Jane Harber
Australian actress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jane Harber is an Australian actress who is known for her role as Zara Proudman in the television series Offspring.[1]
The Moodys
Jane Harber | |
|---|---|
| Education | Wesley College, Melbourne |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Known for | Offspring The Moodys |
Early life
Harber became involved in theatre while at high school, at Wesley College in Melbourne. At the age of 13, she toured South America and Thailand with Handspan Theatre.[2] Her mother was a teacher.[3]
Career
Television and film
Harber's first television role was in 1997 biopic The Last of the Ryans. This was followed by a guest role in a 1997 episode of Blue Heelers, titled "Sisterly Love", in which she played a young girl called Chloe Bassetti.[4]
She went on to play Bianca Nugent in long-running soap opera Neighbours, a role she played for three years.[5] She also had a recurring role as Zdenka Milanovic in The Secret Life of Us and played Susie Money in the crime drama series Underbelly,[6] girlfriend of Rodger Corser’s character.[2]
Following this, Harber furthered her craft by attending acting schools in New York and LA, before landing a role in the first season of comedy series Lowdown,[2] playing Lucy.[7]
In 2012, Harber starred as Cora Benson in the ABC comedy series A Moody Christmas.[2][7] She reprised the role in The Moodys, a follow-up to A Moody Christmas.[8][7] In 2013, she regularly appeared in The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting, a sketch comedy show for the ABC.[9] She also appeared as a special guest in an episode of the comedy game show SlideShow on the Seven Network.[citation needed]
In 2014, Harber played Michele Bennett, a former girlfriend of INXS lead singer, Michael Hutchence, in the TV miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.[10]
Harber is probably best known for her role as midwife, Zara Proudman in seven seasons (86 episodes) of Offspring,[11][3] the girlfriend of Jimmy Proudman (played by Richard Davies).[2] She later co-wrote the 2017 Offspring spin-off web series, St Francis, in which she also starred.[7][12]
Harber played Karen in the 2018 US Netflix TV movie, Pretty Little Stalker[7] and, in 2020, she took a leading role in Nine Network crime miniseries, Informer 3838,[13] a spin-off of the Underbelly franchise. That same year, she was a team captain in the TV panel show Show Me the Movie!, alongside Rove McManus and Joel Creasey.[7]
In 2022, Harber appeared in ABC children's series MaveriX,[14] playing the role of Tanya. The following year, she joined the cast of ABC drama miniseries In Limbo.[15] opposite Ryan Corr and Bob Morley.[7] In 2024, Harber joined the ABC drama The Family Next Door.[16] The same year, she appeared in 2024 crime thriller feature film Sleeping Dogs alongside Russell Crowe.[17]
In 2025, Harber joined the cast of UK/Australian co-commission miniseries Imposter, alongside fellow Neighbours alumnus Jackie Woodburne, Don Hany and Dannii Minogue, playing the role of Kate.[18][19] She also recently appeared in NCIS: Sydney and four-part miniseries Reckless.[7]
Harber's other guest television credits include playing Clara Whiting in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Georgina Rivers in House Husbands[5][6] and social media influencer Coco in ABC comedy series Back in Very Small Business.[7] She also appeared in ABC anthology series Summer Love and My Life Is Murder.[7]
She has also undertaken voice work for numerous advertising campaigns, including Canva, Listerine, Grill’d, Olay, Samsung Galaxy, Binge and Specsavers.[7] as well as narrating several audiobooks.[20]
Harber has also worked on the other side of the camera, having collaborated with former Offspring co-star Kat Stewart and actor Diana Glenn to produce series The Elementals.[21]
Theatre
Harber has also performed for the stage, including touring internationally as a young teenager in Four Little Girls for Handspan Theatre Company. She later played Alaura Kingsley in City of Angels at Melbourne's Fortyfivedownstairs.[5]
In 2014, Harber had a lead role in the world premiere of The Speechmaker for Melbourne Theatre Company.[5] In 2018, she appeared in a production of Gloria, once again for Melbourne Theatre Company,[22] alongside Lisa McCune.[23]
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The Last of the Ryans | Lyn Hughan | TV film |
| Blue Heelers | Chloe Bassetti | Episode: "Sisterly Love" | |
| 1997–1998 | Raw FM | Susan Mulholland | Episodes: "Light My Flame", "Playing with Fire", "One" |
| 1999–2002 | Neighbours | Bianca Nugent | Recurring role |
| 2005 | The Secret Life of Us | Zdenka Milanovic | Episodes: "The Big Leap", "The Treadmill" |
| 2008 | Underbelly | Susie Money | Recurring role |
| 2010–2017 | Offspring | Zara Perkich | Recurring role (series 1–4), main (series 5–7) |
| 2010 | Lowdown | Lucy / Joss | Episode: "Project Runaway" |
| 2012 | House Husbands | Georgina Rivers | Episode: "Trivia Night" |
| A Moody Christmas | Cora Benson | Miniseries | |
| 2013 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Clara Whiting | Episode: "Framed for Murder" |
| 2014 | INXS: Never Tear Us Apart | Michele Bennett | Miniseries |
| The Moodys | Cora Benson | Miniseries | |
| 2017 | St Francis | Zara Perkich | Episodes 2–5 |
| 2018 | Back in Very Small Business | Coco | Episodes: "By Design", "Bad Influence", "Litigating Circumstances", "Crossing the Line" |
| Pretty Little Stalker | Karen | TV film | |
| 2019 | My Life Is Murder | Chloe Angel | Episode: "Fake Empire" |
| 2020 | Informer 3838 | Susan Reichert | Miniseries |
| 2022 | Summer Love | Caiti | Anthology series, episode 3 |
| MaveriX | Tanya | 10 episodes | |
| 2023 | In Limbo | Beth | 6 episodes |
| The Newsreader | Carla Carroll | Season 2, 2 episodes | |
| 2025 | The Family Next Door | Lulu | Miniseries |
| Reckless | Kate | Miniseries | |
| Imposter | Kate Templeton | Miniseries |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Foe | News Reporter | |
| 2024 | Sleeping Dogs | Catherine Finn |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1997 | Four Little Girls | Second Little Girl | Thailand Cultural Centre, VCA, Melbourne, Teatro National, Caracas, Venezuela with Handspan Theatre Company | [5][24] |
| 2006 | City of Angels | Alaura Kingsley | Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne with Just Pretending | [5][25] |
| 2014 | The Speechmaker | Sam | Playhouse, Melbourne with MTC / Working Dogs Productions | [7][26][27] |
| 2018 | Gloria | Ani / Sasha / Callie | Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC | [7][22] |