Biography

     Rose Byrne was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia July 24th 1979, which adds up to 24 years. Her first movie role was at the age of 12, an Australian feature film; Dallas Doll (1994) in the role of Rastus Sommers. Although the movie wasn't a blockbuster, Rose had found the job of her dreams.

Over the next few years, Rose had roles in a variety of Austalian sitcoms and television series, among them the high school drama Heartbreak High, and Echo Point, in the role of Belinda O'Connor. Echo Point was a very short-lived Network Ten challenger to the Home and Away series. Rose also had a lot of guest roles in drama series, including Big Sky, GP, Wildside and Murder CallWHile she worked as an apiring actress, she also graduated from the Australian Theatre for Young People, and later she commenced an Arts degree at Sydney University.

In 1999 came Rose's fame, after her role of Alex in Gregor Jordan's gritty crime comedy Two Hands, which also starred a relatively unknow Heath Ledger. The film was a big hit, and won good critical and public acclaim!

The Godess of 1967 -- (the Godess was a Citroen DS), produced by Clara Law, was Rose's first lead role. Rose won the Copa Volpi for Best Actress at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival for her portrayal of the flame-haired blind girl B.G who goes road tripping with a young japanese man (played by Prada model Rikiya Kurokawa), after they hooked up. After that, Rose starred in the critically acclaimed movie My Mother Frank, with actors as Sinead Cusack, Sam Neill and Matthew Newton. Rose portrayed a brunette, Jenny, whom Matthew Newton's rolefigure desired above all.

At the age of 23, Rose also got herself a huge about of fans after her role in Star Wars II: Attack of The Clones. She played Dormè, Padmé Amidala’s (Natalie Portman) handmaiden. But Rose wasn't sure if her scenes would make the IMAX version, and true; her scenes were cut to shorten the movie for IMAX screenings.

Attack Of The Clones was Rose’s first experience on a truly international film set, and she noted the main difference between it and the Australian films she had to date worked on....the food! - “...free Snickers, Coke, chewing gum, shapes...on a usual set there’s a couple of crusty Arnott’s and stale Lan Choo Tea!”

In 2001, she appeared in the 3 minute short film The Pitch, directed by Nash Edgerton (brother of Joel) which was created as the trailer for Tropfest 2001. She also featured in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of La Dispute, performing on stage at nights after being up since 4am working on Star Wars.

24 years old, Rose made headlines with the news that she had been cast in the role of Briseis, Achilles' love interest in the upcoming big budget epic film Troy, the story of the Trojan War based on Homer’s poem The Iliad as well as other historical sources. Troy, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, also stars Brad Pitt, another Australian in The Hulk’s Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom, Julie Christie, Peter O’Toole, Sean Bean and Saffron Burrows. Shooting commenced late April at London’s Shepperton Studios, moved to Malta, and finished off in Mexico in October. The release date for Troy has been set for May 2004.

Rose Byrne is a natural Australian beauty, and she an amazing ability to take on such different characters and appearances from film to film. With her natural beauty, screen presence (nd forever chaning hair colours!), there is no doubt that Rose Byrne will be a name on everyone's lips these coming years!

Last Updated: Oct. 2004