Toni Collette is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television, blockbusters and independent films, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, with nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards and a Tony Award.
Collette made her film debut in the 1992 film Spotswood. Her breakthrough came playing a socially awkward romantic lead in Muriel's Wedding (1994), which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. She later was nominated for the Academy Award for the thriller The Sixth Sense (1999), as well as two BAFTA Awards for the romantic comedy About a Boy (2002) and the comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine (2006). She has also acted in Emma (1996), Velvet Goldmine (1998), The Hours (2002), Japanese Story (2003), In Her Shoes (2005), Mary and Max (2009), The Way, Way Back (2013), Hereditary (2018), Knives Out (2019), I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020), Nightmare Alley (2021), Juror No. 2 (2024), and Mickey 17 (2025).
On television, she starred as a suburban mother with multiple personality disorder in the Showtime comedy-drama series United States of Tara (2008–2011), earning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She was later Emmy-nominated for playing a police detective in the Netflix miniseries Unbelievable (2019) and Kathleen Peterson in the Max miniseries The Staircase (2022). Collette starred as Evelyn Wade, the founder and leader of a reform academy for troubled teens, in the Netflix limited series Wayward (2025) which was released September 25, 2025. On stage, she made her Broadway debut playing a vaudeville dancer in the musical The Wild Party (2000), for which she earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical nomination. She returned to Broadway in the Will Eno play The Realistic Joneses (2014).
Collette married Dave Galafassi, drummer of the band Gelbison, in January 2003. The couple have two children together. As the lead singer of Toni Collette & the Finish, she wrote all 11 tracks of their sole album, Beautiful Awkward Pictures (2006). The band toured Australia but have not performed nor released any new material since 2007. Collette and Jen Turner co-founded the film production company Vocab Films in 2017.
