Shantae Barnes-Cowan

Last updated

Shantae Barnes-Cowan
Born2001or2002(age 22–23)
South Australia
OccupationActress
Notable work Wyrmwood: Apocalypse
Sweet As
Firebite

Shantae Barnes-Cowan (born 2001or2002) is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She starred in the TV series Total Control (2019), Operation Buffalo (2020), and Firebite (2021-2022), and the feature films Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021), and Sweet As (2022). Among other accolades, she was nominated for the 2024 AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Sweet As.

Contents

Early life and education

Shantae Barnes-Cowan was born in 2001or2002 and was placed in a foster family when she was a year old in Whyalla, South Australia. She is very close to her foster parents, the Cowans. She is an Adnyamathanha woman, and has three sisters and seven brothers. [1]

She did not study drama at school, but always admired Deborah Mailman and Jessica Mauboy. [1] In 2021, while studying Year 12 in high school, 18-year-old Barnes-Cowan worked on film sets across Australia. She credited her foster family for helping her juggle her career and education. [2] [3] She completed year 12 at Samaritan College, Whyalla, in 2021. [4]

Career

In her screen debut, Barnes-Cowan played Jess Clarke in season 1 of the award-winning Australian political drama series Total Control in 2019. [5] [6] [7] She played Peggy [7] in Operation Buffalo in May 2020. [8] Adelaide casting director Angela Heesom, who auditioned Barnes-Cowan for the role, said later that she had told her that day that she was going to be an actor and was a "star in the making", who had all the natural instinct. She described her "as an Indigenous version of Julia Roberts". [9]

In 2021, she completed filming the horror film Wyrmwood Apocalypse, playing the character Maxi in her first feature film. [7] [10]

She played the lead role Shanika in the AMC+ international TV miniseries Firebite. [7] Firebite, which was filmed in Adelaide, [4] was created by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher. Shanika is the adoptive daughter of Tyson, played by Rob Collins, and both play vampire-killing "bloodhunters". The series aims to tell the story of the colonisation of Australia from an Indigenous perspective, using vampires as metaphors for smallpox. [11]

She played the lead role as troubled teen Murra in Jub Clerc's directorial feature debut, [7] the coming-of-age film set in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Sweet As (2022). [2] She had a leading role in Sweet As, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. [1]

In 2023, she completed filming on a short film, The Redemption, an Australian Western filmed in Tamworth, New South Wales. [1] It was directed by Peter Cameron, and premiered in July 2024. [12] [13]

She moved to Adelaide to study beauty therapy at TAFE, while also auditioning for new roles, including internationally. [1]

Other activities

As a teenager, Barnes-Cowan was an active sportsperson and community leader. She played country and regional netball, as well as regional and state level basketball, representing South Australia. [7]

Barnes-Cowan has been South Australian ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. [7]

Recognition and awards

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleNotes
2023The RedemptionAliceShort
2022 Sweet As Murra
2021 Wyrmwood: Apocalypse Maxi

TV

YearTitleRoleNotes
2021-22 Firebite Shanika8 episodes
2019-21 Total Control Jess Clarke7 episodes
2020 Operation Buffalo Peggy6 episodes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gulpilil</span> Aboriginal Australian actor and dancer

David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil was an Australian actor and dancer. He was known for his roles in the films Walkabout (1971), Storm Boy (1976), The Last Wave (1977), Crocodile Dundee (1986), Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Tracker, and Australia (2008).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeanna Walsman</span> Australian actress

Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film Looking for Alibrandi and the television series Wentworth. She was nominated for both AACTA and Logie awards for her role in Emmy Award-winning series Safe Harbour.

NAIDOC Week is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. NAIDOC Week has its roots in the 1938 Day of Mourning, becoming a week-long event in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leah Purcell</span> Indigenous Australian actress, film director and writer

Leah Maree Purcell is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Pedersen</span> Australian actor (born 1970)

Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film Mystery Road (2013), its sequel Goldstone (2016), and spin-off television series (2018–2020). He has been nominated for many and won several acting awards, including the 2021 AACTA Award for International Award for Best Actor in a Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Rabe</span> Canadian-born Australian actress

Pamela Rabe is a Canadian–Australian actress and theatre director. A graduate of the Playhouse Acting School in Vancouver, Rabe is best known for her appearances in the Australian films Sirens, Cosi and Paradise Road, and for starring as Joan Ferguson in the television drama series Wentworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Torv</span> Australian actress (born 1979)

Anna Torv is an Australian actress who has worked extensively in the US. Her performance as Olivia Dunham in the Fox science fiction series Fringe (2008–2013) earned her four consecutive Saturn Awards for Best Actress on Television, a record for any performer. She portrayed psychologist Wendy Carr in the Netflix period crime drama Mindhunter from 2017 to 2019, and Tess in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series The Last of Us in 2023. She is especially known in Australia for the ABC drama The Newsreader, for which she won two consecutive AACTA Awards. She stars in the Netflix drama series set in the Northern Territory of Australia called Territory, due to premiere in October 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Snook</span> Australian actress (born 1987)

Sarah Ruth Snook is an Australian actress. She is best known for her starring role as Shiv Roy in the HBO drama series Succession (2018–2023), for which she won two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Coles Smith</span> Australian actor and musician

Mark Coles Smith, also known by his musical identity as Kalaji, is an Aboriginal Australian actor of stage and screen, sound designer, field recordist, writer, and composer. He is known for his roles in the feature films Last Cab to Darwin (2015), Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018), and Occupation: Rainfall (2020), as well as the television series Mystery Road: Origin (2022), and the Canadian series Hard Rock Medical (2013–18).

Fiona Choi is an Australian actress, singer and stage performer, best known for her lead role as Jenny Law in Benjamin Law's award-winning SBS Comedy The Family Law for which she received an AACTA Award nomination for Best Performance in a Television Comedy and 3 consecutive Equity Ensemble Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Comedy Series. Fiona is also known for her work on stage in Melbourne Theatre Company's Golden Shield and Torch The Place as well as her one-woman show Dragon Lady: The Many Lives & Deaths of Anna May Wong which premiered to much acclaim at the 2019 Adelaide Cabaret Festival

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Box</span> Australian actress

Kate Box is an Australian stage, film, and television actress. She is known for her roles as Nicole Vargas in Rake, Lou Kelly in Wentworth, and as Dulcie Collins in Deadloch.

Aftertaste is an Australian television comedy series on ABC TV, first airing on 3 February 2021. It is created by Julie De Fina and Matthew Bate, produced by Closer Productions. The first season was directed by Jonathan Brough, and the second, airing from 20 July 2022, by Renée Webster.

Firebite is an Australian drama/horror television series featuring vampires created by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher. A co-production between See-Saw Films and AMC Studios, the series premiered on AMC+ on 16 December 2021 and ran for 8 episodes until 3 February 2022. It stars Rob Collins, Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Yael Stone, and Callan Mulvey.

Beck Cole is an Australian filmmaker of the Warramungu and Luritja nations. She is known for her work on numerous TV series, including First Australians, Grace Beside Me, Black Comedy and Wentworth, as well as documentaries and short films. She is based in Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory.

Sweet As is a 2022 Australian coming-of-age drama film, directed by Jub Clerc, starring Shantae Barnes-Cowan and Mark Coles Smith.

Jub Clerc, also known as Suzanne Jub Clerc, is a Indigenous Australian actor, playwright, film director, and screenwriter. She has worked in film and television since the early 2000s and has also worked in theatre. She is best known for her 2022 debut feature Sweet As.

Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is a 2021 Australian action-horror film directed by Kiah Roache-Turner and starring Luke McKenzie, Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Jake Ryan, Bianca Bradey and Jay Gallagher. It is a sequel to 2014's Wyrmwood.

Ngaire Pigram is an Aboriginal Australian singer, dancer, actor, screenwriter, and director from Western Australia. She has worked on stage and in film and television. She is perhaps best known for her role as Leonie in season two of Mystery Road, and as Grace in the 2022 feature film Sweet As.

Julia de Laune Savage (b.2007) is an Australian-English actress. For her performance in the feature film Blaze she received the 2023 International Art Film Fest Blue Angel Award for Best Female Performance in a Feature Film and was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 12th AACTA Awards. In 2022 she was nominated for Best Actress in the 2022 Australian Film Critics Association Awards.

Dena Curtis is an Australian film producer and director. She is known for writing and directing several short films, and directed the first series of ABC Television comedy series 8MMM Aboriginal Radio in 2015. She co-developed and co- produced the 2018 children's TV series Grace Beside Me, and co-produced the documentary series First Weapons (2023) and Firebite (2024). She is the owner of production company Inkey Media in Brisbane, Queensland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Bright lights beckon young Whyalla actor who grew up in care". Department for Child Protection . 24 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 Davies, Nathan (5 December 2021). "Shantae's star shines bright". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Zombie flick returns with fresh blood". The West Australian. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Shantae's star shines bright as she completes Year 12". Catholic Education. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  5. ↑ Mayfield, Louis (21 May 2022), "Grace, power in Shantae's performance", The Examiner
  6. ↑ Brodnik, Laura (12 October 2019), "The rumours are true: Total Control is the only new TV show to watch this weekend.", MamaMia
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Shantae Barnes-Cowan". CinefestOZ Film Festival. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "ABC drama Operation Buffalo debuts in May", South Australian Film Corporation, 1 May 2020
  9. ↑ Green, Tanya (24 April 2024). "Discovering the stars". SA Life . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  10. ↑ MacNaughton, Tanya (7 February 2022), "Shantae Barnes-Cowan on the ball in Aussie zombie sequel Wyrmwood: Apocalypse", The West Australian
  11. ↑ Jones, Ellen E (11 February 2022). "'We wanted to kick in the doors': the film-makers reinventing horror". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  12. ↑ The Redemption at IMDb
  13. ↑ The Redemption (2023) - Western - Short Film on YouTube. Premiered 4 Jul 2024.
  14. ↑ "Gladys Elphick Awards". Facebook. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2024. The winner of the Young Sisters Dreaming award, Lauren Pickering, pictured here with fellow nominee Shantae Barnes-Cowan...
  15. ↑ Whyalla, Corporation of the City of (28 January 2020). "Mayor presents NAIDOC awards". Whyalla City Council. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "Shantae's starring role earns award". The Whyalla News. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  17. ↑ "Grace, power in Shantae's performance". The Canberra Times . 21 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  18. ↑ "SA's 26 most inspiring women" . Adelaide Now . 9 October 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  19. ↑ Tracy, Jackie (27 February 2022). "The finalists: The SA women who inspire us". adelaidenow. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "Previous Award Winners". Department for Child Protection . 15 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  21. ↑ Clarke, Rhiannon (10 January 2024). "AACTA awards sees multiple Indigenous nominees". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.