Acting · Hobart, Tasmania, Australia · Born January 19, 1970
Essie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis. She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania in the late 1980s and has gone on to appear in Hollywood movies. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. Her career started after her role in the all Australian movie Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995), also starring other prestigious actors such as Geoffrey Rush, Leo McKern, and Joan Sutherland. Her most famous movie roles are in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Richard Flanagan's 1998 Tasmanian film The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and Girl with a Pearl Earring. In 2003 she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her UK performance in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2004 she starred in a Broadway production of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, for which she earned a Tony nomination. In 2005 she appeared as Mrs. Nellie Lovett in the BBC production of Sweeney Todd with Ray Winstone. In the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger she plays Esther's controlling mother.
TVAlien: Earth
2025
as Dame Sylvia
TVThe Narrow Road to the Deep North
2025
as Lynette Maison
TVApple Cider Vinegar
2025
as Natalie Dal-Bello
TVOne Day
2024
as Alison
TVFaraway Downs
2023
as Cath Carney
MovieFungi: The Web of Life
2023
as Narrator (voice)
TVGuillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
2022
as Nancy Bradley
MovieNitram
2021
as Helen
MovieThe Justice of Bunny King
2021
as Bunny King
MovieBabyteeth
2020
as Anna
MovieMiss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears
2020
as Phryne Fisher
MovieTrue History of the Kelly Gang
2019
as Ellen Kelly
TVLambs of God
2019
as Sister Iphigenia
TVThe Last Post
2017
as Martha Franklin
TVPhilip K. Dick's Electric Dreams
2017
as Vera Herrick
TVThe White Princess
2017
as Elizabeth Woodville
MovieAssassin's Creed
2016
as Mary Lynch
MovieMindhorn
2016
as Patricia Deville
MovieThey Call Him Mister Babadook: The Making of The Babadook
2015
as Self
MovieThe Babadook
2014
as Amelia Vanek
MovieA Poet in New York
2014
as Caitlin Thomas
TVMiss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
2012
as Phryne Fisher
TVThe Slap
2011
as Anouk
MovieBurning Man
2011
as Karen
TVCloudstreet
2011
as Dolly Pickles
TVGame of Thrones
2011
as Lady Crane
MovieSouth Solitary
2010
as Alma Stanley
MovieLegend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
2010
as Marella (voice)
MovieThe Wedding Party
2010
as Jane
MovieAustralia
2008
as Katherine
MovieHey Hey It's Esther Blueburger
2008
as Grace Blueburger
MovieCharlotte's Web
2006
as Mrs. Arable
MovieThe Silence
2006
as Juliet Moore
MovieSweeney Todd
2006
as Mrs Lovett
MovieIsolation
2005
as Orla
MovieGirl with a Pearl Earring
2003
as Catharina Bolnes Vermeer
MovieThe Matrix Revolutions
2003
as Maggie
MovieCode 46
2003
as Doctor
MovieAfter the Deluge
2003
as Beth
TVAfter the Deluge
2003
as Beth
MovieThe Matrix Reloaded
2003
as Maggie
MovieThe Pact
2003
as Helene Davis
TVYoung Lions
2002
as Julie Morgan
MovieThe Sound of One Hand Clapping
1998
as Jean
TVKings in Grass Castles
1998
as Mary Costello
MovieThe Ripper
1997
as Evelyn Bookman
MovieRiver Street
1997
as Wendy Davis
MovieThe Two-Wheeled Time Machine
1997
as Young alice
MovieBlackrock
1997
as Det. Gilhooley
MovieLilian's Story
1996
as Zara
MovieDad and Dave: On Our Selection
1995
TVHalifax f.p.
1994
as Alison Blount
MovieThe Custodian
1994
as Jilly
TVPlay School
1966
as Self
Unspeakable
as Judith
