Essie Davis
Known for: Acting
Essie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis. She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania in the late 1980s and has gone on to appear in Hollywood movies. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. Her career started after her role in the all Australian movie Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995), also starring other prestigious actors such as Geoffrey Rush, Leo McKern, and Joan Sutherland. Her most famous movie roles are in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Richard Flanagan's 1998 Tasmanian film The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and Girl with a Pearl Earring. In 2003 she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her UK performance in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2004 she starred in a Broadway production of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, for which she earned a Tony nomination. In 2005 she appeared as Mrs. Nellie Lovett in the BBC production of Sweeney Todd with Ray Winstone. In the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger she plays Esther's controlling mother.
Filmography
Series
Game of Thrones
Lady Crane
2011
Series
Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams
Vera Herrick
2017
Film
The Matrix Reloaded
Maggie
2003
Series
Alien: Earth
Dame Sylvia
2025
Series
Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
Nancy Bradley
2022
Series
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Lynette Maison
2025
Film
The Matrix Revolutions
Maggie
2003
Series
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Phryne Fisher
2012
Series
Halifax f.p.
Alison Blount
1994
Series
The White Princess
Elizabeth Woodville
2017
Series
Apple Cider Vinegar
Natalie Dal-Bello
2025
Series
One Day
Alison
2024
Film
The Babadook
Amelia Vanek
2014
Film
Charlotte's Web
Mrs. Arable
2006
Series
Play School
Self
1966
Film
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Marella (voice)
2010
Series
Faraway Downs
Cath Carney
2023
Film
Assassin's Creed
Mary Lynch
2016
Film
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Catharina Bolnes Vermeer
2003
Series
Lambs of God
Sister Iphigenia
2019
Series
The Slap
Anouk
2011
Series
Young Lions
Julie Morgan
2002
Film
Australia
Katherine
2008
Series
The Last Post
Martha Franklin
2017
Film
True History of the Kelly Gang
Ellen Kelly
2019
Film
Babyteeth
Anna
2020
Film
Code 46
Doctor
2003
Series
After the Deluge
Beth
2003
Film
Nitram
Helen
2021
Film
Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears
Phryne Fisher
2020
Series
Kings in Grass Castles
Mary Costello
1998
Series
Cloudstreet
Dolly Pickles
2011
Film
Burning Man
Karen
2011
Film
The Wedding Party
Jane
2010
Film
A Poet in New York
Caitlin Thomas
2014
Film
Sweeney Todd
Mrs Lovett
2006
Film
The Custodian
Jilly
1994
Film
Fungi: The Web of Life
Narrator (voice)
2023
Film
Mindhorn
Patricia Deville
2016
Film
Isolation
Orla
2005
Film
South Solitary
Alma Stanley
2010
Film
The Justice of Bunny King
Bunny King
2021
Film
Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger
Grace Blueburger
2008
Film
Dad and Dave: On Our Selection
1995
Unspeakable
Judith
Film
They Call Him Mister Babadook: The Making of The Babadook
Self
2015
Film
The Ripper
Evelyn Bookman
1997
Film
The Sound of One Hand Clapping
Jean
1998
Film
After the Deluge
Beth
2003
Film
The Two-Wheeled Time Machine
Young alice
1997
Film
Lilian's Story
Zara
1996
Film
Blackrock
Det. Gilhooley
1997
Film
River Street
Wendy Davis
1997
Film
The Silence
Juliet Moore
2006
Film
The Pact
Helene Davis
2003