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Mia Wasikowska
At the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on March 5, 2010
Born	Mia Wasikowska 14 October 1989 (1989-10-14) (age 20) Canberra, Australia
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2004–present

Mia Wasikowska (pronounced /ˌvaʃiˈkɔvska/ or pronounced /ˌvaʃiˈkofska/), Vah-shee-KOV-ska/Vah-shee-KOF-ska;^[1][2] born October 14, 1989)^[3] is an Australian actress. She became known for her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment, after which she ventured into American film. A series of smaller parts led to starring roles in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), Gus Van Sant's film Restless (2011), and Cary Joji Fukunaga's adaptation of Jane Eyre (2011).

Background

Wasikowska was born and raised in Canberra.^[4] Her mother, Marzena Wasikowska, is a photographer from Poland, while her father, John Reid, is an Australian painter-and-collagist.^[5][6] She is the middle child of three, having an older sister and a younger brother.^[6] Her parents often took her on their gallery rounds across Europe, with a year in Poland when she was eight years old.^[7][8] In her spare time, she is an avid photographer.^[9]

Wasikowska trained as a ballerina from the age of nine to fifteen, including two years training 35 hours a week.^[10][11][12] However, at age 14 she began to turn away from ballet, "It just became so much about achieving physical perfection and I started being so negative - your self-esteem can just plummet. What I loved about film was all the imperfections … It was about life and about things that are imperfect."^[13][7]

Career

In 2004, she landed her first acting role with a two-episode stint on the Australian soap All Saints. In 2006, she appeared in the film Suburban Mayhem for which she received a nomination for a Young Actor's AFI Award.^[4] She also starred in several Australian short films and a horror movie, Rogue.

In the United States, Wasikowska earned critical acclaim for her performance in HBO's In Treatment, playing Sophie, a troubled teenager who is sent to Gabriel Byrne's psychotherapist following a suspected suicide attempt.^{[14][15][16][17]} Praised for her excellent American accent,^[15] she revealed that she was something of a mimic as a child and that the large influx of American films and TV shows made it easier for Australians to pick up the accent.^[18]

Following In Treatment, Wasikowska played supporting roles in several feature films. Her first American film was Defiance starring Daniel Craig. On casting Wasikowska, director Edward Zwick stated: "Her inner life is so vivid that it comes across even when she's being still."^[19] Her next role was that of Elinor Smith, a young female aviator and rival of Hilary Swank's Amelia Earhart in Amelia. She also appeared in the Southern Gothic indie film That Evening Sun opposite Hal Holbrook, having impressed the director despite his initial preference to cast only Southerners.^[20] She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Independent Spirit Award for the film.

In July 2008, after a long search, Tim Burton chose Wasikowska to play the title role in Alice in Wonderland.^[21] She portrays a 19-year-old Alice returning to Wonderland, alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway. Wasikowska received praise from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and New York magazine for her performance in her first lead role.^[22][23][24]

Wasikowska then joined the cast of the indie comedy The Kids Are All Right, playing the daughter of a same-sex couple (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) who, together with her brother, sets out to find their biological father (Mark Ruffalo).^[25] She then signed on to play the female lead in Gus Van Sant's Restless, cropping her long hair for the role.^[26][6] Cary Fukunaga has confirmed that Wasikowska will portray the titular Jane Eyre in his adaptation of the classic novel, which will also feature Michael Fassbender as Mr. Rochester.^[27][28]

Filmography

Awards

Nominations:

• 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards: Young Actor's Award (Suburban Mayhem)
• 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards: International Award for Best Actress (In Treatment)
• 2009 Independent Spirit Award: Best Supporting Female (That Evening Sun)

Wins:

• 2008 Australians in Film Breakthrough Award
• 2009 South by Southwest: Best Ensemble Cast (That Evening Sun)

References

External links

• Mia Wasikowska at the Internet Movie Database