Kestie Morassi

Kestie Morassi (born 9 August 1978) is an Australian film and television actress. She played Natalie in the TV series Satisfaction (2007–2010) and Maggie Astoni in Home and Away (2017–2020). Morassi has also appeared in the films Dirty Deeds, Wolf Creek (2005), The Illustrated Family Doctor (2005), and has made television appearances on Underbelly (2008), Wilfred (2010) and Black Snow (2022)

Early life Morassi was born in Adelaide, South Australia.

Career Morassi first appeared on the television series Neighbours in 1996. She would later appear in BeastMaster, Stingers and The Secret Life of Us in the early 2000s before making the transition to films in 2002 alongside an all-star cast including Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, Sam Neill, Sam Worthington, and John Goodman in Dirty Deeds which saw her nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award by the Film Critics Circle of Australia. She played backpacker Kristy Earl, for which she was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award for Best Supporting Actress 2005. She also starred in the Patrick Hughes short film Signs for Schweppes opposite Nick Russell.

In recent work, Morassi played whip-cracking brothel manager Natalie in Foxtel's groundbreaking drama Satisfaction and portrays sultry and infatuated criminal defence lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson in the Nine Network TV drama series Underbelly. In 2010, she had a guest appearance on Wilfred, playing "Kat".

Morassi joined the cast of Seven Network soap opera Home and Away in 2017 as Maggie Astoni. She departed in July 2020, along with Rohan Nichol who plays her on-screen husband Ben Astoni.

In 2020 Morassi returned to the big screen in paranormal horror Surrogate alongside Jane Badler. Morassi plays Natalie Paxton, a nurse and single mother, who falls mysteriously ill and struggles to save her family from being destroyed. Surrogate premiered April 6, 2022 at Sun Theatre, Yarraville, Australia for a limited 4 week theatrical run where it was number 1, 2 weeks running. Surrogate was released internationally in September 2022 on TubiTV and Amazon Prime.

Filmography

Film + Year Title Role Notes 2002Dirty Deeds Margaret NominatedFCCA Award for Best Supporting Actor (Female) 2010 The Wedding Party Jacqui 2010 Blame Cate 2012 Fearless Rachel Lepinsky Short film 2012 Real Meal Deal Activist Short film 2014 Fractions Peta Short film 2020 Surrogate Natalie Paxton

Television

+ Year Title Role Notes 1996 Neighbours Charnelle Edwards 1 episode 2001 The Saddle Club Mrs. Sharlow 1 episode 2001 Beastmaster Erial Episode: "The Legend Reborn" 2002 The Secret Life of Us Larissa 2 episodes 2003 Stingers Simone 1 episode 2006 Two Twisted Rose 1 episode 2007–2010 Satisfaction Natalie Main role 2008 Underbelly Zarah Garde-Wilson TV miniseries 2010 Wilfred Kat 1 episode 2010 Offspring Ivy 3 episodes 2017–20 Home and Away Maggie Astoni Main role (Seasons 30–33) 2023 Almost Paradise Janice 1 episode