Anna McGahan

Last updated

Anna McGahan
Anna MCgahan.jpg
McGahan in 2012
Born (1988-05-02) 2 May 1988 (age 37)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Alma mater QUT and AFTRS
Occupations
  • Actress
  • playwright
Years active2009–present
Notable work Underbelly: Razor
Anzac Girls
Spouse
Jonathan Weir
(m. 2017;div. 2021)
Children2

Anna McGahan (born 2 May 1988) is an Australian actress and playwright. She is best known for playing the roles of Nellie Cameron on the television series, Underbelly: Razor (2011), Lucy in House Husbands (2012–2014), and Rose Anderson in The Doctor Blake Mysteries (2015–2018).

Contents

Early life

McGahan grew up in Coorparoo, Queensland, attending to Brisbane Girls Grammar School and then studied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at QUT, graduating in 2010. She subsequently relocated to Sydney. Growing up she was a dedicated ballet dancer and then began studying psychology upon finishing high school. She studied screenwriting at AFTRS in 2015. [1]

Career

McGahan has appeared in Australian film, television and theatre. Her most notable appearance to date is starring as Nellie Cameron in the hit Australian TV series Underbelly: Razor , in which she plays a 16-year-old 1920s prostitute from a wealthy background who influenced some of the era's most powerful men, [2] for which she won the Inside Film 'Out of the Box' Award and was nominated for two Logies.

In 2012 she received a 'Best Emerging Artist' Matilda Award for her performance in La Boite Theatre Company’s Julius Caesar . [3]

McGahan appeared in the 2012 film 100 Bloody Acres and Australian TV series House Husbands on the Nine Network in the same year. [4]

On 27 June 2012, McGahan was awarded the Heath Ledger scholarship at the Australians in Film benefit in Los Angeles. [5]

In 2014 she played Sister Olive Haynes in ANZAC Girls , a six-part miniseries for ABC Television that was based closely on real characters from the Australian and New Zealand nurses and troops who served in World War I. McGahan plays opposite Brandon McClelland, as the Australian soldier Norval 'Pat' Dooley, who married Haynes in 1917.

In May 2021, McGahan played Katharina in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew with Queensland Theatre (in the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane), directed by Damien Ryan. [6] Petruchio was played by Nicholas Brown.

In 2023, McGahan was named as part of the cast for ABC musical drama In Our Blood. [7]

McGahan is also a playwright and published author. She won the Queensland Theatre Company Young Playwright's Award in 2009 and 2010, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Drama Award in 2011 for her play He's Seeing Other People Now, which she produced through the Metro Arts Independents Season in Brisbane. She co-wrote the immersive theatre piece The People of the Sun with Joel McKerrow, which toured Melbourne and Sydney in 2016 and 2017.

In 2016 she was shortlisted for The Saturday Paper's national essay award, the Horne Prize for her piece Brightness. [8] In 2023, she won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award. [9] for her debut novel Immaculate, which was also shortlisted for the 2024 MUD Prize and 2024 Queensland Literary Awards 'Book of the Year'. She is adapting the novel for the screen with funding from Screen Queensland. [10] Her novel Metanoia, was shortlisted for the international ECPA Award for Best Memoir/Biography. [10] She has also been published by Griffith Review, The Guardian and Mamamia. [10]

Personal life

In 2012 McGahan converted to Christianity while reading a Gideon's Bible in a hotel room, where she had a "series of spiritual encounters". [11] In 2019 her memoir of her spiritual journey was published by Acorn Press, and was nominated for the global ECPA Christian Book Awards. [12] She is no longer heavily involved in the church as an institution, and in 2021 stated that she creates work that ‘prioritises a defiant female gaze to explore experiences of embodiment, motherhood, sexuality and spirituality’. [13]

McGahan married Jonathan Weir in April 2017. [14] They welcomed their first child, Mercy Weir, in February 2018, born prematurely at 33 weeks. [15] They separated in 2021, and she now lives in Brisbane with her two daughters. [13]

Bibliography

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2009BipolarMopsyShort film
2009Maligayang PaskoShort film
2010Lance Johnson in PersonAbbyShort film
2011A Little Bit BehindJenShort film
2012UndertowNewlywedTV movie
2012 100 Bloody Acres SophieFeature film
2012 The Mystery of a Hansom Cab Rosanna Moore / The QueenTV film
2012Reef 'n' BeefDaisy
2012ScratchLolaShort film
2012GingersGingeShort film (also writer)
2016 Spirit of the Game ElspethFeature film
2016TrolleyAnnaShort film
2017Project Eden: Vol. IAlice LawsonFeature film
2017 The Doctor Blake Mysteries: Family Portrait Rose AndersonTV film
2018Fur BabyColetteShort film (also writer)
2020Liquid MoonlightErin BuchananShort film (also writer)
2021JuliaRadio PresenterShort film
2021SunshineRoseanneShort film
2022 Sit. Stay. Love. RemyTV film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011 Rescue: Special Ops Tegan ReidTV series, episode: "It's Not the Fall that Kills You"
Spirited Penelope (guest role)TV series, season 2
Underbelly: Razor Nellie Cameron (main role)TV series
The Boys' PlaceJane AlexanderTV series
2012 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Miss ProutTV series, episode: "Away with the Fairies"
2012–14 House Husbands Lucy Crabb (main role)TV series, season 1–3
2014 ANZAC Girls Sister Olive HaynesTV miniseries
2016 The Kettering Incident Gillian Baxter / Dr. Colleen McKayTV series, episode: "The Homecoming"
Fancy Boy Karen / RachelTV series, episodes: "1.2", "1.3"
2016–17 The Doctor Blake Mysteries Rose Anderson (main role)TV series, season 4–5
2018 Picnic at Hanging Rock Greta McCrawTV miniseries
2019 Glitch MillieTV series, 1 episode
2022 Troppo FrankieTV series, 2 episodes
Joe vs. Carole MiaTV miniseries, 1 episode
2022-25 Darby and Joan Rebecca KirkhopeTV series, 7 episodes
2023 In Our Blood MichelleTV miniseries, 4 episodes

Theatre

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011 Julius Caesar PortiaRoundhouse Theatre, Brisbane with La Boite Theatre Company
2012 Managing Carmen Clara Salope Playhouse, QPAC with QTC, Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth with Black Swan Theatre Company
2014 The Effect Connie Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane with QTC / STC
2019HydraCharmian Dunstan Playhouse, Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane with QTC, Wharf Theatre, Sydney with STC
2021–2022 The Taming of the Shrew Katharina Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane, Riverside Theatres Parramatta, Inlet Cinema, Sussex Inlet, Belgrave Cinema, Armidale, Majestic Cinemas, Huskisson Pictures with QTC
2024 Closer AnnaRoundhouse Theatre with La Boite Theatre Company

[16] [17]

Awards and nominations

YearTitle of WorkAwardCategoryResult
2009 Queensland Theatre Company Young Playwright's AwardWon
2010Won
2011He's Seeing Other People Now Queensland Premier’s Drama Award Shortlisted
Inside Film Awards Out of the Box AwardWon
2012 Underbelly: Razor TV Week Logie Awards Most Popular New Female TalentNominated
Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent Nominated
Various Australians in Film Heath Ledger ScholarshipWon
La Boite’s Julius Caesar Matilda Awards Best Emerging ArtistWon
2016Brightness The Saturday Paper's Horne Prize National Essay AwardShortlisted
2020Metanoia : Memoir of a Body, Born AgainAustralian Christian Book of the Year AwardsAustralian Christian Book of the YearShortlisted
2023Immaculate The Australian Vogel National Literary Award Won
2024 Adelaide Writers' Week MUD Literary Prize Shortlisted

[18]

References

  1. "47 AFTRS Student and Alumni Productions Set For Flickerfest 2021 | Australian Film Television and Radio School". www.aftrs.edu.au. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. "How God led actor Anna McGahan to make peace with her troubled past". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 October 2019.
  3. "Julius Caesar". La Boite Theatre Company .
  4. "Did Anna McGahan just exit House Husbands?". TV Tonight . 19 August 2014.
  5. "Anna McGahan wins the 2012 Heath Ledger Scholarship". IF Magazine . 28 June 2012.
  6. "Taming of the Shrew, 8 May – 5 Jun". Queensland Theatre . Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  7. Knox, David (3 February 2023). "Cast confirmed for In Our Blood | TV Tonight". TV Tonight . Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. "Inaugural Horne Prize shortlist announced". Books+Publishing . 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  9. "'Immaculate' wins 2023 Vogel". Books+Publishing. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 "About Anna". www.annamcgahan.com.
  11. Morris, Jessica (4 March 2017). "Anna McGahan: Bold, brave and blessed". Warcry. Salvos Warcry. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  12. April 7th, Anne Lim |; Comment, 2020 04:07 PM | Add a (7 April 2020). "McGahan thrilled her 'radical story' has been honoured in global book award - Eternity News". www.eternitynews.com.au. Retrieved 18 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. 1 2 McGahan, Anna. "Anna McGahan". Anna McGahan. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  14. McGahan, Anna (11 June 2017). "Verdant". A forbidden room. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  15. McGahan, Anna (19 March 2018). "Mercy". A forbidden room. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  16. "Anna McGahan theatre credits". AusStage .
  17. "Closer". La Boite Theatre Company . 2024.
  18. "Anna McGahan | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au.

Sources