Mia Wasikowska biography

Synopsis

Early Years

Mia Wasikowska (pronounced vash-i-KOV-ska) was born in Canberra, Australia, on October 14, 1989. At age 9 she began training to become a professional dancer, but by age 15 she replaced dance with acting, making her professional debut in the Australian TV medical drama All Saints in 2004. She appeared on two episodes of the hit show and then moved directly into film work, appearing in three shorts and the feature film Suburban Mayhem (2006), for which she received a Young Actor's Award nomination from the Australian Film Institute.

After drawing such positive attention in Suburban Mayhem, Wasikowska won roles in a variety of films, from the youth drama September (2007) to the horror film Rogue (2007), which found her fighting for survival against a man-eating crocodile. In 2008 she made her American debut on the premiere season of the HBO drama In Treatment, in which both her performance and her impressive American accent were often noted.

Hollywood Success

As is often the case with up-and-coming actors, success in one Hollywood vehicle, in her case In Treatment, led to more roles for Wasikowska, and she appeared in several movies released one after the other. The 2008 World War II drama Defiance was her first American movie, and she starred alongside Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell. She also appeared that same year in Amelia, a biographical film about the life of aviatrix Amelia Earhart, playing a rival of the title character (played by Hilary Swank). Her work up to that point landed her on Variety's list of the top 10 actors to watch in 2008.

On a roll, Wasikowska next took on a part in the 2009 drama That Evening Sun, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female. She followed this with her biggest, most mainstream and highest-profile role to date: that of Alice in Tim Burton's big-screen reworking of the Lewis Carroll classic Alice in Wonderland. The film had an A-list cast, including Johnny Depp, and it brought Wasikowska a torrent of media attention.

On the quieter side of Hollywood that year, Wasikowska also appeared in the critical darling The Kids Are All Right, alongside Mark Ruffalo, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, and was the lead in a new film adaptation of Jane Eyre (2011). Incredibly, Wasikowska was ranked by Forbes as the second-highest grossing actor of 2010, behind only Leonardo DiCaprio and tied with Alice in Wonderland co-star Johnny Depp, as her two films that year combined for over $1 billion at the box office.