Rhiana Jade Griffith (born 1985) is an Australian former actress and artist.
Life and career
Griffith was born in the
Hunter Region
The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...
of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. She began modeling as a child, doing runway work and catalogue ads, and progressed from there to television commercials.
From there, she got her first guest-starring role on the Australian medical drama ''Children's Hospital'', and won her first film role, as Mercia in the 1998 film ''15 Amore''. Shortly thereafter, she won ModelQuest98's Grand Final for the 12-to-15 division, and was cast as "Jack" in the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
film ''
Pitch Black
Pitch Black may refer to:
Film
* ''Pitch Black'' (film), a 2000 science fiction movie
* Pitch Black, the boogeyman in the animated film ''Rise of the Guardians''
Music
* Pitch Black Records, a Cyprus-based record label established in 2007
* Pitc ...
''.
Griffith continued to act throughout her teenage years, balancing her career with schooling. She starred in ''Desperately Seeking Brandi,'' a short film that was broadcast on the
Nike website to coincide with the 2000
Sydney Olympic games. Her costars in the film were
Brandi Chastain
Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...
and
Oliver Ackland
Oliver Ackland (born 9 November 1979) is an Australian actor.
Biography
In 2009 he was awarded the inaugural Heath Ledger scholarship by Australians in Film.
Ackland starred in Ben Lucas' ''Wasted on the Young'', which premiered at the 2010 S ...
. That same year, she was also a guest-star on the Australian comedy TV series ''Backberner.''
In 2001, she starred in the short film ''Search'' by director Hannah Hilliard. In 2002, she did a three-month guest-star stint on the popular Australian soap opera ''
Home & Away
''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...
'' and then guest-starred on an episode of the crime drama ''
White Collar Blue.'' 2003 saw her appearing in a music video by rocker
Ben Lee, called "Running With Scissors," directed by
Nash Edgerton.
In 2004 she reprised her role as "Jack" from ''
Pitch Black
Pitch Black may refer to:
Film
* ''Pitch Black'' (film), a 2000 science fiction movie
* Pitch Black, the boogeyman in the animated film ''Rise of the Guardians''
Music
* Pitch Black Records, a Cyprus-based record label established in 2007
* Pitc ...
'' in the
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
''
The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury''. She also auditioned to play the role in the feature film sequel to ''
Pitch Black
Pitch Black may refer to:
Film
* ''Pitch Black'' (film), a 2000 science fiction movie
* Pitch Black, the boogeyman in the animated film ''Rise of the Guardians''
Music
* Pitch Black Records, a Cyprus-based record label established in 2007
* Pitc ...
'', ''
The Chronicles of Riddick''. Her casting was backed by producer and star
Vin Diesel, but Griffith was told she had to "toughen up" for the role. Despite enlisting the aid of a kick-boxing trainer, she had only three weeks to prepare, and the role eventually went to
Alexa Davalos
Alexa Davalos Dunas (born May 28, 1982) is an American actress. Her early role as Gwen Raiden on the fourth season of the TV series ''Angel'' (2002–03) was followed by some Hollywood films, including ''The Chronicles of Riddick'' (2004), ''F ...
.
2004 also saw Griffith embark upon her art career in earnest, with two major solo gallery showings. Her first, ''Chrysalis,'' was held at the Tighes Hill Gallery in
Newcastle, Australia in January 2004. Her second, ''A Month in Kaos,'' was held at the Surry Hills Cafe 249 art gallery in
Sydney, Australia
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
in May 2004. Griffith also acted in another short film, ''A Whole New You,'' and guest-starred in an episode of the hit Australian medical drama ''
All Saints.'' As the year came to a close, Griffith portrayed
Barbarella in print and television ads promoting the Flickerfest film festival.
In 2005, Griffith held her third art exhibition, a collaboration with her brother, poet Damien Griffith, called ''Sibling Revelry''. In conjunction with the art show, they released a limited-edition book of their work, pairing her paintings with his poems. Griffith also contributed to a
Wearable Art
Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to art pieces in the shape of clothing or jewellery pieces. These pieces are usually handmade, and are produced only once or as a very limited series. Pieces of clothing are often made w ...
Festival, and will launch a line of clothing later in 2005. She is working on her second book, a children's book, for release in late 2005, and portrayed the starring role of Clare Newell in a short film, ''
Wrong Answer'', which will be continued in the psychological thriller called ''Volunteer'', to be directed by JD Cohen.
Griffith has a daughter, Poppy, born in 2009.
Portfolio
References
Sources
The Blade Picture Company presents: Desperately Seeking Brandi
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Rhiana
1985 births
Australian film actresses
Australian child actresses
Australian female models
Living people
Australian women painters
People from the Hunter Region
Actresses from New South Wales
20th-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian actresses