Kate Mulvany
Australian actress and writer
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Kate Maree Mulvany OAM (born 1977) is an Australian actress, playwright and screenwriter. She works in theatre, television and film, with roles in Hunters (2020–2023), The Great Gatsby (2013), Griff the Invisible (2010) and The Final Winter (2007). She has played lead roles with Australian theatre companies as well as appearing on television and in film.
Kate Mulvany | |
|---|---|
Mulvany in 2020 | |
| Born | 1977 (age 48–49) |
| Education | Bachelor of Arts, Curtin University |
| Occupations | Actress, playwright, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Spouse | |
She has won several awards, including the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award for The Seed in 2004 and the Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play for her role in Richard 3 in 2017.
Early life and education
Kate Maree Mulvany was born in 1977[1] and grew up in Geraldton, Western Australia. Her father, Danny, had migrated to Australia as a "ten-pound Pom" from Nottingham in England. He was called up to fight in the Vietnam War when he was 22, despite not being an Australian citizen at that time, and developed PTSD from his experiences there.[2][3] Her mother, Glenys,[4] is a schoolteacher.[5] She has a sister, Tegan, who is seven years younger than her.[6]
Mulvany was diagnosed with a Wilms's tumor (renal cancer) at age two and spent much of her childhood in hospital. Her cancer may be linked to her father's exposure to Agent Orange (which was contaminated with dioxin) during his service in the Vietnam War, although this has not been proven.[7][2] After having to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy and a radical nephrectomy, she was declared in remission. However, the treatment and cancer had affected her body as she grew, and caused infertility.[2]
In 1994 she moved to Perth for university, accompanied by her family. She earned a double major degree in script writing and theatre, and was tutored by Elizabeth Jolley.[6] In 1997, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Curtin University,[8] and moved to Sydney in 1998.[6]
Career
Mulvany has played lead roles with Australian theatre companies as well as appearing on television and in film.[9]
For Bell Shakespeare she played Cassius,[10] Lady Macbeth, and was lauded for her performance as Richard III in which she revealed her real-life spinal disability.[11][12] Her adaptation of Craig Silvey's novel Jasper Jones has been performed in Perth by Barking Gecko Theatre Company,[13] in Sydney by Belvoir St Theatre,[14] and in Melbourne by the Melbourne Theatre Company.[15] In 2015 it was shortlisted for the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.[16]
In 2018, Mulvany adapted Ruth Park's The Harp in the South trilogy as a two-part play for Sydney Theatre Company.[17] In 2019, she followed this with an adaptation of the Schiller play Mary Stuart - the first to be undertaken by a woman[18] - again for Sydney Theatre Company.[19] One review said, "Mulvany’s bold adaptation recentres the queens, shearing away nearly every male soliloquy and interaction held exclusively between men, of which there are an abundance in Schiller’s text",[20] while others called it "dazzlingly different",[18] and a "feminist"[21] reimagining of a classic.[22]
In April 2019, Deadline announced that Mulvany had been cast as a series regular in Amazon Prime Video's new 10-episode[23] Nazi-hunting series Hunters, created by David Weil and produced by Jordan Peele.[24] She played one of the Hunters, Sister Harriet.[24]
In August 2023 Mulvany narrated the three-part ABC Television series Our Vietnam War.[2]
Other activities
Mulvany is an ambassador for MiVAC (Mines, Victims and Clearance), a landmine advocacy and support group.[25]
Personal life
Mulvany was partner to actor Mark Priestley, who died by suicide when she was 30 years old.[6]
In 2015 she wed fellow actor Hamish Michael in New York.[4][26]
Recognition and awards
General
- 2017: Honorary doctorate from Curtin University for her services to the arts in Australia[8]
- 2017: Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award[27]
- 2020: Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2020 Australia Day Honours, for service to the performing arts[28]
- 2018: Named patron of the Hayman Theatre at Curtin, along with its theatre company and the Curtin Theatre Arts Program for a term of three years[29]
- 2020: Mona Brand Award, worth $35,000, "presented to a woman who has a body of outstanding work which displays broad array and which has been widely performed or screened to critical acclaim"[30]
As actor
| Year | Organisation | Award | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | AACTA Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Better Man | Nominated | [31] |
| How to Make Gravy | Nominated | [31] | |||
| 2019 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Play | Every Brilliant Thing | Won | [32] |
| 2018 | Green Room Awards | Best Female Performer | Richard III | Won | [33] |
| 2018 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film | The Merger | Nominated | [34] |
| 2017 | Helpmann Awards | Best Female Actor in a Play | Richard III | Won | [35] |
| 2017 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production | Richard III | Won | [36] |
| 2015 | AACTA Awards | Best Lead Actress in a Feature Film | The Little Death | Nominated | [37] |
| 2014 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Mainstage Production | Tartuffe | Won | [38] |
| 2011 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Mainstage Production | Julius Caesar | Nominated | [39] |
| 2007 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Actress in a Lead Role | The Seed | Nominated | [40] |
| 1998 | Green Room Awards | Best Female Performer | Killer Joe | Nominated | [41] |
As writer
| Year | Organisation | Award | Nominated work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | David Williamson Prize | For Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre | The Harp in the South | Won | [42] |
| 2018 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Mainstage Production | Won | [43] | |
| Best New Australian Work | Won | [43] | |||
| 2018 | AWGIE Awards | Best Theatre: Stage | The Rasputin Affair | Nominated | [44] |
| 2017 | Helpmann Awards | Best Play | Jasper Jones | Nominated | [35] |
| Best New Australian Work | Won | [45] | |||
| 2015-2016 | Intersticia Foundation | Bell Shakespeare Writers' Fellowship | Won | [46] | |
| 2014 | Sydney Theatre Company | Patrick White Playwrights Fellowship | Won | [47] | |
| 2013 | AWGIE Awards | Best Theatre: Stage | Medea | Won | [48] |
| 2012 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Mainstage Production | Won | [49] | |
| Best New Australian Work | Won | [49] | |||
| 2007 | Sydney Theatre Awards | Best Independent Production | The Seed | Won | [40] |
| Best New Australian Work | Nominated | [40] | |||
| 2004 | Belvoir | Philip Parsons Young Playwrights Award | Won | [50] | |
| 2004 | Sydney Theatre Company | Patrick White Playwrights Award | The Danger Age | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Naked Theatre Company | Write Now! Playwrighting Competition | Blood & Bone | Won | [51] |
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | How to Make Gravy | Stella | |
| 2024 | Better Man | Janet Williams | |
| 2022 | Elvis | Marion Keisker | |
| 2018 | The Merger | Angie Barlow | |
| 2014 | The Little Death | Evie | |
| 2013 | The Turning | Gail Lang | |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Mrs McKee | |
| 2012 | Scratch | Vet | Short |
| 2010 | Connection | Natalie | Short |
| 2010 | Griff the Invisible | Cecila | |
| 2009 | Into My Arms | Anna | Short |
| 2007 | The Final Winter | Kate | |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBA | My Brilliant Career | Augusta | TBA | [52] |
| 2023 | The Clearing | Tasmin Latham | 6 episodes | [53] |
| 2020-23 | Hunters | Sister Harriet | 18 episodes | [54][55] |
| 2022 | The Twelve | Kate Lawson | 10 episodes | [56] |
| 2021 | RFDS | Rhiannon Emerson | 3 episodes | |
| 2019 | Lambs of God | Frankie Jones | 3 episodes | [57] |
| 2019 | Get Krack!n | Skye | 1 episode | |
| 2018 | Fighting Season | Captain Kim Nordenfelt | 6 episodes | |
| 2016 | Secret City | Ronnie | 6 episodes | |
| 2015 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Eva/Millie | 1 episode | |
| 2010-15 | Winter | Lauren McIntrye | 4 episodes | |
| 2011-12 | The Hamster Wheel | Additional Cast | 8 episodes | |
| 2011 | My Place | Mrs Owen | 3 episodes | |
| 2011 | Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away | Kate Mariner | TV Movie | |
| 2009 | Chasers War on Everything | 1 episode | ||
| 2007 | Chandon Pictures | Maggie | 1 episode | |
| 2007 | The Chaser Decides | 1 episode | ||
| 2000 | All Saints | Hayley McMasters | 1 episode |
Writing
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Summer Love | Writer | 1 episode | |
| 2019-20 | Upright | Writer | 8 episodes | [58] |
| 2016-18 | Beat Bugs | Writer | 3 episodes | |
| 2013 | Chicom | Writer | Short |