Mia Wasikowska

Biography: For someone who hasn't had any formal acting training, Mia Wasikowska has been nothing short of brilliant in her performances during her young and rapidly-growing career. This Australian-born actress, whose first love was ballet, first drew the admiration of the mainstream audience and critics alike in her portrayal of a suicidal American teen on the HBO drama In Treatment (2008). And although she did not get the nod from award-giving bodies, Mia captured the attention of directors Edward Zwick and Mira Nair, thus landing her prominent film roles that would launch her movie career.

Born and raised in Canberra, Australia, Wasikowska grew up studying ballet until she discovered her passion for acting when she was 14. After her two-episode stint on the Aussie TV series All Saints, she appeared in several Australian films including Suburban Mayhem, for which she received an AFI Young Actor's Award nomination in 2006. Having both an Australian and American agent, Mia ventured out to Hollywood and sent a demo reading for the pilot script of In Treatment, a drama about a psychotherapist (played by Gabriel Byrne) who has to deal with both his patients' and his own psychological and emotional crisis. Considered to be her lucky break, she snagged the role of the self-sabotaging American gymnast Sophie for the pilot season of the HBO series. Her critically-acclaimed performance of the challenging character opened up opportunities for her in the business.

Zwick, director of the Nazi-era drama Defiance (2008) starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber, cast her as a Polish-Jewish refugee in the film. Nair soon followed suit and tapped her to play the American aviatrix Elinor Smith in the Amelia Earhart biopic, Amelia (2009), opposite Hilary Swank. Already, Mia has been described as a young Jodie Foster/Meryl Streep. Undoubtedly, her phenomenal rise to international stardom is only inevitable as she is slated to play the title role in Tim Burton's big screen adaptation of Alice in Wonderland in 2010.… Expand