Imbued with a natural calm and effusive charm that masks an inner turmoil, actress Rose Byrne has tried to keep a check on reality in an otherwise unrealistic world. A sparkling brunette with doe eyes from the land Down Under, Byrne has fast become a rising star in the United States after a successful career in her native Australia. Once hailed as Audrey Hepburn with a darker edge, Byrne has used her natural talent to secure challenging roles on projects both large and small. Her pivotal role as Briseis in the epic blockbuster “Troy” (2004)—her first major exposure to American audiences—was only a step in what has developed into a blossoming Hollywood foray.
Born on July 24, 1979 in Sydney, Australia, Byrne began acting at 8 years-old, joining the Australian Theatre for Young People while her siblings opted for more traditional schooling at Fort St. High. At 13, Byrne was cast in her first film, “Dallas Doll” (1994), starring Sandra Bernhard as an American golf pro who seduces an entire family. Byrne then starred in “Echo Point” (1995), a short-lived nighttime soap that aired against highly rated Australian shows and died a quick, unnecessary death after only six months. Byrne found herself out of work and forced into ordinary high school life—if anything she learned how fleeting fame can be.
Byrne returned to the screen with a leading role in the critically acclaimed indie, “Two Hands” (1999), co-starring fellow Aussie Heath Ledger. The crime-comedy about a small-time gangster in big-time trouble was a surprise entry in the 1999 Sundance Film Festival and won a few Film Critics of Australia awards, though nothing for Byrne. Another significant appearance came in “My Mother Frank” (1999), a drama about a mother attending the same college as her son. Byrne’s success in her native land culminated in her winning the Volpi Cup for Best Female Performance at the 2000 Venice International Film Festival for “The Goddess of 1967” (2000). In that film, Byrne played Deirdre, a blind and emotionally unstable girl left behind to go on a road trip with a stranger after her uncle killed her aunt, then himself. The film was shown at festivals the world over--she was awarded the Copa Volpi for Best Actress at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival--giving Byrne a reputation as a solid actress and the chance to appear in much larger fare.
Her first incursion into a big Hollywood movie was in “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones” (2002), playing Dorme, Queen Padme’s handmaiden. Without any lines, Byrne appeared briefly onscreen as background fodder to star Natalie Portman. One could have blinked and not noticed her in the movie; even her own friends missed her performance. But Dormé achieved 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. Byrne returned to smaller films with “I Capture The Castle” (2002), a coming-of-age romantic comedy set in an English castle in the 1930’s. The movie did fairly well considering its small release, and Byrne received good notices for her performance. Byrne next appeared in the modern noir “City of Ghosts” (2003), directed by Matt Dillon, which played in a few select theaters across the country.
With the help of compatriot Eric Bana, Byrne was cast in “Troy,” but only after three months of auditions and interviews. The experience was quite different than what she was used to. Thousands of extras and a strange setting prompted Byrne to compare the production to a rave. Ultimately, Byrne experienced what fellow co-star Peter O’Toole described as an old studio picture—a rare thing in modern Hollywood. After “Troy,” Byrne appeared alongside Josh Hartnett, Matthew Lillard, and Diane Kruger in “Wicker Park” (2004), a Hitchcockian thriller about a man (Hartnett) caught in an obsessive search for a women he fell in love with (Kruger) while being manipulated by a woman (Byrne) who tries to keep them apart.
Though she managed to land roles in blockbuster films, Byrne had meatier roles in indie features barely able to see the light of day. In “The Tenants” (2005), she was trapped in the middle of two squatters (Dylan McDermott and Snoop Dogg) in an abandoned New York apartment building battling each other as both trying to complete a novel. Byrne gave an excellent performance in the BBC-produced “Casanova” (2005), playing a young kitchen maid who is shocked to learn that the elderly librarian (Peter O’Toole) in the castle is the legendary lover Casanova. Continuing the trend of 18th century period films, Byrne was the La Duchesse de Polignac in “Marie Antoinette” (2006), friend and confidant to the doomed French queen (Kirsten Dunst). She next costarred in “28 Weeks Later” (2007), the surprisingly good sequel to Danny Boyle’s excellent sci-fi horror film “28 Days Later” (2002) that saw the British Isles devastated by the so-called rage virus, which turns humans into unstoppable, blood-thirsty zombies.