Odessa Young (born 11 January 1998) is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in the 2015

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Looking for Grace ''Looking for Grace'' is a 2015 Australian drama film directed by Sue Brooks. It was screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and in the inaugural Platform section at the 2015 Toronto International ...

'' and '' The Daughter'', the latter of which earned her 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), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest ach ...

. She won further accolades for her performance in the web series ''High Life'' in 2017. In 2018, she starred in the films ''

Assassination Nation ''Assassination Nation'' is a 2018 American satirical black comedy thriller film written and directed by Sam Levinson. It stars an ensemble cast led by Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, and Abra. The film takes place in the fictional t ...

'' and ''

A Million Little Pieces ''A Million Little Pieces'' is a book by James Frey, originally sold as a memoir and later marketed as a semi-fictional novel following accusations of literary forgery. It tells the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and abuser of other drugs and ...

.'' That year, she also made her

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

debut in ''

Days of Rage The Days of Rage were a series of protests during three days in October 1969 in Chicago, organized by the emerging Weatherman faction of Students for a Democratic Society. The group planned the October 8–11 event as a "National Action" ...

.'' In 2020, she starred as Frannie in the

post-apocalypse Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astr ...

miniseries ''

The Stand ''The Stand'' is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few survivin ...

'', based on the 1978 novel of the same name by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

, and opposite

Elisabeth Moss Elisabeth Singleton Moss (born July 24, 1982) is an American actor. She is known for her work in several television dramas, earning such accolades as two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, which led ''Vulture'' to name her the ...

in ''

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

'' (2020), a film about the novelist

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...

Early life and education

Young grew up in Australia, where her father is a musician and her mother a writer. She attended a performing arts high school 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 ...

, taking part in theatre productions. Within two days of turning 18, she relocated from Sydney to

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

. Two years later, Young moved to

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...

, New York.

Career

Odessa Young started acting professionally at the age of 11, when she was cast through her drama teacher in the Australian children's show '' My Place.'' She acted in

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

such as '' Wonderland'' and '' Tricky Business'' before making the transition into

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

work. In 2015, she co-starred in the film '' The Daughter'' with

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric leading man roles on stage and screen. He is among 24 people who have won the Triple Crown of Acting, having received an Academy ...

and

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

. She was cast as "the daughter" after modifying her take on the character to seem less mature than in her first audition. Also in 2015, she acted alongside

Radha Mitchell Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell is an Australian actress. She started her career with various appearances on Australian television, including a regular role as Catherine O'Brien in the soap opera ''Neighbours'' (1996–97). Mitchell la ...

in ''

'', where she played the titular role. Later that year, she was dubbed "Australia's brightest rising star" by ''

Elle Magazine ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the wo ...

''. For her role in ''The Daughter'', Young attracted considerable critical acclaim and won

Best Actress in a Leading Role The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

at the 2016

AACTA Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

. Her performance in ''The Daughter'' also earned her an award for Best Actress from the Australian Film Critics Association. In 2016, she was in final negotiations to play the female lead in ''When The Street Lights Go On'' on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

. In 2017, Young starred as Genevieve in the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

''High Life''; for her performance, she won an International Academy of Web Television Award for Best Lead Actress – Drama. In 2018, she won Best Actress at the 5th annual

Vancouver Web Series Festival The Vancouver Web Series Festival, also known as the Vancouver Web Fest, is a web series festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is known as the first ever Canadian festival dedicated solely to entertainment and programming cr ...

for her role in the same series. In 2018, she starred in the films ''

'' and ''

.'' That year, she also made her

debut in ''

'' at the Tony Kiser Theater, where she plays the radical Quinn in 1969. She was cast in ''

'' miniseries in 2019. With the ''Stand'', there were four shooting days before lockdown in Vancouver, with shooting picking up again later. Released in 2020, the series features Young as Frannie, with a "new coda co-written by King himself" that gives her a different portrayal than the book in the final episode. In 2020, Young was cast as a hostess in the HBO Max television series ''

Tokyo Vice ''Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan'' is a 2009 memoir by Jake Adelstein of his years living in Tokyo as the first non-Japanese reporter working for one of Japan's largest newspapers, ''Yomiuri Shinbun''. It was publi ...

'', to be directed by

Michael Mann Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ' ...

and written by

J. T. Rogers J. T. Rogers is a multiple-award-winning, internationally recognized American playwright who lives in New York. Rogers has written several plays including ''Oslo'', '' Blood and Gifts'', ''The Overwhelming'', ''White People'', and ''Madagascar''. ...

. She was subsequently replaced by

Rachel Keller Rachel Keller is a fictional character in ''The Ring'' film series. The character, created by writer-producer Ehren Kruger and portrayed by Naomi Watts, serves as the protagonist of '' The Ring'' and ''The Ring Two'', sharing similarities with R ...

, when she pulled out of the production over scheduling conflicts related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the 2020 film ''

'', Young plays Rose, a newly married young woman living in the same house as

. In 2020, Odessa Young participated in ''

Acting for a Cause ''Acting for a Cause'' is a live read series of classic plays and screenplays created, produced, directed and hosted by Brando Crawford. The script is typically announced days before the event alongside a playbill featuring the cast and an anima ...

'', a live classic play and screenplay reading series created, directed and produced by Brando Crawford. Young played Lady Prism in

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

. The reading raised funds for non-profit charities including

Mount Sinai Medical Center Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Si ...

. ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'' named her one of six actors to watch in 2021. That year, she was also cast in the British film ''

Mothering Sunday Mothering Sunday is a day honouring mother churches, the church where one is baptised and becomes "a child of the church", celebrated since the Middle Ages in the United Kingdom, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries on the fourth Sunday in ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Odessa 21st-century Australian actresses Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Living people Best Actress AACTA Award winners Place of birth missing (living people) 1998 births