Rachel Griffiths

Biography: A versatile Aussie actress who's made her biggest impression stateside on the small screen, Griffiths first came to the attention of Australian audiences by starring as a spy trainee in the series Secrets. But her breakthrough role came in P.J. Hogan's hit 1994 comedy Muriel's Wedding, in which she played the awkward title character's feisty best friend. Griffiths' electric performance earned her an Australian Film Institute Award and effectively launched her feature-film career. Suddenly, Griffiths was an in-demand actress. She accepted a few choice roles, most notably as a farmer's lusty daughter in Michael Winterbottom's Jude, before she re-teamed with Hogan in 1997 to make her U.S. film debut in My Best Friend's Wedding, opposite Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz. She continued to show her versatility, and notched an Oscar nomination in the process, by playing famed flautist Hilary du Pré in the biopic Hilary and Jackie, and Johnny Depp's unhappy mom in Blow (even though sheA versatile Aussie actress who's made her biggest impression stateside on the small screen, Griffiths first came to the attention of Australian audiences by starring as a spy trainee in the series Secrets. But her breakthrough role came in P.J. Hogan's hit 1994 comedy Muriel's Wedding, in which she played the awkward title character's feisty best friend. Griffiths' electric performance earned her an Australian Film Institute Award and effectively launched her feature-film career. Suddenly, Griffiths was an in-demand actress. She accepted a few choice roles, most notably as a farmer's lusty daughter in Michael Winterbottom's Jude, before she re-teamed with Hogan in 1997 to make her U.S. film debut in My Best Friend's Wedding, opposite Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz. She continued to show her versatility, and notched an Oscar nomination in the process, by playing famed flautist Hilary du Pré in the biopic Hilary and Jackie, and Johnny Depp's unhappy mom in Blow (even though she is five years his junior in real life). In 2001, Griffiths signed on to the lauded HBO drama Six Feet Under to portray hyper-dysfunctional sex addict Brenda Chenowith. During the show's five-year run, she racked up two Emmy nods and a Golden Globe award, married artist Andrew Taylor, had two children (Banjo and Adelaide), and still found the time to appear in the occasional film. Although Six Feet Under ended in 2005, Griffiths wasn't away from the tube for long. The next year she became part of another dysfunctional TV family by joining the ensemble cast of ABC's Brothers & Sisters, which led to more Emmy and Golden Globe nods. Griffiths gave birth to her third child, Clementine, in 2009.… Expand