MIA WASIKOWSKA (Joni)

One of today’s rising screen stars, Mia Wasikowska is currently at work on another Focus Features movie, Jane Eyre, in which she stars in the title role of Cary Fukunaga’s new version of the classic novel. She was most recently seen in the title role of another retelling of a classic story, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne Hathaway.

A trained ballerina turned actress, Ms. Wasikowska began her career in her home country of Australia. She landed a recurring role on the popular television medical drama All Saints. Her first major screen role was in Paul Goldman’s Suburban Mayhem, for which she received an Australian Film Institute Award nomination. Among her other early features were Peter Carstairs’ September and Greg Mclean’s Rogue, the latter with Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, and Sam Worthington. She also starred in several notable short films for writer/directors, including Sonia Whiteman’s Lens Love Story; Claire McCarthy’s Skin; Samantha Rebillet’s Cosette; Sean Kruck’s Summer Breaks; and Spencer Susser’s I Love Sarah Jane, in the title role.

Ms. Wasikowska made her U.S. debut with an acclaimed portrayal on the television series In Treatment, starring opposite Gabriel Byrne in multiple episodes. In recognition of her performance, she was honored by the Los Angeles-based organization Australians in Film with the Breakthrough Actress Award.

Since then, she has been seen on-screen in Edward Zwick’s Defiance, with Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, and Liev Schreiber; Mira Nair’s Amelia, opposite Hilary Swank and Richard Gere; and with Hal Holbrook in Scott Teems’ That Evening Sun, for which Ms. Wasikowska earned a Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female.

She will next be seen starring alongside Henry Hopper in Gus Van Sant’s Restless.