Denise Roberts

For the American politician, see Denise Roberts (politician).

Denise Roberts
Education	Ensemble Theatre (2005) Australian Film, Television and Radio School (1998) Metro Screen (2003) [1]
Occupations	Actress, director, teacher
Years active	1980–present
Known for	G.P. Packed to the Rafters

Denise Roberts, is an Australian actress, director, and founder of film and television acting school Screenwise in Sydney. ^[1] She is known for her roles on TV in 1980s/90s medical drama G.P. and 2009 series Packed to the Rafters . ^[1]

Early life and education

Roberts became passionate about screen acting as a young child, but as screen acting schools did not exist at the time, she attended theatre school for instead. ^[2] Her mentor was Hayes Gordon, with whom she studied under for three years at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre, graduating in 2005. ^[1]

In her later career, Roberts studied script editing (1996) and producing (1998)­ at Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), followed by directing (2003) at Metro Screen. ^[1]

Career

Roberts has worked in theatre, film and television since 1980. She came to fame playing Julie Winters in the ABC TV medical drama G.P. for seven years, from 1989 to 1996. ^[1] Her portrayal earned her nominations at the Logie Awards, the People's Choice Awards and the AACTA Awards, including an AACTA win for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama. ^[3] During her tenure on G.P., she also taught film and television for Hayes Gordon, at his Ensemble Studios.

Roberts was the creator and Associate Producer of the ABC's 1995 drama miniseries, Correlli , which gave Hugh Jackman his big Australian break. She also featured in two episodes. ^[1]

In 1998, Roberts starred in Road to Nhill , which saw her nominated for a Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Supporting Actress award. ^{[1] [3]} The same year, the 10-minute, 16mm short thriller Stairwell (1998), which Roberts directed, was screened at the LA International Short Film Festival. ^[1]

From 2001 to 2003, Roberts played town matriarch Isabelle Turnbull in Always Greener ^[1] and had a starring role as university registrar Jessica Andrews in Roberts 7's HeadLand from 2005 to 2006. ^[1] She played the role of Helen Jones in 2007 television film Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback , ^[1] a retelling of the real-life Peter Falconio case. That same year, she starred as Aunty Barbara in mockumentary feature film Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance . ^[1]

From 2009, Roberts played the recurring guest role of Bonnie Bright, the Scottish psychic sandwich lady in Channel 7's Packed to the Rafters , and again in 2012. ^[1] She also played Faye in the feature film Subdivision , ^[4] which premiered in August 2009. The following year, she played the regular role of Inspector Diane Pappas in the Nine Network police drama Cops L.A.C. . ^[5]

In 2013, Roberts featured in psychological thriller Nerve , alongside Gary Sweet, who played her character's husband. ^[2] In 2014, she starred in television film Schapelle , playing Schapelle's mother Rosleigh Rose Corby, which saw her nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well and a Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress in a Television Drama. ^{[1] [3]}

Further accolades followed with Best Supporting Actress nominations for Roberts' roles in 2015 film Nerve at the International World Film Festival, and 2016 thriller Concealed at the Sydney Indie Film Festival. ^[3]

From 2020 to 2022, Roberts played the ongoing role of Bev Boyce in web series Grey Nomads. ^[1]

Roberts' television guest credits are numerous, and have included A Country Practice , Sons and Daughters , Home and Away , Rafferty's Rules , E Street , Correlli , Snowy River: The McGregor Saga , Wildside , Pizza , All Saints , Underbelly: Razor , The Moodys , Wonderland , Five Bedrooms and God's Favorite Idiot ^[1] – the latter opposite American actress Melissa McCarthy. Her other film credits include Going Sane (1987), The Dish (2000) and Opal Dream (2006). ^[1]

Roberts' theatre performances include starring roles in the one-woman theatre shows Late Nite Catechism and Shirley Valentine . ^[1] Further stage credits include The Vagina Monologues and Lovers at Versailles, the latter of which earned her a Chief Glugs Award at the 2004 Glugs Theatrical Awards Excellence Behind the Scenes. ^[3] She also starred in Charitable Intent , which earned her a Sydney Theatre Critics Award nomination in 2006. ^{[1] [3]}

Roberts has also directed numerous theatre productions, including Lovers at Versailles at the Playhouse (Sydney Opera House) ^[6] as well as Fully Committed, Educating Rita and The Oldest Profession all for Ensemble Theatre. ^[1]

Teaching

Roberts is the founder and principal director of Screenwise, a Sydney-based film and television school for actors, established in 2000. ^{[7] [1]}

Tutors at the school have included industry names such as Nicholas Hope, Terry Serio, Katherine Hicks, Gary Sweet, Susie Porter, Rachael Blake, Roxane Wilson, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Claire van der Boom, Felix Williamson, Maya Stange, Philip Quast, Peter Mochrie, Martin Dingle-Wall, Teo Gebert, Rhondda Findleton, Felicity Price, Alexandra Davies and director/producer Peter Andrikidis. ^{[8] [9]}

Successful actors who were former students include Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Todd Lasance, Samantha Noble, Andy Whitfield and Tabrett Bethell. ^[8]

Awards

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
1991	G.P.	Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress on Australian Television	Nominated	[3]
1993		People's Choice Awards	Most Popular Actress in a Television Drama series	Nominated	[3]
	G.P. (episode: "Alone")	Australian Film Institute Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama	Won	[3]
1994	G.P.	Variety Club Television Drama Awards	Best Actress in a Television Drama	Won	[3]
		People's Choice Awards	Most Popular Actress in a Television Drama Series	Nominated	[3]
		Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress on Australian Television	Nominated	[3]
1998	Road to Nhill	Film Critics Circle of Australia	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	[3]
2004	Lovers at Versailles	Chief Glugs Award	Excellence Behind the Scenes	Won	[3]
2006	Charitable Intent	Sydney Theatre Critics Awards	Best Actress in a Lead Role	Nominated	[3]
2015	Nerve	International World Film Festival	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	[3]
	Schapelle	AACTA Awards	Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama	Nominated	[1] [3]
		Logie Awards	Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress in a Television Drama	Nominated	[1] [3]
2016	Concealed	Sydney Indie Film Festival	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	[3]

Film

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Boy Who Had Everything	Rita	Feature film
1986	For Love Alone	Mrs. Ashley	Feature film
1987	Going Sane	Mrs. Chubb	Feature film
1997	Road to Nhill	Gwen	Feature film
2000	The Dish	Bronwyn	Feature film
2003	Kangaroo Jack	Tansy	Feature film
2006	Opal Dream	Vera Dunkley	Feature film
	One Last Shot	Waitress	Short film
2007	Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance	Barbara	Feature film (mockumentary)
	Boys Own Story	Aunt Eileen	Short film
2009	Subdivision	Faye	Feature film
	Benefit	Mother	Short film
2010	Dying Ice	Elder	Short film
	Anyone You Want	Jenny
2012	Leech	Betty	Short film
2013	Nerve	Sally Livingston	Feature film
2014	The Half Dead	The See-er	Post-production
2015	Spirit of the Game	Sister Bingham	Feature film
2017	Concealed	Irene	Feature film
TBA	Shadow Wars	The See-er	Post-production
TBA	Juvenescence	Headmistress Audrey Hammersmith	Post-production

As producer / director / writer

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1998	Stairwell	Director / Producer	Short film	[1]
2005	So Darn Hot!	Producer	Short film
2006	Well Baked	Producer	Short film
2008	Under a Red Moon	Associate Producer	Feature film
2009	The Mad Chase	Producer	Short film
2010	The Rose	Producer	Short film
2012	Contamination	Director	Short film	[1]
2013	Good Neighbours	Director	Short film	[1]
2015	After Party	Executive Producer	Short film
2016	Shadowbox	Producer	Short film
	Our Father	Producer	Short film
	No Good Deed	Producer	Short film
	In the Stars	Producer	Short film
	Anything for Family	Producer	Short film
	An Honest Way	Producer	Short film
	A Gathering	Producer	Short film
2025	Love Shack	Producer	Short film
	Pet World: Team Building	Producer	Short film
	Echo	Writer / Director/ Producer	Short film

Television

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Bellamy	Bev	Episode: "Bet Your Life"
1984	A Halo for Athuan	Maizy	TV film
1985	A Country Practice	Patient / Kristine Cox	3 episodes: "Walk Tall: Parts 1 & 2", "Work Experience: Part 2"
1986	Hector's Bunyip	Gladys Glum	TV film
1986–1987	Sons and Daughters	Kidnapper	Episode: "1.799"
		Monica	Episode: "1.972"
1987	Two Friends	Jessie	TV film
	Rafferty's Rules	Mrs. Bridges	Episode: "Kids"
1988; 1989	Home and Away	Woman Customer	Season 1, episode 51
		Nola Dibble	Season 2, episode 258
1989	Fields of Fire III	Mrs. Anderson	Miniseries
1989; 1990	E Street	Myra	Season 1, episode 2-3
		Myra	Episode: "The Reverend & the Doctor?"
1989–1996	G.P.	Julie Winters	317 episodes
1992	Sinbad the Sailor	Voice	Animated TV film
1995	Correlli	Helen Buckley	2 episodes: "Solitary", "Lock-Down"
1996	The Man from Snowy River (aka Snowy River: The McGregor Saga)	Mary Kelly	Episode: "The Grand Opening"
1998; 2005	All Saints	Janice McGregor	Episode: "A Little Magic"
		Margaret	Episode: "Funny Games"
1999	Wildside	Sheryl Cunningham	Episode: "2.19"
2000; 2003	Grass Roots	Evelyn Savage	Episode: "The Whole Year"
		Christina	Episode: "Investigation"
2001	Water Rats	Meredith Dillon	Episode: "The Thin Edge"
	Pizza	Jackie / Mum Stanko	2 episodes: "Politically Incorrect Pizza", "Girlfriend Pizza"
2001; 2002	BackBerner	Beryl Todd	Episode: "3.4"
		Various	Episode: "1.134"
2001–2003	Always Greener	Isabelle Turnbull	50 episodes
2004	Home and Away	Valerie Squires	Season 17, 8 episodes
2005–2006	Headland	Jessica Andrews	26 episodes
2007	Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback	Helen Jones	TV film
2009	East West 101	Janet Miller	Episode: "Men of Conscience"
2009; 2012	Packed to the Rafters	Bonnie Bright	3 episodes: "Having It All", "Look Into My Eyes", "Putting the House in Order"
			Episode: "Sign of the Times"
2010	Cops L.A.C.	Detective Inspector Diane Pappas	13 episodes
2011	Underbelly: Razor	Alice Twiss	Miniseries, episode: "Jerusalem Revisited"
	Blood Brothers	Sue O'Farrell	TV film
2012	Mrs Biggs	Annie Pitcher	2 episodes: "1.3", "1.4"
2013	Cliffy	Molly	TV film
	Wonderland		Episode: "The Exes"
2014	Schapelle	Rosleigh Rose	TV film

As producer

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1994	Correlli	Concept Creator / Associate Producer	Miniseries	[1]

Theatre

Source: ^{[6] [1]}

As actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1983	The Bear	Mrs Popov	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney
1984	A Kind of Alaska	Deborah
1985	When in Rome	Margaret
1986	The Shadow Box	Maggie
1987	Once a Catholic	Mother Thomas Aquinas
1988	Talk of the Devil	Mrs Maguire
1990	A Night with Robinson Crusoe	Julie	Ensemble Studios, Sydney for Festival of Sydney
1992	The Slab Boys	Sadie	Crossroads Theatre, Sydney with O'Punksky's Theatre Company for Festival of Sydney
	Man of the Moment	Sharon	York Theatre, Sydney with Ensemble Theatre
1993	The Seahorse	Gertrude	Ensemble Studios, Sydney with Sydney Festival
1994	The Rise and Fall of Little Voice	Sadie	Adelaide Festival with STC
1999–2000	Shirley Valentine	Shirley Valentine	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney, Bridge Theatre, Sydney with STC / Blue Sky Ent	[3]
	Late Nite Catechism	Sister	Bridge Theatre, Sydney, IMB Theatre, Wollongong, Courtyard Studio, Canberra, North Adelaide Community Centre with Adrian Bohm Presents	[3]
2000	Girls' Night Out	Aunty Ivy	Star City Showroom, Sydney with Jacobsen Entertainment
2001–2003	The Vagina Monologues	Various roles	Ensemble Studios, Sydney, Valhalla Cinema, Sydney, Acton Street Theatre, Canberra with Adrian Bohm Presents	[3]
2005	Shirley Valentine	Shirley Valentine	Civic Theatre, Newcastle with Rock City Productions	[3]
2006	Charitable Intent	Amanda	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[3]

As director

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1996	Veronica's Room	Director	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[1]
1997	RIP Ripper	Director	Rat Bag Theatre Company, Sydney	[1]
	Educating Rita	Director	Ensemble Theatre, Sydney	[1]
1999	Beautiful Thing	Director		[1]
2000	Wit	Associate Director		[1]
2001	The Oldest Profession	Director
2002–2003	Fully Committed	Director	Ensemble Studios, Sydney, Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne
2004	Lovers at Versailles	Director	Sydney Opera House
2005	Shirley Valentine	Director	Civic Theatre, Newcastle with Rock City Productions	[3]
2007	The Getaway	Director	Newtown Theatre, Sydney with Screenwise for Short+Sweet

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1982	Counter Talk		Documentary drama	[1]
1985	That's Democracy		Documentary drama	[1]
1987	Managing the Schools (Education Department)		Documentary drama	[1]
1989	History of Australia	Narrator	ABC (Educational)	[1]
	The Passing of Catherine	Mrs Boyle	ABC	[1]

Publications

Year	Title	Role	Publisher	Ref.
1995	Get Your Act Together: The Actor's Advisory Manual	Author	Federation Press	[10] [1]

References

1. "Denise Roberts". Screenwise . 27 February 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
2. "Screenwise's Denise Roberts". www.couturing.com. 22 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
3. "Denise Roberts" (PDF). Liberty Artist Management. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
4. "At The Movies". abc.net.au. 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012.
5. "COPS L.A.C. cast complete". TV Tonight. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
6. "Denise Roberts". AusStage . Retrieved 13 January 2026.
7. Natasha Lee (22 August 2004). "Hopefuls act the part". Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) . Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
8. Hunter, Brooke. "Denise Roberts Screenwise Interview". www.girl.com.au. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
9. "Screenwise Tutors". Screenwise . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
10. "Get your act together – Denise Roberts". National Library of Australia . Retrieved 14 January 2026.

External links

• Denise Roberts at IMDb
• Screenwise - Australia's Leading Film & TV School for Actors