Early life

Byrne was born in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and is of Irish and Scottish descent. She is the daughter of Jane, a primary school administrator, and Robin Byrne, a semi-retired statistician and market researcher. She is the youngest of their four children; she has an older brother, George, and two older sisters, Alice and Lucy. In a 2009 interview, Byrne stated that her mother is an atheist, while both she and her father are agnostics.

Byrne attended Balmain Public School and Hunters Hill High School before attending Bradfield College in Crows Nest. She later moved to Newtown and Bondi. She began taking acting classes at age eight, joining the Australian Theatre for Young People and later attended the University of Sydney. In 1999, Byrne studied acting at the Atlantic Theatre Company, which was developed by David Mamet and William H. Macy.

Career

Acting

Byrne was cast in her first film role, Dallas Doll, when she was 13 years old. She has appeared in several Australian television shows, such as Heartbreak High and Echo Point, and the film Two Hands with Heath Ledger. She appeared in The Date, My Mother Frank, and Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967, the last of which gained her the Volpi Cup for "Best Actress" at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. Byrne revealed in a post-award interview that, prior to winning the Venice Film Festival award, she was surprised by her own performance and found it confronting watching the film because her acting was "too depressing". Byrne admitted that "watching myself is confronting because I'm convinced I can't act and I want to get out, that's how insecure I am."

Byrne appeared as a guest in an episode of the police drama series Murder Call. On stage, she played a lead role in La Dispute and in a production of Anton Chekhov's classic Three Sisters at the Sydney Theatre Company.

In 2002, Byrne made her first appearance in a Hollywood film with a small role as Dormé, the handmaiden to Natalie Portman's Senator Padmé Amidala, in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. She appeared the same year in City of Ghosts with Matt Dillon. The year previously she had flown to the UK to shoot I Capture the Castle, Tim Fywell's adaptation of the 1948 novel of the same title by Dodie Smith. In the 2003 release, she portrayed Rose Mortmain, the elder sister of Romola Garai's Cassandra. In 2003, she starred in three Australian films: The Night We Called It a Day with Melanie Griffith and Dennis Hopper; The Rage in Placid Lake for which she was named Best Actress at the Australian Film Institute; and Take Away, another comedy.

In 2004, Byrne starred as Briseis in Wolfgang Petersen's epic Troy. She then reunited with Peter O'Toole in the BBC TV drama Casanova. Byrne appeared with Snoop Dogg in Danny Green's film The Tenants, based on Bernard Malamud's novel, and starred as Alex with Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger in the romantic psychological thriller Wicker Park.

In 2006, Byrne portrayed Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac, a French aristocrat and friend of Marie Antoinette, in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, with Kirsten Dunst, and appeared in The Dead Girl, directed by Karen Moncrieff.

In 2007, she played Cassie, the pilot in Danny Boyle's science fiction suspense film Sunshine; followed by Scarlett Ross, an army medical officer in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's science fiction horror 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Boyle's 28 Days Later; then appeared in the independent film Just Buried, a Canadian dark comedy written and directed by Chaz Thorne.

From 2007, Byrne starred as Ellen Parsons in the FX drama production Damages, which ran for five seasons. She appeared in the Australian film noir The Tender Hook with Hugo Weaving.

In 2009, Byrne co-starred with Nicolas Cage in the science fiction thriller Knowing. Later that year, she appeared in the indie film Adam, with Hugh Dancy. She appeared in the 2010 comedy film Get Him to the Greek, starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, and she was co-lead in the James Wan horror film Insidious, which premiered in September 2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival and received a wide theatrical release on 1 April 2011.

Byrne also starred in the Kristen Wiig comedy Bridesmaids, released on 13 May 2011. She played Moira MacTaggert in the X-Men spin-off X-Men: First Class, directed by Matthew Vaughn. The movie opened 3 June 2011.

In 2013, Byrne appeared in the crime drama The Place Beyond the Pines, with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, and appeared in the comedy, The Internship, opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson; and The Turning, a short film installment in a Tim Winton omnibus feature. Byrne also played the newlywed wife in I Give It a Year, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of a couple during their first year of marriage.

Byrne worked again with fellow Australians James Wan and Leigh Whannell for the sequel to Insidious (the original film grossed US$97 million after a production budget of US$1.5 million was invested by Wan and Whannell). Insidious: Chapter 2 was released on Friday, 13 September 2013, and also featured actors Patrick Wilson and Lin Shaye. The film received mixed reviews from critics and became the biggest opening day in US box office history for the month of September following its release. Insidious: Chapter 2 was a financial success grossing over US$160 million against a budget of US$5 million.

In 2014, Byrne starred in the comedy film Neighbors, alongside Seth Rogen and Zac Efron. The film received positive reviews and went on to become a box office success. A remake of the 1982 classic, Annie, featured Byrne playing the role of Grace Farrell, Mr. Stack's colleague. Despite that film being badly received by critics, Byrne's performance was mostly praised with reviewers calling her the surprise highlight of the movie. In 2015, Byrne co-starred with Melissa McCarthy, Jude Law and Jason Statham in the hit comedic action tale Spy, and in 2016, she reprised her role as Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Other activities

Byrne was the face of Max Factor between 2004 and 2009 and named in the Most Beautiful People of 2007 list in Who Magazine.

Byrne has supported UNICEF Australia by being the face of the 2007 Designers United campaign and a member of Tropfest jury in 2006 and Tropfest@Tribeca in 2007. She is a graduate and ambassador for NIDA's (National Institute of Dramatic Art) Young Actors Studio.

In 2014, Byrne became the face of Oroton, the Australian producer of luxury fashion accessories.

Personal life

Rose Byrne was in a relationship with Brandon Kelley, Australian writer, director and actor Brendan Cowell for over six years. Cowell moved from Sydney to New York City, following Byrne's success on Damages. The relationship ended in January 2010.

In 2012, Byrne began dating actor Bobby Cannavale. Cannavale confirmed their relationship at the 2013 Emmy Awards ceremony during his acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series award, saying "And I want to thank the love of my life, Rose ." In October 2015, it was announced that Byrne and Cannavale were expecting their first child. On February 1, 2016, they welcomed a son named Rocco Robin.

Byrne lives in New York and has said of this stage in her life that she remains insecure about a stable career, saying, "I don't think that ever leaves you. You're a freelancer. There's always an element of uncertainty."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Dallas Doll	Rastus Sommers
1999	Two Hands	Alex
1999	Date, TheThe Date	Sophie
2000	My Mother Frank	Jenny
2000	Goddess of 1967, TheThe Goddess of 1967	BG
2001	Pitch, TheThe Pitch	Girl
2002	Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones	Dormé
2002	City of Ghosts	Sabrina
2003	I Capture the Castle	Rose Mortmain
2003	Night We Called It a Day, TheThe Night We Called It a Day	Audrey Appleby
2003	Rage in Placid Lake, TheThe Rage in Placid Lake	Gemma Taylor
2003	Take Away	Sonja Stilano
2004	Troy	Briseis
2004	Wicker Park	Alex Denver
2005	Tenants, TheThe Tenants	Irene Bell
2006	Marie Antoinette	Yolande de Polastron
2006	Dead Girl, TheThe Dead Girl	Leah
2007	Sunshine	Cassie
2007	28 Weeks Later	Major Scarlet Levy
2008	Just Buried	Roberta Knickle
2008	Tender Hook, TheThe Tender Hook	Iris	a.k.a. The Boxer and the Bombshell
2009	Knowing	Diana Wayland
2009	Adam	Beth Buchwald
2010	I Love You Too	Drunk Passenger	Cameo
2010	Get Him to the Greek	Jackie Q
2011	Insidious	Renai Lambert
2011	Bridesmaids	Helen Harris III
2011	X-Men: First Class	Moira MacTaggert
2012	The Place Beyond the Pines	Jennifer
2013	I Give It a Year	Nat
2013	The Internship	Dana
2013	The Turning	Raelene
2013	Insidious: Chapter 2	Renai Lambert
2014	Neighbors	Kelly Radner
2014	Adult Beginners	Justine
2014	This Is Where I Leave You	Penny
2014	Annie	Grace Farrell
2014	Unity	Narrator	Documentary
2015	Spy	Rayna Boyanov
2015	The Meddler	Lori Minervini
2016	Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising	Kelly Radner
2016	X-Men: Apocalypse	Moira MacTaggert

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Echo Point	Belinda O Conor
1997	Fallen Angels	Siobhan	Episode: "Lerve, Lerve, Lerve"
1997	Wildside	Heidi Benson	2 episodes
1999	Big Sky	Angie	Episode: "A Family Affair"
1999	Heartbreak High	Carly Whitely	3 episodes
2000	Murder Call	Sarah Watson	Episode: "Still Life"
2005	Casanova	Edith	3 episodes
2007-2012	Damages	Ellen Parsons	All 59 episodes
2013	Portlandia	Fred's date	Episode: "Soft Opening"
2013	Hollywood Game Night	Herself	Episode: "Purr-ty People"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014-15	You Can't Take It with You	Alice Sycamore	Longacre Theatre
2016	Speed-the-Plow	Karen	Rosyln Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay Sydney (Sydney Theatre Company Limited)

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist	Notes
2000	"Black the Sun"	Alex Lloyd
2002	"I Miss You"	Darren Hayes
2007	"Digital Versicolor"	Glass Candy

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Work	Result
2000	Venice Film Festival Award for Volpi Cup (Best Actress)	The Goddess of 1967	Won
2002	Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor- Female		Nominated
2003	AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role	The Rage in Placid Lake	Nominated
2007	AFI International Award for Best Actress	Damages	Won
2008	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
2009	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series		Nominated
	AFI International Award for Best Actress		Nominated
2010	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series		Nominated
	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
	IGN Summer Movie Award for Best TV Actress		Won
2011	Best Acting Ensemble	Bridesmaids	Nominated
2012	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble		Nominated
	New York Film Critics Online Awards for Best Cast		Won
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast		Won
	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast		Nominated
	MTV Movie Award for Best Jaw Dropping Moment		Won
	MTV Movie Award for Best Cast		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated
	Fright Meter Award for Best Actress	Insidious	Nominated
	Scream Award for Best Horror Actress		Nominated
	Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Leading Actress		Won
2014	AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role	The Turning	Won
	Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor- Female		Won
	MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-S**t Performance	Insidious: Chapter 2	Nominated
	MAXMARA Face of The Future Award	N/A	Won
2015	Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in a Comedy	Neighbors	Nominated
	MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment		Won
	MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance		Nominated
	MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss		Nominated
	AACTA Trailblazer Award	N/A	Won
	Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain	Spy	Nominated
	Georgia Film Critics' Association Award for Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Utah Film Critics' Society Award for Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Village Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting Actress		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]