| Small, blonde, and Australian, Radha Mitchell first made an impression on international audiences as the paramour of a heroin-addled photographer (Ally Sheedy) in Lisa Cholodenko's High Art (1998). Mitchell, a native of Melbourne, began acting when she was still in high school and had her professional debut on the popular Aussie soap Neighbours in 1994. Two years later, she made her film debut in the romantic comedy Love and Other Catastrophes, in which she starred as a college student experiencing a messy breakup with her girlfriend (Frances O'Connor). The film proved to be fairly popular in Australia, but it wasn't until she was cast in High Art that Mitchell gained an introduction to a wider audience. The critical success of High Art made it possible for her to do more international work, and her increasing popularity was reflected by her subsequent casting in a number of projects. Among them were Pitch Black (2000), a sci-fi horror film in which Mitchell played a pilot whose ship crashes on a hostile planet, and Everything Put Together (2000), a drama about a suburban woman (Mitchell) shunned by her peers after the death of her baby.
A talented Australian actress who first gained fame as the main female lead opposite Vin Diesel in "Pitch Black", Radha Mitchell has performed in successful films such as "Phone Booth", "Man On Fire" and "Finding Neverland."
The actress enjoyed a major career breakthrough when she made her feature debut in Emma-Kate Croghan's engaging romantic comedy, "Love and Other Catastrophes" (1996), playing Danni, "a sweet young thing" as Mitchell describes her role, who is dazzled by Mia, a university film student. The two break up, but are eventually reconciled amid the often farcical incidents befalling their close circle of friends and lovers. Although Mitchell's follow-up film and US debut, Lisa Cholodenko's "High Art" (1998), was in many ways a different, much more dramatic film, her role as Syd did have some connections with Danni. Mitchell's large, expressive eyes and blonde hair suggested the youth and inexperience of an aspiring magazine editor dazzled by a gifted photographer (Ally Sheedy) on a career and personal downhill. At the same time, though, Mitchell was also called on to convey a mature and intense emotional attraction as well as a sometimes unattractive ambition, both of which she managed to critical acclaim. After a turn as a house guest who won't leave in the indie "Cleopatra's Second Husband" (also 1998), Mitchell moved more into mainstream fare with the science-fiction horror of "Pitch Black" (2000).
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