Toni Collette Biography

Toni Collette was born on 1st November 1972 as the eldest child of Bob and Judy Collett and grew up in the Sydney suburb of Glebe and Blacktown. She belongs to a working class family where her father was a truck driver while her mother was employed as a customer-service representative. She has two younger brothers.

She attended Blacktown Girls High School where she first got an opportunity to perform in a high school production of Godspell. She was fourteen then and two years later, she left school to join the Australian Theatre for Young People (1989) on a scholarship.

In 1991, Toni Collette joined National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA); however, she left after a year and a half when she bagged a role in Neil Armfield directed production of Uncle Vanya (August–September 1992) with the Sydney Theatre Company.

Before Uncle Vanya, Toni Collette had already made her professional theatre debut with Operation Holy Mountain in 1990 and worked in the musical A Little Night Music (1990-1991) at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Her stage credits in 1992 included A Pocketful of Hula Dreams, Away and The Frogs.

On television, she first appeared on a variety show Blah Blah Blah as a singer in 1988 and then did a guest role in an episode of drama series A Country Practice in 1990.

Her big screen debut too came in 1992 with a supporting role in the comedy drama film Spotswood (The Efficiency Expert in the US).

Toni Collette’s breakthrough role came two years later with the comedy drama film Muriel's Wedding wherein she played the title character. The film, for which she gained 42 (40)1 pounds, brought her to the attention of the US audience and won her nomination and wins at award functions in the US and Australia.

This was followed by three critically acclaimed films in 1996 – the comedy drama Così, the drama Lilian's Story and a comedy drama romance Emma. She also sang cover versions of three songs (originally sung by others) for the film Così.

In the next two years, she appeared in more supporting roles in movies like Clockwatchers (1997), The Boys and Velvet Goldmine (both 1998). She also played the lead role in the romance comedy Diana & Me (1997).

In 1999, she starred as Lynn Sear – the distressed mother whose son can see ghosts – in M. Night Shyamalan's supernatural psychological thriller film The Sixth Sense. The movie became a blockbuster and won her further international recognition.

Toni Collette continued her association with stage working in productions like Summer of the Aliens (1993) and King Lear (1994) and finally in the year 2000, made her Broadway debut playing Queenie in The Wild Party. For the Broadway musical, she recorded nine tracks.

Her movies that released in 2000 included Shaft, Hotel Splendide and The Magic Pudding (voice role). The following year, she worked in a television movie Dinner with Friends.

In 2002, she won accolades for her performances in the romantic comedy drama film About a Boy and the psychological drama film The Hours.

In 2003, her portrayal of the lead character Sandy Edwards in the romantic drama film Japanese Story won her critical appreciation. The next year she acted in comedies The Last Shot and Connie and Carla. For the last film, her singing abilities were again used.

After acting in In Her Shoes in 2005, Toni Collette next appeared as the matriarch – Sheryl Hoover – of a dysfunctional clan in the 2006 comedy drama film Little Miss Sunshine. The same year she worked in HBO-BBC joint miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath. Both the film and the television movie earned her award nominations.

In 2006 again, she formed her own band Toni Collette & the Finish and released her debut album Beautiful Awkward Pictures. She wrote all eleven tracks of the album.

Between 2006 and 2009, Toni Collette worked in numerous movies like Evening and Towelhead and also turned executive producer for three of them – Like Minds, The Black Balloon and Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.

In 2009, she was roped in play the lead role of Tara Gregson in the dark comic series United States of Tara. The show ran for three years and Collette’s performance as a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder once again earned her appreciation and awards.

The same year, she voiced Mary Daisy Dinkle in the critically acclaimed stop motion dramedy Mary and Max.

Toni Collette’s next few films included a horror Fright Night (2011), a comedy Mental, a biographical drama Hitchcock (both 2012), a romantic comedy Enough Said and a coming of age comedy drama The Way, Way Back (both 2013).

In 2013-2014, she played the lead role of Ellen Sanders in one season of the CBS drama series Hostages. In 2014, she returned to Broadway playing Jennifer Jones in The Realistic Joneses.

Between 2014 and 2017, she took on more roles in movies like Tammy, A Long Way Down, Miss You Already, Krampus, Imperium and XXX: Return of Xander Cage.

In 2017, she formed her own production company in association with her US-based talent manager Jen Turner.

The following year she gave a terrific performance in the supernatural horror film Hereditary (also executive produced it); acted in the acclaimed feel-good drama film Hearts Beat Loud and played the lead role in the BBC one drama series Wanderlust.

In 2019, she essayed the role of detective Grace Rasmussen in the Netflix miniseries Unbelievable and became a part of an ensemble cast in the comedic whodunit movie Knives Out.

Her film credit in 2020-2021 includes a drama Dream Horse, a psychological thriller I'm Thinking of Ending Things and a science fiction thriller Stowaway. She also plays the lead role in Netflix thriller drama series Pieces of Her.

Toni Collette married musician Dave Galafassi in 2003 and the couple have a daughter, Sage Florence (2008) and a son, Arlo Robert (2011) together.

She backs numerous charitable organisations like Doctors Without Borders, Amnesty International and Feeding America. She has also worked to raise funds for various charity including OzHarvest and Cure Our Kids.

In 2014, Toni Collette was appointed the global ambassador of Concern Worldwide, Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency.

Toni Collette is an accomplished musician and has performed as a lead singer in the band Toni Collette & the Finish.

She is multilingual and can speak fluent French and German in addition to her native English.

In addition to her successful acting career, Collette is also an avid painter and has displayed her artwork in galleries.

Collette is a dedicated environmentalist and supports various causes related to conservation and sustainability.

She has a great sense of humor and is known for her infectious laughter on and off screen.