Shari Sebbens

Shari Sebbens is an Aboriginal Australian actress and stage director, known for her debut film role in The Sapphires, as well as many stage and television performances.

Early life and education Sebbens, one of six children, was born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Her father is a former long-distance coach driver from Sydney of English descent and her mother, Annarella, an Aboriginal education worker from Broome, Western Australia is of Jabirr Jabirr and Bardi heritage. Sebbens refers to Australian music composer and playwright Jimmy Chi as her uncle, although they are not related by blood. She is the cousin of writer and film director Mitch Torres. and after two and a half years at Nhulunbuy, at age 19, was chosen to participate in "SPARK", a theatre mentorship programme established by the Australia Council for the Arts. At 20 she was accepted into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) where she completed a one-year course in Aboriginal Theatre. Upon completing her studies at WAAPA, Sebbens successfully auditioned for a place at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, where she studied acting full-time for three years, graduating in 2009. By May 2012, she landed a role in Redfern Now, a television series about "six inner city households whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident".

Sebbens secured a role in The Sapphires (2012), a film based on the stage show of the same name, written by Tony Briggs. It was directed by Wayne Blair and also starred Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, and Miranda Tapsell (who also co-wrote the script). Sebbens played the role of Kay McCrae, one of four Indigenous Australian singers "who travel from a mission in Victoria to Vietnam to sing for American troops". The cast attended the film's premiere at the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on 20 May 2012. playing Greta King, a sales representative.

In 2026, Sebbens was announced for the second series of Deadloch.

Theatre In 2012 Sebbens played Miri Smith and Currah in A Hoax with Griffin Theatre Company; and in 2015, Mae in Radiance at Belvoir. In 2017, she played Charlotte Gibbons in STC’s production of Nakkiah Lui's play Black is the New White in Sydney (with Miranda Tapsell stepping into her role when the show toured to Adelaide).

In 2019 she took the role of Julia Hersey in a production of Our Town by Black Swan State Theatre Company in Perth, and in the same year played matriarchal character Carina in Meyne Wyatt's City of Gold, her last role on stage for at least another three years, in a play she later directed, in 2021. She was assistant director to Wesley Enoch on STC's production of Appropriate in 2021. due to COVID-19. It included a new epilogue that introduced a note of activism, with Crombie, Sebbens and assistant director Ian Michael calling for the audience to engage in "seven actions of healing".

Sebbens was dramaturg on STC's 2022 production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, In 2023 she directed productions by STC and the Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney, as well as Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse in Melbourne. Yolanda Bonnell and Kwame Kwei-Armah.

Awards and nominations Year Work Award Category Result 2012 A Hoax Sydney Theatre Award Best Newcomer Equity Ensemble Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 2019–2020: Shari Sebbens Richard Wherrett Fellow

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2010 Violet Anna Short film 2012 The Sapphires Kay McCrae 2013 The Darkside Naomi 2014 You Wanna Order Pizza? Cass Short film2015 Alone Nina Short film Silent Night Carly Short film2016 OnO Ollie Short film Teenage Kicks Annuska2017 Australia Day Sonya Mackenzie Puppets vs. People: Night of the Living Thread Susie Short film This Is Desmondo Ray! Clementine Love Short film Thor: Ragnarok Asgardian Mother 2019 Top End Wedding Ronelle 2022 Thor: Love and Thunder Asgardian 2024 The Moogai SarahShort film (2020) precedes this feature film.

Television

Theatre

As actor

As writer / director YearTitleRoleTheatre 2020 Superheroes Director Seymour Centre, Sydney with Griffin Theatre Company 2020–2021 The 7 Stages of Grieving Director Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney, Space Theatre, Adelaide, Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC2021 Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner Director Eternity Playhouse, Sydney with Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre Company Appropriate Assistant Director Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney with STC2022 City of Gold Director Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC & Black Swan State Theatre Company All that Glitters is not Mould Dramaturg NIDA Parade Studio, Sydney The Tempest Dramaturg Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney with STC 2023 Is God Is Co-Director Southbank Theatre, Melbourne with MTC & STC