Welcome to Toni Collette Online, an unofficial information resource on the Australian act-ress and singer, best known from "Muriel's Wedding", "The Sixth Sense" and "Little Miss Sunshine". This site offers all essential info on her life and career with a comprehensive archive of press articles, news, images and video clips. Enjoy your stay!

UPDATES ARCHIVE | MARCH 2008 JOHN CORBETT TO JOIN COLLETTE Posted: 2008-03-20 John Corbett will join Aussie Toni Collette in her new Showtime comedy TV pilot. Hollywood Reporter says Corbett will co-star in United States of Tara. Written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody, United States of Tara looks at a woman (Collette) with multiple personality disorder. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Corbett will play the main character's husband, a contractor trying to deal with his wife's condition. Craig Gillespie will direct the Tara pilot, which will shoot next month in Los Angeles. TALENTED TONI TUNES INTO TV ROLE Posted: 2008-03-17 Article courtesy the Herald Sun: When it comes to motherhood, Toni Collette is lost for words. In her first interview since giving birth to her first child - Sage Florence - in Sydney on January 9, the actor says motherhood is "so much more" than she expected. "I really don't think I can articulate it," Collette, 35, says. "It's one of those experiences that you just have to go through to understand and I'd hate to lessen it by trying to pin it down with words." Fortunately for Collette and her musician husband, Dave Galafassi, tiny Sage has settled perfectly. "Sage likes her sleep just as much as we do," she says. Collette is back in a big way, with two Australian films in cinemas this month - The Black Balloon and Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger. The films are extremely different, but deal with similar themes about relationships and family life. "They were both outstanding scripts," says Collette, who plays a mother in both. "They're quite different stories, but both possess a great deal of humour and heart." Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger was shot in Adelaide and is a coming-of-age comedy drama about a teenager who struggles to fit into her posh private school. Collette plays Mary, mother to New Zealand actor Keisha Castle-Hughes's character, Sunni, who befriends the rebellious outsider and central character, Esther (Danielle Catanzariti). "Esther Blueburger's story is ultimately about acceptance of one's self," Collette says. "I play a single mum who is a bit of a mixed bag. She's a bit of a kid herself and encourages Esther to be her brilliant self, when nobody else does." Both films were directed by relative newcomers - Elissa Down (The Black Balloon) and Cathy Randall (Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger). "If Cathy is an introvert, then Elissa is a very definite extrovert," Collette says. "Both of these directors had also written their scripts and the familiarity they had with their own material was invaluable." Collette has starred in more than 30 films and scored herself an Academy Award nomination for The Sixth Sense (2000). The whole article can be read here. THE MAKING OF "HEY HEY IT'S ESTHER BLUEBURGER" Posted: 2008-03-15 With Esther Blueburger hitting Australian theaters this week, here comes some interesting background information on Toni's role in the film alongside a video clip from the film's Making Of. Toni Collette also joined the increasingly long line of people who found themselves falling in love with Esther. "I fell in love with her plight and her story and her quirks and I just found it all very emotional," she says. "I am often drawn to themes where people have to find themselves, where they start off slightly off kilter and learn that they can well and truly be themselves. "The style of this film is so unusual and beautiful and interesting and funny - I think it will appeal to both kids and adults. You know, a film can be fun but I think that it is much more important to have a heart. When it has both, like Esther, it is perfect." Collette was also drawn to her character, Mary, because she is someone she knew many people would recognize from their own childhoods: "the cool mom," or at least the woman who appeared that way from a distance, even if her life wasn't so picture-perfect on second look. "I do think Mary is good for Esther because all the other people in her life are so dominating and Mary just allows her to be who she is. We all remember those mothers you could really open up to and I think Mary is that for Esther." When Collette came on board, everyone's excitement soared. "Of course we were excited - Toni is without a doubt one of our finest actresses," remarks Miriam Stein. For Cathy Randall, it was a dream come true to work with an actor of Collette's extraordinary calibre in her very first film. "Toni was just fantastic. She was so professional but also very generous with all the kids. It was a real honour to work with her." "THE BLACK BALLOON" OPENS TO GREAT REVIEWS Posted: 2008-03-08 "The Black Balloon" has opened Australian cinemas to an overall positive feedback. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Black Balloon boasts a host of naturalistic performances, including a strong turn by Toni Collette as the boys' demonstrative mother" - and The Age wrote "Toni Collette plays Charlie's mother with enormous warmth and as a tower of strength. At her first rehearsal, when all the young cast were holding their breaths lest they fall foul of this Oscar-nominated actress in their midst, Down asked her to dress Charlie, get his shoes on and brush his hair. "And they just got into a domestic routine and practised having a relationship. That is how we approached everything. And that is one of the strengths of the film, that pretty quickly you go 'Right, this is a family." In an interview with the Golden Mail, co-star Gemma Ward praised Toni. "I remember Toni Collette as being one of the people who first made me want to be an actress, because I watched The Sixth Sense and I was blown away by her performance. I remember it was one of the first times I watched the Oscars because I was just desperate for her to win," Ward says. "She's just so gentle and supportive of all of us, she really did look after us all on the set." Additionally, two more production stills from the film have been added to the gallery. POLE DANCING A ROLE VAULT Posted: 2008-03-08 Article courtesy the Herald Sun: Scantily clad in sexy black lingerie and disguised by a blonde wig, Toni Collette straddles a pole seductively as patrons at a sleazy, dimly lit bar watch on. Perhaps finding her inner sexpot before giving birth to first child Sage in January, the Oscar-nominated star left the ordinary characters of her past behind for her turn as a struggling single mother in Australian film Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger. With talented New Zealander Keisha Castle-Hughes as effortlessly cool teen daughter Sunni, Collette has fun with the rebellious role, even taking to the streets on a macho motorbike. For Collette the role is a stark departure from the heavily pregnant, nurturing mother of an autistic child she portrays in Australian drama The Black Balloon, which also features model-turned-actor Gemma Ward. It's a huge contrast to the usually un-sexy roles the 35-year-old has played in the past, including Cameron Diaz's ordinary sister in In Her Shoes and her unforgettable title role as an ugly duckling in Muriel's Wedding. On a break from her acting and music careers, she's tackling the role of a lifetime - parenthood, in partnership with musician husband Dave Galafassi.