Toni Collette

Toni Collette is an Australian actress and singer who has acted roles in such films as Muriel's Wedding, About A Boy, The Sixth Sense and Little Miss Sunshine.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio She married husband and musician Dave Galafassi in 2003, and gave birth to their daughter Sage Florence Galafassi on January 9, 2008.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio

Collette was born to parents Bob and Judy on November 1, 1972, in a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Her two brothers, Christopher and Ben, were later born in 1976 and 1981.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio She started singing as a child, and did so in public when she was 14 for a production of Godspell.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio She continued singing into adulthood, when she released an album with her band, "The Finish," in 2006.http://www.tonicolletteandthefinish.com/toni_lo.html

Collette appears as the female lead, Tara, in Showtime's United States of Tara, which premiered on January 18, 2009. For this role, she won an Emmy Award in 2009, and was again nominated in 2010.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/awards Collette also earned a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series in 2010, and was nominated in 2011.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/awards

At 16, Collette left school to study musical theater at the Australian Theatre for Young People and then spent a year-and-a-half at the National Institute of Dramatic Art before dropping out for a major stage role in a Sydney stage production.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio She appeared on Australian television before her first film role at 2, as a factory worker in the 1992 comedy Spotswood starring Anthony Hopkins and Russell Crowe.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102969/ She then received the lead role in 1994's Muriel's Wedding, for which she gained 40 pounds. Collette won an Australian Film Institute Best Actress Award and began an international acting career.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/

Her repertoire of international accents and physical changes for roles soon became her film and television career trademark.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019669/bio She showed off these talents in 1999's The Sixth Sense, 2002's About a Boy and in the television series United States of Tara. Collette plays the role of Tara in the comedy series United States of Tara which was created by Steven Spielberg and developed by Diablo Cody, who wrote the screenplay for the film Juno. Tara suffers from multiple personalities that include a teenage pot smoker named T, Alice, a homemaker, and Buck, a beer drinking male biker. The show reveals the struggles between her personalities and the raising of her family, as well as the trials of her dysfunctional family as they learn to cope with her multiple identities.http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939291.html?categoryid=32&cs=1

Collette released her debut album, 'Beautiful Awkward Pictures, on October 7, 2006, with her band "The Finish." The band includes Collette's husband Dave Galafassi on percussion, and Glenn Richards from band "Augie March." The album, self-funded and independently recorded in a wooden studio built by Collette and Galafassi, contained 11 self-penned songs.http://www.tonicolletteandthefinish.com/toni_lo.html

• 2009 - 2011: United States of Tara as Tara Gregson / Tara Gregor (TV series)http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2009: Mary and Max as the voice of Mary Daisy Dinklehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2008: Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger as Maryhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2008: The Black Balloon as Maggie Mollisonhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2006: Tsunami: The Aftermath as Kathy Graham (TV movie)http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2006: Little Miss Sunshine as Sheryl Hooverhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2005: In Her Shoes as Rosehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2003: Japanese Story as Sandy Edwardshttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2002: The Hours as Kittyhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2002: Dirty Deeds as Sharonhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2002: About a Boy as Fionahttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2002: Changing Lanes as Michellehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 2000: Shaft as Diane Palmierihttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1999: The Sixth Sense as Lynn Searhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1997: Diana & Me as Diana Spencerhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1996: Emma as Harriet Smithhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1996: Cosi as Juliehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1994: Muriel's Wedding as Muriel Heslophttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/
• 1992: Spotswood as Wendy Robinsonhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001057/

"I never had any aspirations to work in TV, but as soon as I closed the last page (of the United States of Tara script), I turned to my husband and said "I have to do this." It was just so delicious to read, so original and unusual, and it's a complete dream for an actor to play so many parts,"—Interview with Film.com reporter Susan Young, on January 17, 2009http://www.film.com/features/story/interview-altered-states-toni-collette/25503147

"What they're doing is helping create an image which is fairly unobtainable by the majority of the female population on this planet. I really don't want to help push that. There are actors who are really fantastically talented at being natural on screen and appearing to be themselves, but I like the challenge of becoming somebody else... I try to play real people who inspire me through something in their journey,"—Interview with Gareth McLean of Guardian.co.uk on April 26, 2002, speaking of Hollywood's obsession with "skinny, beautiful women"http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2002/apr/26/artsfeatures