Jacki Weaver

Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. She emerged in the 1970s during the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as Stork, Alvin Purple (1973), and Petersen (1974). She later starred in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Caddie (1976), Squizzy Taylor (1982), and a number of television films and miniseries. She also starred in Australian productions of plays such as Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Weaver received international attention and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in the crime film Animal Kingdom (2010) and the comedy drama film Silver Linings Playbook (2012), the former of which also earned her the National Board of Review Award. This attention led her to receive roles in further Hollywood projects, including the films The Five-Year Engagement (2012), Parkland (2013), Magic in the Moonlight (2014), The Disaster Artist (2017), Bird Box, Widows (both 2018), Poms (2019), Stage Mother (2020), and Father Stu (2022).

On television, Weaver starred in the Starz comedy series Blunt Talk (2015–2016), the Fox Showcase political thriller Secret City (2016–2019), the Epix thriller Perpetual Grace, LTD (2019), and the Stan science fiction series Bloom (2019–2020). Since 2021, she has played a recurring role as Caroline Warner in the Paramount Network neo-Western series Yellowstone.

Early life Jacqueline Ruth Weaver was born in Hurstville, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Her mother, Edith (née Simpson), was a migrant from England, and her father, Arthur Weaver, was a Sydney solicitor. She attended Hornsby Girls' High School and was Dux of her school. She won a scholarship to study sociology at university, but instead embarked upon an acting career.

Career 1960s–2000s Weaver has been working in Australian film, stage, and television since the 1960s. In 1963, at the age of 16, Weaver mimed the role of Gretel to the soprano Janet Rutledge in an ABC production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. In 1964 at the Palace Theatre in Sydney, Weaver and a number of other Australian singers such as The Delltones and her then-boyfriend Bryan Davies performed a satire on the Gidget movies, in which Weaver performed as "Gadget". In the mid-1960s, she appeared on the Australian music show Bandstand. In one appearance, she sang a 1920s-style pastiche, the novelty song "I Love Onions". The turning point in her career came in 1965 just before she was about to go to university and was cast in the Australian TV series Wandjina!

In 1971, Weaver made her big screen debut playing the female leading role in the comedy film, Stork directed by Tim Burstall, for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award. She later starred in the comedy films Alvin Purple (1973), and Petersen (1974). She played supporting role in Peter Weir's critically acclaimed mystery film version of Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), and a more substantial appearance in Caddie (1976) for which she won her second Australian Film Institute Award. In the following years, Weaver appeared in TV series, miniseries, and made-for-television movies, playing leading and supporting roles. Her notable television movies including Polly Me Love (1976), and Do I Have to Kill My Child? (1976), for which she received Logie Award for Best Individual Performance By An Actress. Contrary to popular belief, Weaver has never appeared in a soap opera. She starred in the 1988 ABC drama series, House Rules about a Melbourne house-wife who becomes a member of parliament. After years off-screen, Weaver returned to film starring in the comedy-drama Cosi.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Weaver found it increasingly difficult to gain roles on screen or television and she devoted much of her energy to the Australian stage, starring in plays including A Streetcar Named Desire, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Death of a Salesman, Reg Cribb's Last Cab to Darwin, and Chekhov's Uncle Vanya alongside Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh in 2010–11. Weaver has performed in more than 80 plays.

2010–present In 2010, Weaver starred in the Melbourne-set crime thriller Animal Kingdom playing a gang family matriarch. Her performance received praise from film critics and earned her Critics' Choice, Golden Globe Award, and Academy Award nominations as well as winning the Australian Film Institute Award, the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, and a Satellite Award.

Weaver made her Hollywood debut with the 2012 comedy The Five-Year Engagement, alongside Emily Blunt and Jason Segel, and starred in Park Chan-Wook's English-language debut, Stoker, alongside fellow Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska, and British actor Matthew Goode. In 2012, Weaver received Actor Award, Critics' Choice, and Academy Award nominations for her role as a supportive mother in the comedy-drama film Silver Linings Playbook. Marjane Satrapi's comedy-horror The Voices, and the romantic comedy Magic in the Moonlight written and directed by Woody Allen. She returned to Australia appearing in Last Cab to Darwin (2015) and Goldstone (2016) receiving Australian Film Critics Association for Best Supporting Actress. Her other notable film credits including Equals (2015), The Polka King (2017), Life of the Party (2018), Bird Box (2018) and Widows (2018). She starred alongside Diane Keaton, Pam Grier and Rhea Perlman in the 2019 comedy film Poms (2019). The following year, she played the leading role in the comedy-drama film Stage Mother. Also that year, she starred in The Grudge, a remake of the 2004 supernatural horror film, and the Australian drama Penguin Bloom starring Naomi Watts. In 2022, she played Mark Wahlberg' mother in the biographical drama film Father Stu.

On American television, Weaver starred in the 2015 Fox limited series Gracepoint and the Starz comedy series, Blunt Talk (2015–16) opposite Patrick Stewart. She returned to Australia with starring role in the Fox Showcase political thriller Secret City (2016–19), and Stan science fiction series Bloom (2019–20). In 2019, she starred in the Epix thriller Perpetual Grace, LTD (2019) and in 2021 she began appearing in the recurring role as Caroline Warner in the Paramount Network neo-Western series, Yellowstone.

Personal life In September 1966 Weaver told TV Week that she would marry the pop singer Bryan Davies, adding that 'I'll probably get cold feet again like I've done before'. Shortly afterwards she married TV producer David Price, her director on the television series Be Our Guest, after an eight-week courtship. The marriage ended in 1970. She had a son that year with her partner at the time, John Walters. Weaver had a relationship of many years with Richard Wherrett, director of the Sydney Theatre Company.

She married Max Hensser in 1975. She lived with Phil Davis, a former Sydney crime reporter, Canberra Press Secretary, and executive producer for Mike Willesee, for five years until 1981. She married radio and television presenter Derryn Hinch in 1983. She and Hinch renewed their vows

Filmography

Films

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations Year Nominated work Award Category Result 1971 Stork Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role 1976 Caddie Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1978 Do I Have to Kill My Child? TV Week Logie Awards Best Individual Performance by an Actress 1980 They're Playing Our Song Variety Club Awards Variety Club Heart Award 1981 Contribution to theatre GLUG Awards Contribution to Theatre Award 2001 Old Masters Mo Awards Female Actor in a Play 2003 Last of the Red Hot Lovers GLUG Awards Best Actress Award Last Cab to Darwin 2010 Animal Kingdom Australian Film Institute Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role National Board of Review Awards Best Supporting Actress Satellite Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Village Voice Film Poll Awards Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actress Utah Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress IndieWire Critics Poll Awards Best Supporting Performance Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Supporting Actress Saturn Awards Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Awards Circuit Community Awards Davis Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Inside Film Awards Best Actress Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Denver Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Houston Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Detroit Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress 2011 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Supporting Actress Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuoso Award Chlotrudis Awards Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress (tied) Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards Best Actress (tied) Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Supporting Actress Saturn Awards Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress Gold Derby Awards Best Supporting Actress Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards EDA Award for Best Supporting Actress Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Supporting Actress International Cinephile Society Awards Best Supporting Actress 2012 London Film Critics' Circle Supporting Actress of the Year Silver Linings Playbook AACTA Awards Best International Supporting Actress Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Acting Ensemble Capri Hollywood International Film Festival Best Ensemble Cast Award Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Gotham Awards Best Ensemble Cast Awards Circuit Community Awards Best Cast Ensemble Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Best Ensemble Acting 2013 Gold Derby Awards Best Ensemble Cast AARP Movies for Grownups Awards Best Supporting Actress Chlotrudis Awards Best Supporting Actress Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards Best Ensemble Georgia Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Hollywood breakthrough Australians in Film Awards Australians in Film Breakthrough Award 2014 Lifetime achievement AACTA Awards Longford Lyell Award for lifetime achievement 2015 Shadowlands Variety Club Awards Best Actress Award The Sisters Rosensweig Best Actress Award 2016 Lifetime achievement GLUG Awards Rodney Seaborn Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement 2017Goldstone Australian Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Supporting Actress The Disaster Artist BAM Awards Best Cast 2019 Widows Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Ensemble Cast in a Film Gold Derby Awards Best Ensemble Cast in a Film Bloom TV Week Logie Awards Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress AACTA AwardsBest Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama 2020 Poms Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards EDA Special Mention Award for Actress Most in Need of a New Agent (Ensemble) 2021 Penguin Bloom AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Film 2022 Yellowstone TV Week Logie Awards Silver Logie for Most Popular Australian Actor or Actress in an International Program Gold Derby Awards Best Guest Actress in a Television Drama Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series 2025 Memoir of a Snail AACTA Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Film Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards Best Animated/Voiced Performance