It's safe to say that actress Rose Byrne is crushing it these days. She's forged a successful
acting career, launched a production company, and is raising two beautiful children. So
what's her secret? Here's how she went from shy Australian kid to one of the most bankable
stars in Hollywood.
From a young age, Byrne was fascinated by the arts. She revealed in an interview with
Grazia,,
"I'd say I've always been a creative spirit. I don't know if there was a formative moment
that made me want to be an actress but probably a series of moments that led up to it. Realizing
that I could do something I loved so much as a job was a real revelation to me."
While her parents weren't creatives themselves, they did everything they could to cultivate
their daughter's talents. Byrne told Interview magazine that she grew up in a quote "artistic,
bohemian suburb of Sydney," called Balmain, where she was surrounded by artists who provided
inspiration for the budding actress. Admitting that she's grateful for her parents' support,
Byrne told The Telegraph,
"It was all very new [to them] but they were happy for me to do it. It makes such a difference
when that happens. I've met people whose parents weren't supportive and it's debilitating."
It may seem strange considering the career she chose, but Byrne was very shy as a child.
"And I was shy. Someone doesn't believe me."
But her shyness is part of the reason that her parents encouraged her acting, hoping
that it would help her come out of her shell. Byrne told The Daily Telegraph,
"It actually worked. It really did. I think that was one of the reasons my parents thought
it would be so good for me. I'd encourage every kid to do it, because it's all about
collaboration and imagination, and I think it's really beneficial when you're growing
up."
"Twenty bucks says I do better with fear than you do with shame."
It was a family friend who recommended that Byrne try acting, so she began taking classes
at the Australian Theatre for Young People when she was eight years old. She added,
"I just loved it, loved it, loved it. When you are shy, it's a great way to integrate
with other people, use your imagination, play and socialize."
Byrne landed her first role in the 1994 film Dallas Doll when she was just a teen. And
in spite of her young age and shyness, she wasn't intimidated by the audition process.
She told Daily Actor,
"I wasn't that nervous at that age. It was really exciting and fascinating, all these
people and cameras and boxes and cords. It felt very adult, I suppose. It was an eye-opening
experience at that age. I was just 13 and I was realizing that I could do this for a
job."
Byrne followed that up with a role on the Australian TV series Echo Point, Fallen Angels
and Wildside.
Although she already had several roles under her belt, Byrne still applied to college.
She told The Telegraph,
"My parents were adamant about us all going to university…They considered it a privilege
to be able to get an education, and our duty to use our brains."
But in spite of all of her real-world acting experience, she didn't get into drama school,
adding,
"I was devastated. For a while, I didn't know what to do."
While it was quite a blow at the time, clearly, everything ended up working out. She attended
college, but instead of drama, she studied English literature and gender studies at The
University of Sydney.
"What are you doing?"
"Not much. Just thought I'd give you a call to see how you're doing."
"Didn't know if you were gonna call or not."
While she found school interesting, she ultimately dropped out to star opposite Heath Ledger
in the Australian thriller comedy, Two Hands.
Byrne kicked off her American acting career with serious dramas. But in 2010, she made
the leap to comedy, starring in Get Him To The Greek. While she had always been interested
in the genre, making the jump was a big risk. She told Red magazine,
"I always wanted to do comedy. I come from a family that laughs a lot and Australians
have a very healthy sense of humour. But the first American things I did were very heavy
and dramatic, so it took a while to convince people I could do it."
"Let's get married. I love you."
"Yeah, I was going to get married, but then you went to rehab for methamphetamine, I was
taking a lot of E, and we had to reschedule."
The following year she starred alongside Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig in the smash hit
Bridesmaids.
"Well, that concludes the speeches for the night."
"Thank you, one last thing..."
She told The Telegraph,
"It was a very conscious decision. I'm Australian, we don't take ourselves too seriously, but
I really didn't know if I would have any luck. Just because you're funny in real life doesn't
mean you are necessarily a funny actor; and if you're funny on screen it does not mean
you're bound to be funny in real life."
While Byrne wasn't known for being outspoken early in her career, she gradually became
more vocal. In 2014, she appeared in the awareness campaign, It's On Us, a public service announcement
advocating against assault on college campuses.
"I took the pledge and so can you."
Along the same lines, that year she also took part in women's day at the UN, telling The
Guardian in a 2015 interview,
"I thought it was a really hard subject to discuss that nobody really wants to [talk
about.]"
"There's a quiet sort of tolerance for this behavior and treatment of women and it's just,
it shouldn't be the case obviously."
Byrne also began to call out the film industry, supporting an ACLU investigation into gender
discrimination in film and TV, according to the outlet. She said,
"Why is this quietly tolerated? Why has this been a silent agreement for the last however
many years. This is discrimination. And that's illegal. It's very interesting, long overdue
and quite frankly exciting to see it being taken as seriously as it should be."
In 2015, Byrne took direct action to tackle gender discrimination in the film industry.
"Often I just read scripts and I always wanna play the guy role. I'm like that's the role
I'd rather play."
Along with four of her peers, Byrne founded the Dollhouse Collective, an all-female production
company based in Australia. The group said in a statement, via Film Ink,
"The idea has been germinating for a while. We are close friends and we have worked together,
so it's been a natural progression. We realized we are a group of creatives and saw the opportunity
to achieve more together than as individuals."
The entire experience has proved to be transformative for Byrne, who revealed to The Daily Telegraph,
"It's definitely been challenging. Being on the other side of things and discovering how
projects are developed, and how difficult it is to find funding, it's a whole different
way of working for me, but I'm learning a lot."
She may have a starring role in Mrs. America, but, even though Byrne has been based in the
United States for more than a decade, her heart will always belong to Australia. She
admitted to The Daily Telegraph in 2016,
"I miss home. It's that strange thing of getting used to being away from it and then, as a
result, missing it. So when I go back, it's more emotional each time, because time has
passed and everyone is older, and I'm older and have a child now. It just has a different
resonance than it did when I was younger."
"Am I detecting a bit of an accent?"
"You are. English, right? Hello, gov'nuh. Oliver Twist."
"Australian actually."
But no matter how much time she spends away from her homeland, Byrne says her Australian
roots remain strong. She told the Evening Standard in 2017,
"I'm an Australian, through and through. Even though I have been here for 10 years, I'm
not a citizen, and I still wake up on some days and go, what am I doing here? I'm an
alien."
The fact that Byrne doesn't take herself too seriously isn't just the secret behind her
comedic success, it's also part of what keeps her grounded. While she enjoys the kind of
career success that some people only dream about, she doesn't think of her job as being
particularly important. She told the Daily Telegraph,
"Acting is embarrassing, absolutely. Just the vulnerability it requires, whether in
a performance or doing interviews. It's an odd thing, and it's also a bit of a silly
job…I mean, it's a great job, and I take it seriously and I'm passionate about it,
but I know I'm not curing cancer, so you have to have some perspective on it."
"What a stupid f---ing toast. You're delightful."
"As are you."
While Byrne may underestimate the joy she brings to her fans, her lack of self-importance
makes her that much more endearing.
Even though she moved to another country and has become an internationally-famous celebrity,
Byrne still maintains a very close relationship with her family and says they keep her ego
from getting too big. She told Red magazine,
"There is definitely a side of this business that's very heady and some people easily get
swept up in it all, but my family is very down to earth. I have two sisters and a brother,
I'm the youngest of four, so that keeps me reasonably in check. In fact, I really didn't
have much confidence in my twenties. I'm far more comfortable in my own skin now."
She's so comfortable these days, she even did an Australian Kookaburra impersonation
for Jimmy Fallon.
In 2016, Byrne gave birth to her first child with partner Bobby Canavale. And the following
year, the couple welcomed their second son. About this next chapter in her life, and meeting
Bobby, Byrne told InStyle,
"Having my kids was the biggest profoundly emotional turning point in my life. It’s
so hard to talk about without sounding like a cliché because it’s so much more than
that."
Starting a family is an enormous transition for any parent, whether you're a movie star
or not, but Byrne found her life greatly impacted by having children. She told People magazine,
"Every day, every hour, I'm like, 'What is happening?' I am learning on the job. I have
no business telling anyone what to do. Being a mother changes everything. I feel like it
informs everything I do."
Byrne has been romantically linked to Bobby Cannavale since 2012, but the two aren't legally
married. Instead, Byrne does wear two bands on her ring finger and often refers to the
father of her child as her husband. She admitted to the Evening Standard in 2017,
"He's practically my husband, so calling him that is easier. The formality isn't a draw
for me, but we'll do it one day. Once you have children, I just think, why not?"
However, the pair does enjoy a bond that even extends to their professional lives. And they
have even worked together multiple times, on films like Adult Beginners and Annie.
Byrne told The Daily Telegraph,
"I love working with Bobby. You know, aside from our personal relationship, he's just
a fantastic actor."
Byrne may be an A-lister, but that doesn't mean that she's putting it all out on the
table. Instead, she prefers to keep the emphasis on her work rather than her personal life.
She told The Telegraph,
"I'm not happy talking about myself. I'm happy talking about my work but I'm not really into
revealing everything about me. There's not much to know about me, anyway."
Byrne doesn't have much of a social media presence, either. In a 2017 interview with
InStyle, she revealed that she was "too shy" to be on Instagram publicly, adding,
"I never did Facebook, or any of the precursors to that. Instagram was my first foray into
social media. It's nice to see people, friends, doing their thing."
She did launch a public Instagram account in 2018, but doesn't post regularly. Byrne
seems to be the rare celebrity who wants to stay out of the public eye.
Byrne has come a long way since the days she took acting classes to overcome her shyness.
It has taken her a long time to learn how to deal with rejection, but she has gradually
built up a thick skin over the years. She told Backstage,
"I used to be so destroyed when something would be cut that I'd worked hard on or that
I thought worked well. Don't get me wrong; I still get upset about it when I really think
it needs to be in there, but I pick my battles more carefully."
"Well that'll do it."
"Yes it did."
"Done."
"Right."
As she has gotten older, Byrne has also learned how to speak up for herself. She said,
"If you don't ask the questions, you're going to be in your head about it. You've got to
know so you can learn from it. I've only been vocal about it the past couple years…Now,
I have more of an ability to communicate."
Byrne may be best known to moviegoers, but she doesn't limit herself to film work. In
2014, she made her Broadway debut opposite James Earl Jones in You Can't Take It With
You, for an experience that she says was both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. She admitted
to the Daily Telegraph,
"It was terrifying, initially. My nerves were shot the first couple of weeks and I felt
sick all the time, but I'm so glad I challenged myself."
It would be a few years before Byrne had another opportunity to tread the boards, but in 2020
she returned to the stage with Cannavale in the Brooklyn Academy of Music's production
of the Greek tragedy Medea.
"Setting it in the modern day really brings a fresh eye, particularly obviously to the
narrative of women, and women working and having children, and women in relationships."
She joked about appearing in such a heavy drama, telling InStyle,
"It's fine! It's lighthearted. After I turned 40, I thought, 'This is the kind of most ridiculous,
risky thing I could do. I'm scared. I'm gonna do it. And if I fail, that's OK.' Listen to
me comforting myself! But I'm going to dive in and do it. No risk, no reward."
"I think people will be surprised and disarmed by the version of her that we see."
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