of Underground: The Julian Assange Story in 2012
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1968}}
| birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia{{efn|Sources reporting on Griffiths' place of birth are conflicting: some, such as TV Guide{{cite web|work=TV Guide|url=http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/rachel-griffiths/bio/170646/|title=Rachel Griffiths Biography|access-date=18 April 2018}} and AllMovie claim she was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, while others, such as The Courier-Mail, and The Age,{{cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/10/1028158031736.html|work=The Age|title=Short film award to Rachel Griffiths|date=11 August 2002|access-date=18 April 2018}} and Screen World claim she was born in Melbourne.}}
| occupation = Actress
| education = Star of the Sea College
Rusden College
| years_active = 1987–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Andrew Taylor|2002}}
| children = 3
| awards = Full list
}}
Rachel Anne Griffiths {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 1968){{efn|Sources differ in regard to Griffith's exact date of birth, though they share in common the birth year of 1968. Rotten Tomatoes,{{cite web|work=Rotten Tomatoes|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/rachel_griffiths/|title=Rachel Griffiths|access-date=19 April 2018}} Playbill,{{cite web|work=Playbill|title=Rachel Griffiths|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/rachel-griffiths-vault-0000118979|access-date=18 April 2018}} and The Boston Globe,{{cite web|work=The Boston Globe|title=This day in history|date=17 December 2017|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/17/this-day-history/JGySYiXvq2eBXTxpXhYLpK/story.html|access-date=19 April 2018|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327134407/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/17/this-day-history/JGySYiXvq2eBXTxpXhYLpK/story.html|url-status=dead}} among others, list her birthdate as 18 December. Alternate sources claim 20 February{{cite book|title=Mr. Skin's Skincyclopedia|year=2004|publisher=Macmillan|isbn= 978-0-312-33144-3|page=216}}{{cite web|work=AlloCiné|url=http://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne_gen_cpersonne=12217.html|title=Rachel Griffiths|language=fr|access-date=19 April 2018}} and 4 June.{{cite web|work=AllMovie|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/rachel-griffiths-p196152|title=Rachel Griffiths Biography|author=Marx, Rebecca Flint|access-date=19 April 2018}}{{cite book|title=Screen World Film Annual|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|page=369|year=2006|author1=Willis, John|author2=Monush, Barry|volume=57|isbn=978-1-557-83706-6}}}} is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series Secrets before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy Muriel's Wedding (1994), which earned her an AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 1997, she was the lead in Nadia Tass's drama Amy, followed by her portrayal of Hilary du Pré in Hilary and Jackie (1998), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
From 2001 to 2005, Griffiths portrayed massage therapist Brenda Chenowith in the HBO series Six Feet Under, for which she earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 2002 and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She subsequently appeared on television as Sarah Walker Laurent on the ABC drama series Brothers & Sisters from 2006 to 2011, for which she was nominated for two additional Primetime Emmy Awards.
She has also had roles in the films Blow (2001), portraying the mother of George Jung; the historical drama Ned Kelly (2003); Step Up (2006), and the Julian Assange television biopic Underground: The Julian Assange Story (2012). In 2016, she appeared in a supporting role in Mel Gibson's biographical war drama Hacksaw Ridge, and in the docudrama miniseries When We Rise, written by Dustin Lance Black.
Onstage, Griffiths appeared in a Melbourne-based production of Proof in 2002, which earned her a Helpmann Award, and later made her Broadway debut in a 2011 critically acclaimed production of Other Desert Cities. In addition to acting, she made her directorial debut with the short film Tulip in 1998, and directed several episodes of the Australian television series Nowhere Boys in 2015.
Early life
Griffiths was born on 18 December 1968 in Melbourne, Australia, and spent her early childhood on the Gold Coast. She is the daughter of Anna and Edward Martin Griffiths.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/4/Rachel-Griffiths.html |title=Rachel Griffiths Biography (1968–) |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=19 April 2018}} She has two older brothers, Ben and Samuel.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/02/style/a-night-out-with-rachel-griffiths-aussies-in-town.html|date=2 April 2000|author=Lee, Linda|access-date=18 April 2018|title=A NIGHT OUT WITH: Rachel Griffiths; Aussies in Town}}{{cite web|work=Metacritic|title=Rachel Griffiths Biography|date=26 September 2005 |url=http://www.metacritic.com/person/rachel-griffiths?filter-options=tv|access-date=19 April 2018}} She moved to Melbourne at age five, with her mother and brothers. Griffiths was raised Roman Catholic. She recalled first being inspired to become an actress after watching the American miniseries Roots as a child.
Griffiths attended Star of the Sea College, a Catholic girls' high school in Brighton.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/two-of-us-kate-kennedy-and-rachel-griffiths-20121210-2b4as.html|title=Two of us: Kate Kennedy and Rachel Griffiths|access-date=18 April 2018|date=15 December 2012|first=Bernadette|last=Clohesy|work=The Sydney Morning Herald}} She earned a Bachelor of Education degree in drama and dance at Victoria College, Rusden(now part of Deakin University{{Cite web |title=History of Deakin · Victoria College merger · Deakin History |url=https://history.deakin.edu.au/s/hd/page/victoria-college-merger |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=history.deakin.edu.au}}).{{cite news|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/rachel-griffiths-ive-never-been-beautiful-enough-not-to-be-taken/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/rachel-griffiths-ive-never-been-beautiful-enough-not-to-be-taken/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Rachel Griffiths: 'I've never been beautiful enough not to be taken seriously'|author=Walden, Celia|date=20 March 2016|access-date=19 April 2018}}{{cbignore}} After being rejected from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Griffiths joined the Woolly Jumpers, a Geelong-based community theatre group. In 1991, she wrote and performed the one-woman show Barbie Gets Hip, which played at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 1991.{{cite web|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Rachel Griffiths|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jul/02/comment.akinojumu|author=Ojumu, Akin|date=2 July 2000|access-date=20 April 2018}}
Career
=1994–2000: Early work and critical recognition=
Griffiths portrayed Rhonda Epinstall, the best friend of Toni Collette's titular character, in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding.{{Cite web|last=King|first=Susan|date=2020-03-18|title='Muriel's Wedding' Turns 25: Why the Flawed Heroine Was Ahead of Her Time|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/muriels-wedding-25-anniversary-toni-collette-1203535802/|access-date=2020-10-06|website=Variety|language=en}} Her performance won her critical acclaim and both the Australian Film Critics Award and the Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She followed in 1996 with the role of an earthy, ill-mannered pig farmer's daughter in Michael Winterbottom's Jude.
In 1997, Griffiths sparked controversy after showing up uninvited at the opening of the Crown Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia. She was topless when she showed up at the new integrated resort. She stated a wish to protest the views taken by the media and state government towards the new casino, inspired by the story of Lady Godiva.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/crown-protest-led-to-naked-ambition/story-e6frf7kx-1111113427408|date=27 April 2007|access-date=13 April 2018|title=Crown protest led to naked ambition|newspaper=Melbourne Herald Sun}}{{cite news|last=Feinstein |first=Howard |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/The_Oscars_1999/Story/0,4135,36396,00.html |title=The Rachel capers|work=The Guardian|date= 18 December 1998| location=London}}
Griffiths joined forces again with Muriel's Wedding director P. J. Hogan for her American film debut, My Best Friend's Wedding, in 1997. That same year she starred in My Son the Fanatic, a British film in which she portrayed a tough Yorkshire prostitute who becomes involved with a considerably older Pakistani taxicab driver, played by Om Puri. Griffiths received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of real-life flautist Hilary du Pré opposite Emily Watson as her sister, famed cellist Jacqueline "Jackie" du Pre, in Hilary and Jackie (1998). After the release of Hilary and Jackie, Griffiths was cast in the starring role in the Australian comedy Me Myself I (1999).
=2001–2011: American television and further acclaim=
In 2001, Griffiths appeared opposite Natasha Richardson in the English comedy Blow Dry,{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/03/16/blow_dry_2001_review.shtml|work=BBC|title=Review – Blow Dry|access-date=20 April 2018|date=3 April 2001|author=Falk, Ben}} playing a lesbian hairdresser who enters a hairstyling competition with her lover, followed by the Ted Demme-directed Blow (2001) opposite Johnny Depp and Ray Liotta, in which she played the mother of Boston cocaine magnate George Jung.{{cite web|work=IGN|title=Blow|access-date=20 April 2018|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/08/27/blow|author=Nunziata, Nick|date=27 August 2001}} Nick Nunziata of IGN was critical of Griffiths' performance in the film, writing: "the only performance that doesn't ring true is that of Rachel Griffiths as Jung's mother...she just doesn't connect."
The same year Griffiths appeared in Blow, she was cast as one of the leads in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under. Her performance as emotionally scarred massage therapist, Brenda Chenowith, earned her Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards,{{cite web|url=https://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/11th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards|work=SAG Awards|title=The 11th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards|access-date=20 April 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/12th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards|work=SAG Awards|title=The 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards|access-date=20 April 2018}} as well as two Emmy Award nominations{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/six-feet-under-on-top-of-emmys/|work=CBS News|title='Six Feet Under' On Top of Emmys|author=Neal, Rome|date=16 July 2003|access-date=20 April 2018}} over the series' five season-run. In the third season, she missed four episodes due to her first pregnancy; her second pregnancy was written into the show's final season and she appeared in almost every episode of the series.{{cite web|last=McWhirter|first=Erin|title=Family comes first|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/tv/family-comes-first/story-e6frexlr-1111113595383|work=The Telegraph|access-date=5 January 2013|date=22 May 2007}}
While starring on Six Feet Under, Griffiths continued to occasionally appear in the films, playing the supportive housewife of Dennis Quaid in the Walt Disney drama The Rookie (2002), and in the Australian biopic Ned Kelly (2003), opposite Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, and Orlando Bloom.{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/06/13/1023864321954.html|title=Another shot at justice for Ned Kelly|date=13 June 2002|access-date=20 April 2018}} In the spring of 2002, she appeared in a Melbourne production of Proof by the American playwright David Auburn, for which she earned a Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play.{{cite web|work=Helpmann Awards Official Site|url=http://www.helpmannawards.com.au/2003/past-nominees-and-winners/theatre|title=Past nominees and winners|access-date=19 April 2018}}
In 2004, she played a key role in the Hallmark film adaptation of the Kent Haruf novel Plainsong.
In 2006, she became part of the ensemble cast, co-starring alongside Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Balthazar Getty and Matthew Rhys, of the dramatic series Brothers & Sisters, in which she portrays Sarah Walker, who inherits control of the family business after her father's death. Griffiths received a 2007 Emmy nomination and a 2008 Emmy nomination for her work on the series,{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://www.news.com.au/news/griffiths-misses-out-on-emmy/news-story/9676a6b2f154de6f4e0ed29a8fbceb79?sv=4163c6c8f8b1774f6cf0aa2ef32de26d|title=Rachel Griffiths misses out on Emmy|author=Mitchell, Peter|access-date=20 April 2018|date=15 October 2009|archive-date=20 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420141306/http://www.news.com.au/news/griffiths-misses-out-on-emmy/news-story/9676a6b2f154de6f4e0ed29a8fbceb79?sv=4163c6c8f8b1774f6cf0aa2ef32de26d|url-status=dead}} followed by 2008 and 2009 Golden Globe nominations.{{cite web|work=GoldenGlobes.com|publisher=Hollywood Foreign Press Association|title=Rachel Griffiths|access-date=18 April 2018|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/rachel-griffiths}} Griffiths starred on the series until its conclusion in 2011. Additionally, she appeared as Inez Scull in the 2008 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon.{{Cite book|title=Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon|url=https://www.amazon.com/Larry-McMurtrys-Comanche-Moon-Teile/dp/B07D54LDZX|access-date=2020-10-06|via=www.amazon.com|date=December 2018}}
Griffiths made her Broadway debut in Other Desert Cities,{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/theater/rachel-griffiths-joining-other-desert-cities.html|date=7 October 2011|title=Rachel Griffiths joining 'Other Desert Cities'|author=Healy, Patrick|access-date=20 April 2018}} directed by Joe Mantello and co-starring Judith Light, Stockard Channing, and Stacy Keach, which began previews on 10 October 2011, opening on 3 November 2011 in Manhattan.{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/rachel-griffiths-and-judith-light-will-join-stockard-channing-in-broadways--181131|title=Rachel Griffiths and Judith Light Will Join Stockard Channing in Broadway's Other Desert Cities|first1=Andrew|last1=Gans|first2=Adam|last2=Hetrick|date=21 July 2011}}{{cite web|work=National Public Radio (NPR)|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/12/24/144186143/a-homecoming-for-rachel-griffiths-on-broadway|date=24 December 2011|title=A Homecoming For Rachel Griffiths on Broadway|access-date=20 April 2018|author=Lunden, Jeff}} David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised both Griffith's performance as well as the overall production, writing: "[The play] has acquired a riveting center in the raw performance of Rachel Griffiths, who makes a knockout New York stage debut. With discreet adjustments to the text and more penetrating characterizations all around from the sterling cast, the balance between comedy and intense family drama has been fine-tuned in richly satisfying ways".{{cite web|work=The Hollywood Reporter|author=Rooney, David|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/desert-cities-theater-review-257214|access-date=20 April 2018|date=3 November 2011|title=Other Desert Cities: Theater Review}} Ben Brantley of The New York Times deemed her performance "a beautifully modulated Broadway debut".{{cite web|work=The New York Times|author=Brantley, Ben|date=3 November 2011|access-date=20 April 2018|title=Painful Family Secrets Laid Bare|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/theater/reviews/other-desert-cities-at-booth-theater-review.html}}
=2012–2018: Return to Australia; directing=
In 2012, Griffiths returned to live in her native Australia, after having lived and worked in the United States for a decade. She expressed a desire to work less and spend more time with her children after having worked what she described as "80-hour-weeks" while appearing on Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters.
In November 2013, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Griffiths was to play Julia Gillard in a television drama based on the book, The Stalking of Julia Gillard by Kerry-Anne Walsh.The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 November 2013 – [https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/rachel-griffiths-to-play-julia-gillard-in-tv-drama-20131108-2x5bd.html Rachel Griffiths to play Julia Gillard in TV drama By Jessica Wright and Christine Sams] But the project stalled as the proposal for the film was rejected by the Australian television networks.Australian Business Review, 8 June 2015 – [https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/networks-reject-julia-gillard-tv-drama-starring-rachel-griffiths/news-story/e4f58a6bb6b90308476390d34640288e Networks reject Julia Gillard TV drama starring Rachel Griffiths]The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2015 – [https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/networks-reject-julia-gillard-telemovie-starring-rachel-griffiths-because-everyone-hates-the-former-pm-20150608-ghiq3h.html Networks reject Julia Gillard telemovie starring Rachel Griffiths because 'everyone hates' the former PM By Michael Lallo]
In 2015, she made her debut as a television director when she directed three episodes of the second series of the Australian teen drama Nowhere Boys.{{cite news|title=Nowhere Boys: Rachel Griffiths directs in ABC3's second season|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/nowhere-boys-rachel-griffiths-directs-in-abc3s-second-season-20141110-11ir00.html|last=Mathieson|first=Craig|date=13 November 2014|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=14 January 2015}}{{cite web|title=Nowhere Boys: Episodes 8–13 Guide (Series 2)|url=http://www.australiantelevision.net/nowhere-boys/series2a.html|publisher=Australiantelevision.net|access-date=29 December 2014}}
In 2016, Griffiths was cast opposite Guy Pearce and Mary-Louise Parker in the American miniseries When We Rise, a docudrama focusing on LGBT rights, in which she portrays a nurse during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/when-we-rise-cast-abc-guy-pearce-mary-louise-parker-rachel-griffiths-1201735231/|work=Variety|title=Guy Pearce, Mary-Louise Parker, Rachel Griffiths to Star in ABC Gay Rights Miniseries 'When We Rise'|date=21 March 2016|author=Wagmeister, Elizabeth|access-date=19 April 2018}} The same year, she appeared in a supporting part opposite Hugo Weaving in the Mel Gibson-directed war drama Hacksaw Ridge,{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/rachel-griffiths-on-hugo-weaving-he-beat-me-and-he-drank-20161019-gs5cxb.html|title=Rachel Griffiths on Hacksaw Ridge film role: 'He beat me and he drank'|author=Maddox, Garry|date=21 October 2016|access-date=19 April 2018}} which earned her an AACTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress.{{cite web|work=SBS|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/movies/article/2016/10/27/mel-gibsons-hacksaw-ridge-leads-aacta-awards-nominations|date=27 October 2016|title=Mel Gibson's 'Hacksaw Ridge' leads AACTA Awards nominations|author=SBS Movies Staff|access-date=20 April 2018}} In 2018, she appears in the SBS thriller miniseries Dead Lucky, which was sold for American distribution to the streaming service SundanceNow in April 2018.{{cite web|work=TV Tonight|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2018/04/sbs-drama-dead-lucky-sells-to-sundance.html|title=SBS drama Dead Lucky sells to Sundance|access-date=19 April 2018|date=7 April 2018}}
In 2020, Griffiths starred in the Amazon Prime television show, The Wilds, as Gretchen Klein.
In 2023, Griffiths was announced as the lead role for New Zealand comedy-drama series Madam.{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=2023-09-29 |title=Rachel Griffiths leads NZ dramedy Madam {{!}} TV Tonight |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2023/09/rachel-griffiths-leads-nz-dramedy-madam.html |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=tvtonight.com.au |language=en-AU}}
In 2024, Griffiths appeared in the final season of ABC political drama Total Control, after appearing in the two previous seasons, she also served as executive producer on the 3 series show..{{cite web |date=June 2023 |title=Total Control filming third and final series | TV Tonight |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2023/05/total-control-filming-third-and-final-series.html}}
Other ventures
In 2017, Griffiths worked promoting the "No Robe" campaign for the Art Series Hotels, which invited hotel guests to pose for nude portraits in their rooms and have them brought to life by artists.{{cite web|work=9 News (Australia)|url=https://www.9news.com.au/entertainment/2017/05/09/16/02/rachel-griffiths-nude-art-series-hotel-no-robe|date=9 May 2017|access-date=19 April 2018|title=Rachel Griffiths poses for intimate hotel artwork}} She also serves on the board of the Sydney Contemporary art fair.{{cite web|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/why-marriage-cramps-rachel-griffiths-art-collection-20150815-gizqpi.html|author=Taylor, Andrew|date=16 August 2015|title=Why marriage cramps Rachel Griffiths' art collection|access-date=18 April 2018}}
Personal life
Griffiths married Australian artist Andrew Taylor on 31 December 2002 in the chapel of her high school, Star of the Sea College, in Melbourne.{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/mmx-19857_lgcy-story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006072344/http://www.latimes.com/mmx-19857_lgcy-story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 October 2014|date=3 January 2003|title=Griffiths gets hitched|website=Los Angeles Times}} In 2003, she and Taylor had a son, followed by a daughter in 2005. In 2009, she gave birth to her third child in Los Angeles;{{cite web|url=http://celebritybabies.people.com/2009/08/04/rachel-griffiths-sweet-clementine/|title=Rachel Griffiths' Sweet Clementine|date=4 August 2009|work=People|access-date=22 December 2017|author=People Staff}} Griffiths suffered a ruptured uterus giving birth.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/house-husbands-actress-rachel-griffiths-grabs-second-chance-at-life-after-nearly-dying-in-childbirth/news-story/2d366be67923046b16bf2617c196d355|work=News.com.au|title=House Husbands actress Rachel Griffiths grabs second chance at life after nearly dying in childbirth|author=Fenton, Andrew|date=4 June 2014|access-date=18 April 2018}} She spent a total of three days undergoing surgery and recovered from the condition.{{cite interview|work=Marie Claire Australia|series=Frankly Speaking|interviewer=Jackie Frank|first=Rachel|last=Griffiths|date=November 2016|url=https://www.marieclaire.com.au/frankly-speaking-with-rachel-griffiths|title=Jackie Frank Meets Rachel Griffiths|access-date=18 April 2018}} {{YouTube|JepblkL1gdg}}
In 2002, Griffiths stated she was an atheist."Although I'm not a Christian, I was raised Christian. I'm an atheist, with a slight Buddhist leaning." {{cite book | last = Allen Smith | first = Warren | title = Celebrities in Hell: A Guide to Hollywood's Atheists, Agnostics, Skeptics, Free Thinkers, and More | publisher = Barricade Books Inc. | year = 2002 | isbn=1-56980-214-9 | page = 130}} However, in a 2015 interview, she revealed she was again a practising Catholic, the faith in which she was raised.{{cite web|work=ABC|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-30/haunted-house-on-hill-rachel-griffiths-describes-church-abuse/6357960|title= 'Haunted house on the hill': Rachel Griffiths describes abuse history at destroyed Melbourne church|date=30 March 2015|access-date=18 April 2018}} In 2017, she spoke out in favour of same-sex marriage in Australia.{{cite web|work=SBS|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/sexuality/mardigras/article/2017/03/03/rachel-griffiths-tony-abbott-marriage-equality-and-when-we-rise|title=Rachel Griffiths on Tony Abbott, marriage equality, and 'When We Rise'|date=3 March 2017|access-date=18 April 2018|author=Anderson, Stephanie Marie}} She has also supported the Global Charter of Basic Rights campaign for Oxfam Australia. She considers herself a feminist.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/mar/01/rachel-griffiths-i-think-i-have-been-a-very-poor-and-bad-feminist|work=The Guardian|date=28 February 2017|access-date=20 April 2018|title=Rachel Griffiths: 'I think I have been a very poor and bad feminist'|author=Spring, Alexandra}}
After having lived and worked in the United States for nearly a decade while appearing on the series Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters, Griffiths returned to live in her native Australia in 2012.{{cite web|work=The Courier-Mail|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/rachel-griffiths-coming-back-to-australia-to-be-normal-person-again/news-story/cfce7375fb2a6a8dfbb85cfed9214225?sv=4b77f9266520896ebe75eb126ef3b591|access-date=19 April 2018|date=25 May 2012|title=Rachel Griffiths coming back to Australia to be 'normal person' again|author=NewsCore}}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Griffiths became a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6598203/australian-honours-roll-for-the-arts/|title=Australian honours roll for the Arts|author=Taylor Thompson-Fuller|date=25 January 2020}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes |
|---|
| 1994
| Rhonda Epinstall | |
| rowspan="4" | 1996
| Così | Lucy | |
| Jude
| Arabella | |
| Children of the Revolution
| Anna | |
| To Have & to Hold
|Kate | |
| rowspan=3| 1997
| Sylvia | |
| My Son the Fanatic
| Bettina/Sandra | |
| My Best Friend's Wedding
| Samantha Newhouse | |
| rowspan=4| 1998
| Gerry | |
| Hilary and Jackie
| |
| Amy
| Tanya Rammus | |
| Divorcing Jack
| Lee Cooper | |
| 1999
| Pamela Drury | |
| rowspan=3| 2001
| Annie Mary Pugh | |
| Blow
| Ermine Jung | |
| Blow Dry
| Sandra | |
| rowspan="3" |2002
| {{sortname|The|Rookie|dab=2002 film}} | Lorri Morris | |
| {{sortname|The|Hard Word}}
| Carol | |
| The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina
|Albertine Sparrow |Voice |
| 2003
| Susan Scott | |
| 2006
| Step Up | Director Gordan | |
| 2009
| Sally | |
| 2011
| Miriam | |
| 2012
|Butterflies |Claire |Voice; short film |
| rowspan=2| 2013
| Patrick | Matron Cassidy | |
| Saving Mr. Banks
| Helen "Ellie" Morehead | |
| rowspan=3| 2016
| Mammal | Margaret | |
| Hacksaw Ridge
| Bertha Doss | |
| The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One
| General Lynex | |
| 2017
| Joy Conolly | |
| 2022
| Abbess | Filmed in 2014 |
| rowspan=2| 2023
| Innie | |
| Bring Him to Me
| Veronica | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:95%;" | |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes | |
|---|---|
| 1993–1994
| Secrets | Sarah Foster | Main role, 13 episodes |
| 1994
| Jimeoin | Various | Recurring role, 8 episodes | |
| 1995
| Shelley | 1 episode | |
| 1998
|Sally Zalinsky |Television film | |
| 2001–2005
| Main role, 60 episodes | |
| 2004
|Plainsong |Maggie Jonas | rowspan="2" |Television film | |
| 2005
| Nicole | |
| 2006–2011
| Main role, 109 episodes | |
| 2008
| Inez Scull | Miniseries, 3 episodes | |
| 2010
| Rake | Eddie Langhorn | 1 episode | |
| 2012
| Underground: The Julian Assange Story | Christine Assange | Television film | |
| rowspan="2" | 2013
| Dulcie Boling | Miniseries, 2 episodes | |
| Camp
| MacKenzie Granger | Main role, 10 episodes | |
| 2014 | House Husbands
| Belle | Main role, 7 episodes |
| rowspan="2" | 2016
| Sirene | 3 episodes | |
| Barracuda
| Samantha Taylor | 4 episodes | |
| 2017
| Diane Jones | rowspan="2" | Miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 2018
| Grace Gibbs | |
| 2019–2021, 2024
| Rachel Anderson | rowspan="2" | Main role, 18 episodes | |
| 2020
| Gretchen Klein | |
| 2021
| Margot | Main role, 12 episodes | |
| 2022
| Dr Fiona Wood | Miniseries, 4 episodes | |
| 2024
|Madam |McKenzie Leigh |Main role: 10 episodes |
=As director =
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Notes | ||
| 1998 | Tulip | Short film; Also writer |
| 2015 | Nowhere Boys | Series 2, 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Ride Like a Girl | Also producer |
Stage credits
Awards and nominations
{{Main|List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Griffiths}}
Griffiths has received nominations for multiple awards. In 1994, her role in the comedy-drama film Muriel's Wedding (1994) saw her nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She received an additional five AACTA nominations: three for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Amy (1997), Me Myself I (2000) and The Hard Word (2002); and two more for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Beautiful Kate (2009) and Hacksaw Ridge (2016). 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.
Achieving further success overseas, Griffiths was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for her role in the biographical film Hilary and Jackie (1998). This performance 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).
Notes
{{noteslist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Rachel Griffiths}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0341737|name=Rachel Griffiths}}
- {{IBDB name}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Rachel Griffiths
|list =
{{AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role}}
{{EquityAward TVMiniSeriesTeleMovieCast}}
{{GoldenGlobeSupportingActressTV 1990-2009}}
{{HelpmannAward PlayLeadActress 2001-2020}}
}}
{{Feminism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Rachel}}
Category:Actresses from Melbourne
Category:Australian expatriate actresses in the United States
Category:Australian film actresses
Category:Australian television actresses
Category:Australian stage actresses
Category:Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (television) winners
Category:Best Supporting Actress AACTA Award winners
Category:Helpmann Award winners
Category:20th-century Australian actresses
Category:21st-century Australian actresses
Category:Australian LGBTQ rights activists
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:Australian Roman Catholics
Category:Former atheists and agnostics
Category:People educated at Star of the Sea College, Melbourne