Jacki Weaver stars in PERPTUAL GRACE, LTD. as “Lillian Brown/Ma,” who resembles at first glance a modest, dutiful church lady. She’s Pa’s willing accomplice, and his counterpart in regard to potency and cruelty.
Jacki Weaver is an Australian theater, film and television actress well known in her home country for more than 50 years. She is best known outside Australia for her performance in David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom (2010), for which she was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received a National Board of Review Award, her third Australian Film Institute Award and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama.
Most recently, Weaver received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in David O. Russell’s The Silver Linings Playbook, co-starring alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. It was the first film since 1981’s Reds to score Oscar nominations in all four acting categories.
Jacki has recently been seen in the second season of the raucous television comedy Blunt Talk, in which she starred with Sir Patrick Stewart. Also on the television side, Jacki is set to head the cast of Bloom; a six-part sci-fi series for Australian streaming platform Stan and produced by Sony Pictures Television’s Playmaker. On the film side, Jacki can be seen in The Polka King opposite Jack Black who premiered at SUNDANCE last year as well as the romantic drama Irreplaceable You. Jacki can also be seen in the New Line Cinema Feature Life of the Party playing Melissa McCarthy’s mother. Additionally, Jacki just wrapped the New Regency thriller Widows opposite Viola Davis, Liam Neeson and Colin Farrell, directed by Steve McQueen; the independent feature Elsewhere alongside Parker Posey and Beau Bridges as well as the neo-noir feature Out of Blue from Carol Morley. Jacki will soon appear in Bird Box alongside Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich as well as The Grudge opposite Andrea Riseborough and Demián Bichir. Weaver is wrapping up Poms, a comedy about a group of women who form a cheerleading squad at their retirement community, alongside Diane Keaton. Lastly, she is set to star in the independent feature Stage Mother, opposite Lucy Liu.
Also on the film horizon, Jacki recently starred in Small Crimes directed by E.L. Katz; the futuristic love story Equals, opposite Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hault, the crimeo-drama The Voices, co-starring Anna Kendrick and Ryan Reynolds; the drama Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, co-starring Gena Rowlands and Julian Sands; and Haunt, an indie horror film. Recently, Jacki also starred in James Franco’s comedy The Disaster Artist and Zeroville, based on Steve Erickson’s 2007 novel. Jacki plays Franco’s mentor, rounding out the cast of Will Ferrell, Seth Rogen, Megan Fox, Danny McBride, Dave Franco, and Craig Robinson.
Weaver made her Hollywood debut with the comedy The Five-Year Engagement, alongside Emily Blunt and Jason Segel. She then went on to co-star in Park Chan- Wook’s English language debut Stoker, alongside fellow Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska. Weaver’s film debut came with 1971’s Stork, for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award. In the 1970s, Weaver gained a sex symbol reputation thanks to her sizzling performances in the likes of Alvin Purple (1973). Other notable films during this time include Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), often seen as one of Australia’s greatest films, and Caddie (1976), for which she won her second Australian Film Institute Award.
Weaver’s extensive television experience includes two situation comedy series written especially for her, Trial by Marriage and House Rules. She has starred in more than 100 plays in Australian theatre. She starred in iconic plays “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” “Death of a Salesman” and most recently, a Sydney stage production of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” alongside Cate Blanchett. The production received so much praise that the cast reprised their roles for a run at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and then again for the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. She has recently starred in Woody Allen’s film Magic in the Moonlight with Colin Firth and Emma Stone in French Riviera.
Weaver resides in Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, California.