Overview (4)
| Date of Birth | 26 February 1986, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Birth Name | Teresa Mary Palmer |
| Nicknames |
Tez Tezza |
| Height | 5' 4½" (1.64 m) |
Mini Bio (1)
Actress and model Teresa Palmer has gathered some impressive film credits. She was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Kevin Palmer, an investor, and Paula Sanders, a former missionary and nurse. She completed high school at Mercedes College in 2003, where she was a popular student who was well-known for her practical jokes. She worked in a Cotton On outlet in Rundle Mall until she was discovered and cast on the spot--without an audition--in her feature film debut and breakthrough role in 2:37 (2006). Made by first-time writer/director/producer Murali K. Thalluri, the film competed in the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in "Un Certain Regard" and chronicles the lives of six students over the course of day and ends in a devastating suicide.
Teresa immediately went to work on back-to-back film projects including December Boys (2007) opposite "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe--a coming-of-age story about four adolescent orphans, based on the book by Michael Noonan and directed by Rod Hardy (Robinson Crusoe (1997), Buffalo Girls (1995), The X-Files (1993) and The Practice (1997)). She also starred as stripper-turned-criminal "Dale" in the British/Australian co-production Restraint (2008), a film noir/psychological thriller that follows the plight of a pair of fugitives on the run from a murder scene. Directed by David Denneen, the film also features former Calvin Klein model Travis Fimmel and British actor Stephen Moyer. In 2006 Teresa worked with Japanese director Takashi Shimizu on the Sony Pictures production The Grudge 2 (2006). Set in Tokyo, the horror sequel to the box-office hit The Grudge (2004) also starred Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Beals. Later that year Teresa signed on to play the female lead in Doug Liman's action fantasy film Jumper (2008), but was subsequently replaced by Rachel Bilson.
Early 2007 saw her star opposite former real-life boyfriend Topher Grace as the love interest in the retro comedy film Take Me Home Tonight (2011). Shortly after filming ended, Teresa decided to move permanently from Adelaide to Los Angeles following a public split from her then-boyfriend of two years, Australian Rules football star Stuart Dew. Teresa was due to play a small part in George Miller's doomed superhero film "Justice League: Mortal", but the production fell through after months of problems. Teresa briefly dated her "Justice League: Mortal" co-star Adam Brody in early 2008; later that year she had a relationship with British comedian Russell Brand, whom she met on the set of her latest film, Bedtime Stories (2008), a Disney children's comedy starring Lucy Lawless, Guy Pearce and Keri Russell and was released on Christmas 2008.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Shanahan (qv's & corrections by A. Nonymous)
Spouse (1)
| Mark Webber | (21 December 2013 - present) (1 child) |
Trivia (53)
Was originally cast in Jumper (2008) but the director and producers later decided they wanted to cast a famous actress in the part and the role was given to Rachel Bilson.
Her role in The Grudge 2 (2006) was originally written for Vanessa Lengies, who turned it down to work on another movie.
Used to work at Cotton On retail store.
Described her character in The Grudge 2 (2006) as the "bitchy" school girl.
When she first auditioned for Bedtime Stories (2008), she was told she wasn't "Paris Hilton" enough to play the role, but Adam Sandler felt she was right for the role.
Has the same publicist as Nicole Kidman.
Was discovered on the street and cast in 2:37 (2006) without an audition and without ever having acted before.
Was considered for roles in two superhero films; Emma Stone's role as Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), and Emily VanCamp's part as Kate in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
Is a longtime fan of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
She went through three months, four hours a day, six days a week of exercises prior to filming I Am Number Four (2011). It included training for sword work, flips, sword fighting, wire work. She also learned to ride a Ducati motorbike.
Had pet kangaroos back home in Australia. Her father raised kangaroos. The names of her three kangaroos were Charlie, Radar and Tippi.
Is often confused with Kristen Stewart.
Her favorite movie is the fantasy film A Little Princess (1995).
She was considered for a role in Nash Edgerton's The Square (2008), but the role was written out before casting began. She did eventually work with Edgerton on the short film Bear (2011).
Auditioned for the role of Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), which went to Alice Eve.
Friends with Phoebe Tonkin.
(December 21, 2013) Married her boyfriend of 15 months Mark Webber, following a four-month-long engagement.
Has a stepson named Isaac Love Shaw (born 2009).
She has twice missed out on working with fellow Australian George Miller. First, she was cast in his doomed "Justice League" project, and later she was cast in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 27, a son named Bodhi Rain Palmer, on February 17, 2014. Child's father is her husband, Mark Webber.
Received her first award, "The Rising Star Award", at 2015 Maui Film Festival.
Her first post-pregnancy part was the psychically demanding role in Point Break (2015), filmed in 10 countries across 4 continents.
She and future husband got engaged on the set of The Ever After (2014), in which they portray a conflicted married couple.
Provided the first on-screen kiss for Daniel Radcliffe when they co-starred in December Boys (2007). It was the last scene filmed on the production, which wrapped at 4am in the morning on Christmas Eve.
Worked as an extra on Deck Dogz (2005).
In 2015, she was named Patron of the Kid's Film Festival of Adelaide, the city in which she was raised. The event is primarily aimed at filmmakers 18 years and under, with submissions of films under 10 minutes accepted.
Has a remarkable total of 10 movies set to be released in the US, within 9 months of each other; From December 2015 to September 2016. Two of the films are set to open the same month; The Choice (2016) and Triple 9 (2016).
Good friends with fellow Australian Luke Hemsworth, whom she co-starred with in two films; Love and Honor (2013) and Cut Bank (2014).
Her father is a passionate collector of model trains. Because of this, the biggest train-set in Australia was located in her childhood home.
Was pregnant while filming Kill Me Three Times (2014). However, her character was not meant to be expecting, so the camera and her wardrobe had to be installed to cover the bump.
Grew up in the same city as Sia.
Two of her films went through an excessive post-production. First, Take Me Home Tonight (2011) began filming in 2007, but was released four years later. Secondly, she began filming Knight of Cups (2015) in 2012, but was withheld from a US release until 2016.
Her step-son is a school classmate of Casey Affleck's child. Affleck and Palmer co-stars in Triple 9 (2016) and hereby knew each other well before they worked together.
Campaigned for a part in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Worked on Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and Berlin Syndrome (2017) at the same time, in the city of Melbourne, Australia.
Keeps her native accent in I Am Number Four (2011) to emphasize the global scope of the movie.
Christian Bale mistook her for a real-life stripper on the set of Knight of Cups (2015). During filming, director Terrence Malick would spontaneously pair Bale up with anything from actual actors to random people on the street. Palmer portrays a stripper in the film and the two of them first met at the strip club where filming took place. Here Palmer spontaneously told him a convincing back-story for her character. Admittedly, Bale didn't realize she was an actress, and not a professional stripper, until he recognized her face on a movie billboard a week after he filmed the scene with her.
Her wedding dress was a custom Pallas Couture lace gown.
She was set to appear in "Skum Rocks!" a rock musical starring Kevin Bacon and Matthew Broderick, but the film was shelved. It would have marked her first time starring in a musical.
Has a fear of being in the ocean. She had to overcome it while filming an underwater scene for Point Break (2015) that required her to stay below the surface for hours.
Hosted the premiere of her film The Ever After (2014) in her hometown of Adelaide, Australia.
One of her life goals is to own her own organic farm.
She was cast as "Talia Al Ghul" in George Miller's "Justice League: Mortal" film in 2007, but it was eventually canceled.
Her religious mother named her after Mother Teresa, the Albanian Roman Catholic religious sister and missionary.
(May 27, 2016) Expecting her 2nd child with her husband Mark Webber.
Has three credits on The Ever After (2014); She starred in it and the film marked her debut as a screenwriter as well as a producer.
Her first acting job was dressing up as Strawberry Shortcake and Santa's Little Helper on weekends for promotions in shopping centers near Adelaide.
Lived in public housing with her mother and on her father's farm throughout her childhood.
She is the only child of her parents' marriage although she has two half-sisters and two stepbrothers from her father's second marriage.
Has stated that she had a tough upbringing due to her mother suffering from Bipolar disorder.
She is a vegan.
Personal Quotes (16)
I was earning like $100 a week a year ago, so this is money I never expected to earn! But I am trying not to listen to the hype or listen to my own media because you can't go through it like that.
You never know when the next up-and-comers will be in the spotlight so people forget you. There's no guarantees.
[on working with Terrence Malick] It was definitely guerrilla-style filmmaking and I don't know if I can touch having that experience ever again. And by the way, I don't even know if I am going to make the final film, but being around Malick was absolutely enough for me.
[on not starring in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)] I have made my peace with letting that opportunity go. The character I was to play in "Fury Road" is very similar to Six (I Am Number Four (2011)) in a way, so I feel like I have played her before.
[on returning to the Australian film industry for the first time in six years] I've carved my path in America doing these big movies and I was switching it up by moving between genres. But I was missing that sense of collaboration you get on these smaller, local movies.
[on I Am Number Four (2011) not getting a sequel] It was really disappointing because I poured my heart into that character and I was so excited by the sequel--"The Power Of Six"--in which I had so much more to do.
[on why she turned down her original plans of becoming a journalist] I always wanted to be a TV presenter. There's a show back home called "Getaway", which is all these beautiful girls, and they go to all these incredible places around the world, and they report from these places. They get to go on holidays, and also get to be a TV presenter. So I thought it looked like glamorous work, and I started studying journalism to try to get into that area. But it was maybe three or four months into the journalism that I got a call--this director said, "I want you to be in my movie". It kind of went from there. I've been in whirlwind ever since, and I never got to doing journalism.
[on fellow Australian Nicole Kidman] She was just lovely, and really endearing, and offered me some words of wisdom. She told me to be picky. She was like, "Oh, you do one big film. Don't get too carried away. Take your time. Be selective with the roles that you take." And she said, "Your career's defined by the things you say no to." Which is really interesting, and I'm really trying to do that at the moment.
[on the differences between working in the US and Australia] It's almost more competitive in Australia because there are far fewer projects and many, many, many talented actors all vying for these rolls. We maybe only make 10 movies a year--and five of them are decent. It's quite sad, so when we run out of roles in Australia, we flock over [to] the United States, but luckily for us Aussies we've had amazing Aussie actors come before and sort of pave the way, like Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman.
[on collaborating with Terrence Malick] It really just changed the way I saw film. I could understand there are boundless possibilities in this world.
[on Kristen Stewart] I have been recognized as her on the street, and I've just gone ahead and signed her name. I've been like "You know what, whatever, I'm just gonna sign her name", because the person was so crazy excited and so I decided to just go along with it. I've only done it once [though]. Usually I'll be like, "Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you! You actually wouldn't know who I am", but whatever, I can totally pretend to be her!
[on filming Hacksaw Ridge (2016) and Berlin Syndrome (2017) at the same time] They are different characters. And I feel like that is easier. I'm glad they're not too similar. I play a woman, taken captive dealing with Stockholm syndrome in Cate Shortlands movie. It's a dark sexual role and then I go into this very innocent character, who is just falling in love with her man in Hacksaw. They are opposite experiences but equally wonderful.
There seems to be a real movement towards gender equality in our industry. It's about time, it's really exciting and it's very much needed. I have noticed it personally. I have a child, many moons back that could hinder your career and now I feel like it has just added to my career. I have never worked so much since I have had my son. They just embrace the fact that I am a mother now and they just write it into all of my roles, it's really just an amazing climate right now. (December 2015)
Adelaide, it's now called Radelaide, because it's so 'Rad'!
[on Mel Gibson] He is really a special person. He is such a huge talent, he is a genius, an eccentric genius who knows exactly what he wants and what his vision is. I'm so inspired working with him because he is definitely getting the best out of everyone, and that is exciting.
I always thought I wouldn't want to be pregnant at my wedding. But I love it. It's beautiful to know our baby was there with us. And I've never really been that traditional.