Childhood & Early Life
Radha was born Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell, on November 12, 1973, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to model-turned-designer Adriana Mitchell and filmmaker Norman Mitchell. Her parents got divorced when she was six years old.
Talking about her name, Radha mentions that it is “a creative byproduct” that emerged from the experiences her mother had while the latter explored Indian spirituality in the 1970s. The three parts of her name, which are of Indian origin, are ‘Radha,’ name of a popular Hindu Goddess; ‘Rani,’ which means ‘queen’; and ‘Ananda,’ meaning ‘happiness.’
She studied at the ‘St Michael's Grammar School’ in St Kilda, Victoria. It was here that she learned the basics of acting and started performing in shows. She would often visit her father’s studio and that, in a way, helped her get an initial exposure in the entertainment industry.
Following her graduation, Radha relocated to the US, where she studied fine arts at the ‘University of California.’
Continue Reading Below
Career
She made her debut in professional acting in 1988, with the role of ‘Pixie Robinson’ in the ‘ABC’ TV series for children, titled ‘Sugar and Spice.’
The Australian sitcom ‘All Together Now’ saw her essaying the recurring role of ‘Jodie’ in six of its 101 episodes, aired between 1992 and 1993.
In 1994, she landed up essaying the guest role of ‘Cassandra Rushmore,’ a sky-diving instructor, in the Australian TV soap opera ‘Neighbours.’ Later, between 1996 and 1997, she played the regular role of ‘Catherine O'Brien’ in the same series. Meanwhile, she featured in the Australian police drama ‘Blue Heelers,’ in 1994 and 1996.
Her big-screen debut happened with the starring role of ‘Danni’ in the Australian romantic comedy ‘Love and Other Catastrophes.’ The film released on August 1, 1996, in Australia, and on March 28, 1997, in the US, and became a commercial success.
She then starred along with Ally Sheedy in ‘High Art,’ a Canadian–American independent film, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko. She played ‘Syd,’ an assistant editor of a reputed high-art photography magazine. The film released on June 12, 1998, and won an ‘Independent Spirit Award.’
Moving on with other Australian and Hollywood projects, Radha played the lead role of ‘Angie’ in the Marc Forster-directed 2000 drama, ‘Everything Put Together,’ which also won the ‘Independent Spirit Award.’ With time, she started getting more starring roles in notable Hollywood hits, featuring some of the biggest names of the industry.
The 2000 science–fiction action–horror flick ‘Pitch Black’ saw her starring as ‘Carolyn Fry,’ a docking pilot. This movie saw her featuring along with Vin Diesel, Keith David, and Cole Hauser. The film received mixed to positive reviews, but grossed over $50 million worldwide.
The next notable film of this talented diva was the Joel Schumacher-directed 2003 American neo-noir crime thriller, ‘Phone Booth,’ where she starred along with the likes of Katie Holmes, Colin Farrell, Forest Whitaker, and Kiefer Sutherland. It was an even bigger hit at the boxoffice, grossing over $97 million worldwide.
She received nominations for the ‘Best Leading Actress’ at the ‘Fangoria Chainsaw Award’ and the ‘Best Actor—Female’ award at the ‘Film Critics Circle of Australia Award’ for her brilliant performance in the starring role of ‘Georgia Perry’ in the 2003 Australian thriller ‘Visitors.’
Continue Reading Below
She was part of the supporting cast of the Denzel Washington-starrer British–American crime thriller ‘Man on Fire.’ The film released on April 23, 2004, and emerged as a super hit, grossing over $130 million at box office.
She furthered her fame and garnered widespread recognition by playing ‘Mary Ansell Barrie’ in the British–American historical fantasy–drama film ‘Finding Neverland.’ In the film, she co-starred with some of the superstars of the industry, such as Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, and Julie Christie.
‘Finding Neverland’ premiered at the 'Venice Film Festival’ on September 4, 2004, and was screened at several other festivals before having its theatrical release in the UK, in October 2004, and in the US, in November 2004. It became a blockbuster hit, garnering $116.8 million at the box office and also earned several ‘Oscar’ nominations. Subsequently, the film won the 2004 ‘Oscar’ for Jan AP Kaczmarek's musical score. The cast of the film also earned the ‘Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture,’ award nomination at the ‘Screen Actors Guild Award.’
The year 2004 saw her play ‘Melinda Robicheaux’ in two versions – one tragic and one comic – of the commercially hit American comedy–drama film ‘Melinda and Melinda,’ written and directed by Woody Allen. The film premiered at the ‘San Sebastian International Film Festival,’ on September 17 that year, and released in the US on March 18, 2005.
Her next notable role was that of ‘Rose Da Silva’ in the Christophe Gans-directed horror flick, ‘Silent Hill,’ a film adaptation of the video game bearing the same title. The film, which released on April 21, 2006, received mixed reviews and became a huge hit, grossing almost $100 million worldwide. She went on to reprise the role in the film’s sequel, ‘Silent Hill: Revelation 3D’ (2012).
The Claire McCarthy-directed 2009 Australian film, ‘The Waiting City,’ which was officially selected at the 34th annual ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ (TIFF), featured Radha in the role of ‘Fiona Simmons,’ starring along with Joel Edgerton. The film earned her the ‘Best Actress’ award at the ‘Antipodes Film Festival,’ in St. Tropez, France.
In some of her other notable, Radha appeared as ‘Kate Ryan’ in the 2007 Australian independent horror film ‘Rogue,’ as ‘Leah Banning’ in the 2013 American action–thriller film ‘Olympus Has Fallen,’ and as ‘Marta Walraven’ in the 2013 ‘ABC’ TV drama ‘Red Widow.’
Some of the upcoming films of this seasoned actor include ‘Swinging Safari,’ ‘Celeste,’ and ‘The World Without You,’ all of which are scheduled to release in 2018.
