
Essie Davis is an Australian actress. Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, she is the daughter of locally famed artist George Davis. She emerged from the Old Nick Company at the University of Tasmania in the late 1980s and has gone on to appear in Hollywood movies. She is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney.
Her career started after her role in the all Australian movie Dad and Dave: On Our Selection (1995), also starring other prestigious actors such as Geoffrey Rush, Leo McKern, and Joan Sutherland. Her most famous movie roles are in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, Richard Flanagan's 1998 Tasmanian film The Sound of One Hand Clapping, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.
In 2003 she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her UK performance in the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. In 2004 she starred in a Broadway production of Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, for which she earned a Tony nomination. In 2005 she appeared as Mrs. Nellie Lovett in the BBC production of Sweeney Todd with Ray Winstone. In the 2008 film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger she plays Esther's controlling mother.

The Matrix Reloaded
2003 · as Maggie

The Matrix Revolutions
2003 · as Maggie

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
2010 · as Marella (voice)

The Babadook
2014 · as Amelia Vanek

Charlotte's Web
2006 · as Mrs. Arable

Assassin's Creed
2016 · as Mary Lynch

Australia
2008 · as Katherine

Girl with a Pearl Earring
2003 · as Catharina Bolnes Vermeer

Code 46
2003 · as Doctor

Nitram
2021 · as Helen

Babyteeth
2020 · as Anna

True History of the Kelly Gang
2019 · as Ellen Kelly

Sweeney Todd
2006 · as Mrs Lovett

Mindhorn
2016 · as Patricia Deville

South Solitary
2010 · as Alma Stanley

The Custodian
1994 · as Jilly

Burning Man
2011 · as Karen

Lilian's Story
1996 · as Zara