Sharni Vinson (born 22 July 1983) is an Australian actress and dancer. She is known for her roles in the television soap opera ''
Home and 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 in the films ''
Bait 3D'', ''
Step Up 3D
''Step Up 3D'' (also known as ''Step Up 3'') is a 2010 American 3D dance film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer. It serves as a sequel to 2008's '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' and the third installment in the ''St ...
'' and ''
You're Next
''You're Next'' is a 2011 American slasher film directed and edited by Adam Wingard, written by Simon Barrett and starring Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, A. J. Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran. The plot concern ...
''.
Early life
Born in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Vinson grew up in the southern beach suburb of
Cronulla
Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydne ...
. As a teenager, she trained and competed at a national level in swimming, holding four state records throughout high school. She began singing, dancing and acting at a young age, becoming the third generation in her family of performers; in 1945, her grandmother was the youngest ballerina to be offered a scholarship in the Brovansky Ballet Company in England. At age twelve, Vinson enrolled at the Brent Street School of Performing Arts in Sydney.
Career
Vinson entered the entertainment industry as a musician. At 17, she and three other young women formed the pop/R&B group Foxfire IV. Their sole single, "Roses", peaked at number 47 on the ARIA charts.
They disbanded shortly thereafter.
Vinson made her acting debut portraying minor characters in two episodes of the Australian soap opera ''
Home and 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 ...
'' in 2001 and 2003. She left an impression on the show's casting agent, who recommended her for a regular role on the series. She initially auditioned for the role of
Martha MacKenzie
Martha MacKenzie (also Stewart and Holden) is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Jodi Gordon. Martha made her first on-screen appearance on 8 September 1988. She was originally played ...
, but was cast as
Cassie Turner
Cassandra "Cassie" Turner is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera '' Home and Away'', played by Sharni Vinson. She debuted on-screen during an episode that aired on 18 March 2005. Vinson originally auditioned for ...
, a troubled teenager who is taken into foster care after numerous run-ins with the police. She quickly proved popular with the show's audience and was nominated for "Most Popular New Female Talent" at the
Logie Awards of 2006
The 48th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Sunday 7 May 2006 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network. The ceremony was hosted by Bert Newton, Ray Martin, Daryl Somers, Lisa McCune and Georgie Parker. The nomi ...
.
In July 2007, speculation arose that Vinson intended to leave the series to pursue an acting career in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and that November she confirmed that she would indeed be leaving the series. Her final appearance was on 2 April 2008.
The following year, Vinson made her American television debut on the
TBS sitcom ''
My Boys
''My Boys'' is an American television sitcom that debuted on November 28, 2006, on TBS (U.S. TV channel), TBS. The show deals with a sports columnist in Chicago, Illinois, played by Jordana Spiro, and the men in her life, including her brother an ...
''. She has since appeared on a number of other American network television series such as ''
NCIS'' and ''
CSI: NY
''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
'' alongside former boyfriend
A.J. Buckley. She also made a guest appearance on the final season of the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
Crime television series ''
Cold Case
A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...
,'' which aired in 2010, and in the music video for
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty (also known as Matchbox 20 and MB20) is an American rock band formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, ...
's "''Put Your Hands Up''".
In March 2009, Vinson was cast as Natalie, the female lead in ''
Step Up 3D
''Step Up 3D'' (also known as ''Step Up 3'') is a 2010 American 3D dance film directed by Jon M. Chu and written by Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer. It serves as a sequel to 2008's '' Step Up 2: The Streets'' and the third installment in the ''St ...
'', the third installment of the ''Step Up'' film series. It was her highest-profile role since relocating to America. Filming took place in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Despite mixed reviews, the film was the trilogy's most successful installment, grossing over $159 million worldwide.
Vinson's follow-up role was in
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
Straight-to-DVD film ''
Blue Crush 2'', a sequel to the 2002 Drama/Romance film ''
Blue Crush
''Blue Crush'' is a 2002 sports film directed by John Stockwell and based on Susan Orlean's 1998 ''Outside'' magazine article "Life's Swell". It stars Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez, Sanoe Lake and Mika Boorem. The film tells the story of ...
'' which starred
Kate Bosworth
Catherine Anne Bosworth (born January 2, 1983) is an American actress. Following minor roles in the films '' The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), she rose to prominence with her role as a young surfer in the box-offi ...
and
Michelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodriguez (born July 12, 1978) is an American actress.
Rodriguez began her career in 2000, playing a troubled boxer in the independent sports drama film ''Girlfight'' (2000), where she won the Independent Spirit Award and Gotha ...
. Vinson portrayed the role of the film's villain Tara, an internationally successful pro-surfer. The film was released in June 2011. In October 2010 Vinson returned to Australia to begin production on Vinson's first role in an Australian film in the
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
horror film ''
Bait 3D'' as Tina, the protagonist's ex-girlfriend. The film follows a group of people trapped inside a flooded supermarket, following a freak tsunami, with a 12-foot great white shark. Vinson was reunited with former ''Home and Away'' cast member
Lincoln Lewis
Lincoln Clay Lewis (born 24 October 1987) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles in the movie ''Tomorrow, When the War Began'' and in the television series ''Home and Away'' and ''Slide''.
Early life
Lewis was born in Brisbane, Qu ...
. The film was shot in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
on a $20 million budget. The film which was released in September 2012, was released to mixed reviews and failed to make an impact on the domestic box office. However, it was successful in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, and earned $29 million worldwide.
Following ''Bait 3D'', Vinson was cast in another horror film project that became her most critically acclaimed role to date. ''
You're Next
''You're Next'' is a 2011 American slasher film directed and edited by Adam Wingard, written by Simon Barrett and starring Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, A. J. Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton and Rob Moran. The plot concern ...
'' centers on a family reunion that goes terribly wrong when a group of mysterious masked killers start killing them off one by one. Vinson played the film's protagonist, Erin, the girlfriend of one of the family's sons. She was able to portray Erin with her natural Australian accent. Initially an independent film, its premiere at the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival secured it a distribution deal with
Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
. It was released in North America almost two years later, in August 2013. It received mostly positive reviews, with special regards for Vinson's performance;
Total Film
''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched ...
rated her character #1 on its list of '50 Most Bad-Ass Female Horror Leads'.
In March 2014 Vinson appeared in the Australian independent horror film ''
Patrick Patrick may refer to:
* Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name
* Patrick (surname), list of people with this name
People
* Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint
*Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...
'', a remake of the
1978 film of the same name. Vinson portrayed nurse Kathy Jacquar, whose comatose patient Patrick uses his psychic powers to stalk her. It premiered in July 2013 at the
Melbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...
and received a limited Australian theatrical release in March 2014. It is Vinson's most critically acclaimed film to date, receiving 83% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews. In 2015, Vinson appears alongside
John Cusack
John Paul Cusack (; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and political activist. He is a son of filmmaker Dick Cusack, and his ol ...
and
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
in ''
Dragon Blade''.
Personal life
As of January 2019, Vinson holds dual citizenship for Australia and the United States.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinson, Sharni
1983 births
Australian film actresses
Australian soap opera actresses
American film actresses
American soap opera actresses
Living people
Actresses from Sydney
Singers from Sydney
21st-century Australian actresses
21st-century American actresses
Australian female dancers
Australian women singers
American female dancers
21st-century Australian singers
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singers
American people of Australian descent
Australian Survivor contestants