Jacki Weaver

Australian stage and screen actor, Jacki Weaver gained popularity from her critically-acclaimed roles in the films "Animal Kingdom" (2010), "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012), and "Bird Box" (2018). Born and raised in the cosmopolitan city of Sydney, Weaver began acting on Australian television when she was still in her teens. She briefly entertained the idea of studying sociology in college after winning a scholarship, but decided to pursue acting instead. After nabbing small roles on Australian TV throughout the 60s, Weaver made her feature film debut in the 1971 comedy "Stork." From there, Weaver's career really began picking up steam, which allowed her steadily throughout the 70s and 80s. During this period Weaver appeared in films like "Petersen" (1974) and "Caddie" (1976), as well as recurring roles on "Water Under the Bridge" (1980) and "The Challenge" (1986-87), both of which were mini-series made in Australia. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, Weaver had difficulty finding screen acting work, so she turned her attention to the stage. She began appearing in Australian productions of some of the most revered plays of the 20th century, including "Death of a Salesman" and "Streetcar Named Desire." By the early 2010s, however, Weaver began appearing in films and on television once again. She earned an Oscar nod in 2010 for her role as the matriarch of a criminal family in Melbourne in "Animal Kingdom," and followed that up with her second Oscar nomination for playing the doting mother of an emotionally exhausted man, played by Bradley Cooper, in 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook." Weaver also returned to TV with roles on Starz's "Blunt Talk" (2015-16) as well as the Epix thriller series "Our Lady, LTD" (Epix, 2019- ). Furthermore, Weaver appeared in two of the most talked about movies of 2018: "Bird Box" and "Widows."