Since making her film debut in 1991, Toni Collette has long proven she’s one of Hollywood’s top Australian actresses. Her commitment to each role has earned her several accolades in Hollywood and Australia. Like several other Australian actors, Collette began her acting career in Australia, making her screen debut in a 1991 episode of the Australian soap opera A Country Practice.
Toni Collette showed an exceptional acting talent for acting at an early age. Seeking attention from her family, Collette faked appendicitis so convincingly that doctors were forced to remove her appendix. About 16 years later, Toni Collette received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Sixth Sense. While she has had an incredible run on the big screen, Collette has also starred in several notable roles on television. Here are Toni Collette’s best performances on television.
Pieces of Her
Over the years, Toni Collette has earned a reputation for playing mothers in film and television. In the Netflix thriller drama series Pieces of Her, Collette played Laura Oliver, the mother of Bella Heathcote’s character, Andy. Laura is introduced as a seemingly ordinary mother living a quiet life in a small Georgia town with her daughter.
However, after Laura violently rescues Andy from a local diner shootout, the incident slowly reveals Laura’s dark and mysterious past. Collette’s character is central to Pieces of Her’s story, as Andy unravels secrets about her mother’s hidden identity and their dangerous family history. Critics had mixed to average reviews about Pieces of Her’s storyline but praised Toni Collette’s intensity and depth of performance.
Hostages
In the short-lived CBS drama series Hostages, Toni Collette played a skilled and dedicated surgeon. Hostages was adapted from an Israeli television series of the same name. As Dr. Ellen Sanders, Collette’s character is thrust into a moral and ethical dilemma when her family is taken hostage by a rogue FBI agent, Duncan Carlisle (Dylan McDermott). Dr. Ellen Sanders is scheduled to operate on the U.S. President. The captors demand that she sabotage the surgery and assassinate the President to save her family. Hostages aired for only one season from September 23, 2013, to January 6, 2014, and was not renewed by CBS for a second season.
Dinner with Friends
Dinner with Friends is Toni Collette’s first television film. It is one of her earliest projects on the small screen and was created as an adaptation of Donald Margulies’s 1998 play. Collette played Beth, one of the central characters in Dinner with Friends. Her character is portrayed as a free-spirited artist whose marriage to Tom (Greg Kinnear) is falling apart. This revelation causes tension and self-reflection among their close friends, Gabe (Dennis Quaid) and Karen (Andie McDowell), who introduced Beth to Tom. Dinner with Friends received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Margulies’s direction and the amazing performances of the cast.
Wanderlust
Toni Collette led the cast of the 6-episode British miniseries Wanderlust as Joy Richards. Collette’s character is a therapist living in a small English town who gets involved in an accident. This adds to a fractured relationship with her husband, Alan (Steven Mackintosh). As they struggle to rekindle their passion, they experiment with an open relationship, leading to personal and professional complications. Also featured in the polyamory drama are Emma D’Arcy (who played Collette’s 18-year-old daughter), Zawe Ashton, and Sophie Okonedo.
The Staircase
English actor Colin Firth and Toni Collette played husband and wife in the 2022 HBO Max biographical crime drama The Staircase. The miniseries was based on Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s 2004 docuseries about the real-life, mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson in 2001. Michael Peterson (Firth) is accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen (Collette) after she’s found dead at the bottom of their home’s staircase. Toni Collette’s portrayal centered around Kathleen’s life, her relationship with Michael, and the events leading up to her tragic death. The 8-episode miniseries was critically acclaimed. Toni Collette, alongside Colin Firth, received special praise for their performance in The Staircase.
The Power
In the 2023 Amazon Prime Video’s science fiction drama The Power, Toni Collette played a political figure as the Mayor of Seattle. Her character, Margot Cleary-Lopez, is also Dr. Rob Lopez’s (John Leguizamo) wife and mother of three, including her daughter Jos (Auliʻi Cravalho). The Power’s plot centers around a global phenomenon where all teenage girls develop an ability to generate electrical jolts.
With her daughter possessing this ability, Mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez becomes a political ally to these “electric girls,” advocating for their bodily autonomy. The Mayor’s outspoken support places her and her family in the crosshairs of right-wing opposition. These oppositions question her judgment between her political convictions and familial responsibilities. The Power received generally positive reviews from critics.
Unbelievable
Toni Collette delivered yet another masterful performance in a miniseries in Unbelievable. Collette played Detective Grace Rasmussen, a seasoned and determined investigator. Rasmussen teams up with Detective Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) to uncover the truth behind a series of sexual assaults. Their investigation leads them to discover a disturbing pattern and eventually helps bring justice to the victims. Toni Collette’s performance was praised for portraying her character with a blend of professionalism, grit, and empathy.
United States of Tara
Toni Collette played the titular character, Tara Gregson, in Showtime’s comedy-drama United States of Tara. Tara is a wife and mother living with dissociative identity disorder (DID). Her character transitions between multiple distinct personalities, known as “alters,” which manifest in response to stress or trauma.
By the end of season 1, audiences are introduced to four of Tara’s alters—T, a rebellious and wild teenage girl; Buck, a brash, male beer-loving Vietnam vet; Alice, a 1950s-style perfectionist housewife: and Gimme, a primal, animalistic alter. Several other alters are introduced in seasons 2 and 3. Portraying each alter to near perfection earned Toni Collette’s performance-critical acclaim. The performance became her second Primetime Emmy Awards nomination but, unsurprisingly, her first win. Besides these Toni Collette television roles, here’s everything to know about the actress.
Follow Us
