The stars come out: NIDA celebrates 60 years

Before their Oscars, AACTAs and box-office hits, some of Australia’s most acclaimed actors honed their craft at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. As it prepares to celebrate its 60-year anniversary later this month, NIDA opens its archives to offer a rare glimpse of its famous alumni as they first trod the boards.

1977:

Judy Davis and Mel Gibson in their graduating production of Mother and Son. Eight years later, Davis received her first Oscar nomination (for A Passage to India). In 1996, Gibson’s Braveheart won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director.

Judy Davis and Mel Gibson.Credit: George Pashuk/Courtesy of NIDA

1981:

Hugo Weaving as a third-year student in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Paul Williams.
Ten years later, he won his first AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Proof. His many
subsequent roles include Agent Smith in The Matrix series and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings films.

Hugo Weaving with Paul Williams. Credit: Courtesy of NIDA

1985:

Second-year student Richard Roxburgh (with Christina Youhanna) in Chekhov’s
Uncle Vanya. Since then, his roles have ranged from Hamlet to Roger Rogerson, Sherlock Holmes to Dracula, and he has launched parallel careers as a writer, producer and director.

Richard Roxburgh with Christina Youhanna.Credit: Peter Holderness/Courtesy of NIDA

Mirando Otto. Credit: Marco Bok/Courtesy of NIDA

1990:

Miranda Otto as a third-year student in the musical April Showers. Six years later, she starred in Love Serenade, which won the 1996 Cannes Film Festival’s Caméra d’Or, and in 2002, joined the Lord of the Rings cast.

1992: Cate Blanchett in her graduating year, performing in Sophocles’ Electra, 13 years before her first Oscar (for Best Supporting Actress in The Aviator) and 22 years before her second, for Best Actress in Blue Jasmine.

Cate Blanchett.Credit: Marco Bok/Courtesy of NIDA

1998:

Third-year student Sam Worthington as Lee Harvey Oswald in Assassins, 11 years before he starred in the spectacularly successful Avatar.

Sam Worthington.Credit: Branco Gaica/Courtesy of NIDA

2005:

Yael Stone as a second-year student in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, eight years before she joined the cast of the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

Yael Stone.Credit: Branco Gaica/Courtesy of NIDA

2007:

Second-year student Sarah Snook in The Love Talker. She won her first local Best Actress award in 2013 (for Not Suitable For Children) and another in 2015 for Predestination.

Sarah Snook.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Courtesy of NIDA

2008:

Miranda Tapsell as a third-year student in The Servant of Two Masters. Four years later, she starred in The Sapphires, and in 2015, won two Logies for Love Child. She also co-wrote this year’s Top End Wedding.

Miranda Tapsell.Credit: Courtesy of NIDA

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