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'' and '' A Million Little Pieces.'' 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 th ...

debut in '' Days of Rage.'' 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'', 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 in '' Shirley'' (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 m ...

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 Mounta ...

, 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 List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Two years later, Young moved to

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. As of the 2020 United ...

, 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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

such as ''

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'' 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 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 Award, a Primetime Emm ...

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 in ''

'', where she played the

titular role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

. 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 w ...

''. For her role in ''The Daughter'', Young attracted considerable critical acclaim and won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2016 AACTA Awards. 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 series ...

. In 2017, Young starred as Genevieve in the web series ''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 for her role in the same series. In 2018, she starred in the films '' Assassination Nation'' and '' A Million Little Pieces.'' That year, she also made her

debut in '' Days of Rage'' at the Tony Kiser Theater, where she plays the radical Quinn in 1969. She was cast in '' The Stand'' 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 publ ...

'', 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. She was subsequently replaced by Rachel Keller, 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 identi ...

. In the 2020 film '' Shirley'', 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. ''

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''.

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