Essie Davis

Biography

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.

Known For

Game of Thrones

Alien: Earth

The Matrix Reloaded

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

The Matrix Revolutions

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

Halifax f.p.

Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

All Movies (36)

• Fungi: The Web of Life2023 · as Narrator (voice)
• Nitram2021 · as Helen
• The Justice of Bunny King2021 · as Bunny King
• Babyteeth2020 · as Anna
• Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears2020 · as Phryne Fisher
• True History of the Kelly Gang2019 · as Ellen Kelly
• Assassin's Creed2016 · as Mary Lynch
• Mindhorn2016 · as Patricia Deville
• They Call Him Mister Babadook: The Making of The Babadook2015 · as Self
• The Babadook2014 · as Amelia Vanek
• A Poet in New York2014 · as Caitlin Thomas
• Burning Man2011 · as Karen
• South Solitary2010 · as Alma Stanley
• Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole2010 · as Marella (voice)
• The Wedding Party2010 · as Jane
• Australia2008 · as Katherine
• Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger2008 · as Grace Blueburger
• Charlotte's Web2006 · as Mrs. Arable
• The Silence2006 · as Juliet Moore
• Sweeney Todd2006 · as Mrs Lovett
• Isolation2005 · as Orla
• Girl with a Pearl Earring2003 · as Catharina Bolnes Vermeer
• The Matrix Revolutions2003 · as Maggie
• Code 462003 · as Doctor
• After the Deluge2003 · as Beth
• The Matrix Reloaded2003 · as Maggie
• The Pact2003 · as Helene Davis
• The Sound of One Hand Clapping1998 · as Jean
• The Ripper1997 · as Evelyn Bookman
• River Street1997 · as Wendy Davis
• The Two-Wheeled Time Machine1997 · as Young alice
• Blackrock1997 · as Det. Gilhooley
• Lilian's Story1996 · as Zara
• Dad and Dave: On Our Selection1995
• The Custodian1994 · as Jilly
• Unspeakable— · as Judith

All TV Shows (18)

• Alien: Earth2025 · as Dame Sylvia
• Apple Cider Vinegar2025 · as Natalie Dal-Bello
• One Day2024 · as Alison
• Faraway Downs2023 · as Cath Carney
• Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities2022 · as Nancy Bradley
• Lambs of God2019 · as Sister Iphigenia
• The Last Post2017 · as Martha Franklin
• Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams2017 · as Vera Herrick
• The White Princess2017 · as Elizabeth Woodville
• Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries2012 · as Phryne Fisher
• The Slap2011 · as Anouk
• Cloudstreet2011 · as Dolly Pickles
• Game of Thrones2011 · as Lady Crane
• After the Deluge2003 · as Beth
• Young Lions2002 · as Julie Morgan
• Kings in Grass Castles1998 · as Mary Costello
• Halifax f.p.1994 · as Alison Blount
• Play School1966 · as Self