Kim Krejus is an Australian stage, film, and television actress and acting coach. She is best known for her role in the 1978 film '' Mouth to Mouth'', when she was just 19. She is the founder and artistic director of 16th Street Actors Studio in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia.

Early life and education

Kim Krejus grew up in a Catholic household with an abusive alcoholic stepfather. She studied her craft under international acting teachers at

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(NIDA) in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency prog ...

(training under

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a ...

) and the Atlantic Theatre School in New York City, and

Drama Centre London Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in Kings Cross, London, King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint ...

(where

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Colin Firth, several accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Aw ...

was a fellow student).

Career

In 1978, at the age of 19, Krejus was nominated for an

AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role The AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The AACTA is a non-profit organisation, whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australi ...

for her performance in the film '' Mouth to Mouth''. written and directed by

John Duigan John Duigan (born 19 June 1949) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his two autobiographical fiction, autobiographical films ''The Year My Voice Broke'' and ''Flirting (film), Flirting'', and the 1994 film ' ...

. She also featured on the small screen, including in the lead role in TV miniseries ''

Joe Wilson Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson Sr. (born July 31, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 2001. A member of the Republican Party, his district stretches from Columbia to the Georgia–South Caro ...

''. She has appeared on stage in productions such as ''

The Heidi Chronicles ''The Heidi Chronicles'' is a 1988 play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Production history A workshop production at Seattle Repertory Theatre was held in April 1988, directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, starr ...

'' at the

Cremorne Theatre The Cremorne Theatre was a theatre in South Brisbane, Queensland, South Brisbane (now part of South Bank, Queensland, South Bank), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia that operated, with interruptions, from 1911 to 1954. Although nothing remains of ...

in South Brisbane and the Northside Theatre Company's production of '' A Small Family Business''. She has also featured in

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

productions in the United States, and in theatre across the UK.

Teaching

Krejus has taught acting various Australian tertiary institutions, including

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

, NIDA,

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

. She has also been a private coach for many successful Australian actors including

Kestie Morassi Kestie Morassi (born 9 August 1978) is an People of Australia, Australian film and television actress. She played Natalie in the TV series ''Satisfaction (Australian TV series), Satisfaction'' (2007–2010) and Maggie Astoni in ''Home and Awa ...

and

Luke Mitchell Luke Mitchell (born 17 April 1985) is an Australian actor. He attended the Film and Television Studio International, and won the role of Chris Knight in ''Neighbours'' in 2008. Mitchell appeared as Will in the third season of '' H2O: Just Add ...

16th Street Actors Studio

Krejus is the founder and artistic director of 16th Street Actors Studio, a training school for actors, in Melbourne, Australia. , Iain Sinclair is head of acting at the school, and

Deborra-Lee Furness Deborra-Lee Furness Jackman, (born 30 November 1955) is an Australian actress and producer. Early life Furness was born in Annandale, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and raised in Melbourne, Victoria. At the age of 18, Furness attended ...

is patron. In 2012, actress Zoe Naylor, who had graduated from drama school ten years earlier, attended a four-day workshop at 16th Street by visiting American acting coach and former stand-up comic

Ivana Chubbuck Ivana Chubbuck is an American acting coach and creator of the Chubbuck technique. She heads a drama school in Los Angeles and hosts acting workshops worldwide. Chubbuck originally worked as an actress before becoming an acting coach. Some of her ...

(who had coached

Charlize Theron Charlize Theron ( ; ; born 7 August 1975) is a South African and American actress and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actresses, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 201 ...

and

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

), and praised the mentors at the school.

Personal life

Krejus turned to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

to helped her deal with losing her sister to cancer when she was in her fifties.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Kim Krejus
on

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krejus, Kim Living people Australian film actresses Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Year of birth missing (living people)