Judy Davis

Has a son, Jack Friels , and a daughter, Charlotte Friels (born 1997).

Attended drama school with Mel Gibson. They played Romeo and Juliet together.

Trained at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts). Her fellow students included Mel Gibson , Colin Friels and Dennis Olsen.

Attended a Catholic convent school in her hometown of Perth, Australia.

Served as a member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 1993.

She was a part of the movement dubbed the "Australian New Wave" by the press. They were a group of filmmakers and performers who emerged from Down Under at about the same time in the early 1980s and found work in other parts of the world. Other members included actor Mel Gibson and directors George Miller and Gillian Armstrong.

Nominated for an Olivier Award for Insignificance (Actress of the Year in a New Play, 1982).

Her family can trace its ancestry back to the original 1831 British settlement in Perth.

Famously clashed with director David Lean on the set of A Passage to India .

One of her most famous films is also one of her least favorite: My Brilliant Career . Although it propelled her to major stardom, she was miserable during its filming and cannot stand to watch it today.

She was among the cast members of Dark Blood, the George Sluizer film which was left unfinished by star River Phoenix s 1993 death.

Often works with Woody Allen , who considers her "one of the most exciting actresses in the world".

Forbidden to see movies as a child.

Nominated for the Helpmann Award (Australias equivalent of the Tony Award) for Victory (Best Actress in a Play, 2004).

Appeared with her husband Colin Friels in several films, including Hoodwink , Kangaroo , High Tide , and The Man Who Sued God . They have also frequently appeared together on stage.

Fellow Australian actresses Cate Blanchett , Nicole Kidman , Rose Byrne and Toni Collette have cited Davis as a major influence on their own careers.

She played Peter Weller s wife in both Naked Lunch and The New Age .

Has protested Australias involvement in the war with Iraq.

In 2002, took out an "apprehended violence order" against her husband, Colin Friels. She was reportedly cut during an argument about a newspaper article during which a table was broken. The order did not require the couple to be separated.

Once said that the one role she wanted but didnt get was Debra Winger s part in The Sheltering Sky .

She began filming Celebrity less than two weeks after giving birth to her daughter Charlotte. During production on the film, her husband Colin Friels contracted pancreatic cancer and nearly died.

Shares a birthday (April 23) with playwright William Shakespeare , composer Sergei Prokofiev , "Lolita" author Vladimir Nabokov , and child actor Shirley Temple.

To prepare for her role as Judy Garland in "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" , she pored over television footage, biographies and nearly all of Garlands 32 feature films. She also wore dark contact lenses for the role.

Intensely dislikes being interviewed, and does so only as a gesture of goodwill toward the directors of her films.

In 1986, both she and husband Colin Friels won Australian Film Institute Awards. She won Best Actress for Kangaroo while he won the Best Actor award for Malcolm .

Lost her Catholic faith at age 14, when she read a book that suggested a metaphorical rather than a literal interpretation of the story of Jesus and the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

In a 1994 interview, she listed Robin Williams as the one actor she would like to work with but hadnt. In 1997, they both appeared in Deconstructing Harry , but did not share any scenes.

Was once described as "the patron saint of modern emotions" by director/screenwriter Michael Tolkin.

Did her own piano playing in My Brilliant Career . Throughout the film she plays Schumanns "Scenes from Childhood".

Agreed to do the film Absolute Power so she could work with Clint Eastwood.

Although most of her work is in American films, she has steadfastly refused to move to the United States, preferring to live in Sydney, Australia.

Has played writers in numerous films, including George Sand in Impromptu , Lillian Hellman in Dash and Lilly , and characters based on writers Jane Bowles (in Naked Lunch ) and Miles Franklin (in My Brilliant Career ).

Once described her character in High Tide as the one which is "closest to my own persona".

Both times she was Oscar-nominated, she competed with Vanessa Redgrave for the award. Neither actress won the award either time.

Has played several real-life women, including Lillian Hellman , Judy Garland , Golda Meir , Nancy Reagan , Hedda Hopper , Anne dArpajon, George Sand , and WWII heroine Mary Lindell.

Was the runner-up for the 1993 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Husbands and Wives . The winner was Miranda Richardson for her work in The Crying Game , Damage , and Enchanted April .

In her diverse career, Davis has played a woman addicted to bug spray, a former First Lady, a German housewife living in Australia, a Southern ghostwriter, a serial killer, an unbalanced White House Chief of Staff and a fervent Australian Stalinist.

According to director Sydney Pollack , he met with both Davis and Julie Christie before casting Meryl Streep in the role of Karen Blixen in Out of Africa .

[2000] Was reportedly in talks to appear in "Cloudstreet," an adaptation of an Australian best-seller which would have been directed by Peter Duncan and also starred Geoffrey Rush , Anna Paquin , and Heath Ledger. For whatever reason, the project never made it off the ground.

Erroneously described as having dropped out of convent school at age 17 so she could travel around the world. Davis has said she most certainly graduated high school before touring with a band throughout Asia.

Sang in a band with an Italian band leader in both Taiwan and Japan.

On June 2, 2008, won a libel case against Australias Daily Telegraph. The suit claimed Davis had been defamed in articles about her appearance at a council meeting at which objections were raised against plans to install floodlighting at a sports field near her Sydney home. The articles suggested she was unconcerned about the potential danger to children due to the poor lighting at the park, and also suggested she had angrily stormed out of the meeting. The jury ruled with Davis, stating she had been defamed by the newspaper. She received the equivalent of $133,000 in damages.

Was cast in her star-making role as Sybylla Melvyn in My Brilliant Career only after producers decided to replace actress Jan Hamilton, who was originally cast in the role.

She turned down the Rachel Ward role in the Australian miniseries "The Thorn Birds" .

Auditioned for the female lead roles in Scarface , The Terminator Out of Africa , Top Gun , Adventures in Babysitting , Fatal Attraction , Broadcast News and The Accused .

Was presented the Don Dunston Award for her contribution to the film industry at the 2011 BigPond Adelaide Film Festival.

Nominated for the 2011 Sydney Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role of a Mainstage Production for her performance in "The Seagull". The other nominees are Cate Blanchett , Kate Mulvany , Robyn Nevin and Susie Porter. Blanchett ultimately won the award, for her work in "Gross und Klein.".

(October 2007) In South Africa filming the upcoming miniseries Diamonds .

(January 2005) Filming Marie Antoinette .

She has appeared in five films directed by Woody Allen : Alice , Husbands and Wives , Deconstructing Harry , Celebrity and To Rome with Love .

She played Joe Mantegna s wife in two films written and directed by Woody Allen : Alice and Celebrity .

Was originally cast as Margot Al-Harazi in "24: Live Another Day" , but had to drop out for personal reasons. She was replaced by Michelle Fairley.

She was awarded the 1989 Drama-Logue Award for her performance in the play, "Hapgood" in Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre production in association with Michael Codron Ltd. at the James A. Doolittle Theatre (University of California) in Los Angeles, California.

Has worked with both Kate Winslet in The Dressmaker and Leonardo DiCaprio in Celebrity who both played Jack and Rose in Titanic .

Has worked three times with Helena Bonham Carter : Where Angels Fear to Tread , The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet and Salting the Battlefield .

Has worked three times with Geoffrey Rush : Hoodwink , Children of the Revolution and The Eye of the Storm .

When I first started acting, and we would all sit down and talk about,Shakespeare and how great it was, I thought well, I suppose it is. It,is if you get to play Macbeth or Hamlet. But who wants to play bloody,Lady Macbeth or Ophelia? And it struck me that most women seem to be,required to pit themselves against men in dramatic situations, and the,men got to pit themselves against ideas or God.

I was always terribly shy, so a great thing that acting has done for me,has forced me out of myself and made me more generous.

I wish I tanned. It would make everybody happy and get them off my back.