Jacki Weaver

Jacqueline Ruth Weaver, born on 25 May 1947, is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. She first emerged in the 1970s during the Australian New Wave through her roles in Ozploitation films such as Stork (1971), Alvin Purple (1973), and Petersen (1974). She later gained widespread international attention and earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in the crime drama Animal Kingdom (2010) and the comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (2012).

Weaver was born in Hurstville, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, to Arthur Weaver, a Sydney solicitor, and Edith, a migrant from England. She attended Hornsby Girls' High School, where she was named Dux. Although she won a university scholarship to study sociology, she chose instead to embark on a career in acting.

Her professional career began in the 1960s. In 1963, she mimed Gretel in an ABC production of Hansel and Gretel, and in 1964, she performed at the Palace Theatre in Sydney. She also appeared on the television music show Bandstand. Her career reached a turning point in 1965 when she was cast in the television series Wandjina! Weaver made her feature film debut in the 1971 comedy Stork, earning her first Australian Film Institute Award. She went on to appear in notable 1970s films including Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Caddie (1976), winning a second Australian Film Institute Award for Caddie.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Weaver worked extensively in television and film, starring in television movies such as Do I Have to Kill My Child? (1976), which earned her a Logie Award, as well as miniseries including Water Under the Bridge (1980) and The Challenge (1986). In 1988, she starred in the drama series House Rules. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Weaver focused heavily on theatre, eventually performing in over 80 plays, including Australian productions of Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Uncle Vanya. Her stage work earned her a Mo award, and in 2005 she released her autobiography, Much Love, Jac.

Her international breakthrough came with her role as a crime matriarch in Animal Kingdom (2010), which earned her the Australian Film Institute Award and the National Board of Review Award alongside her first Oscar nomination. She subsequently made her Hollywood debut in The Five-Year Engagement (2012) and received her second Oscar nomination for Silver Linings Playbook (2012). Her subsequent film credits include Stoker (2013), Parkland (2013), Magic in the Moonlight (2014), The Disaster Artist (2017), Bird Box (2018), Widows (2018), Poms (2019), Stage Mother (2020), and Father Stu (2022).

On television, Weaver starred in the Starz comedy Blunt Talk (2015–2016), the Australian political thriller Secret City (2016–2019), the thriller Perpetual Grace, LTD (2019), and the science fiction series Bloom (2019–2020). Since 2021, she has portrayed the recurring role of Caroline Warner in the neo-Western series Yellowstone.