Overview (3)

Mini Bio (1)

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (4)

Red hair



Australian accent



Fluent American accent



Frequently plays mothers



Trivia (29)



Nominated for a 2000 Tony Award for her performance as "Queenie" in Michael John LaChiusa 's musical "The Wild Party" on Broadway.



Gained 40 pounds in 7 weeks for Muriels Hochzeit (1994) with the help of a dietitian.



Starred as Sonya in the Sydney Theatre Company's 1992 Production of Anton Chekhov 's "Uncle Vanya".



Though she vowed not to gain any more weight for movie roles, director Curtis Hanson convinced her to gain twenty-five pounds for her role in In den Schuhen meiner Schwester (2005). She believed it was important to her character's personality.



Dropped out of Australia's NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts) in order to make her first film Made in Spotswood - Die Fabrik der schrägen Vögel (1991).



Toni sings with her band, called "The Finish", and her husband, Dave Galafassi , is the Drummer.

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.





Gave birth to her daughter, Sage Florence Galafassi, by her husband Dave Galafassi , on 9 January 2008.



She has shaved her head five times. Only once for a film though. 8½ Frauen (1999).



Was romantically linked to actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers while the pair played a couple in Velvet Goldmine (1998).



Returned to work 9 months after giving birth to her daughter Sage in order to begin filming Mary & Max, oder - Schrumpfen Schafe, wenn es regnet (2009).



Gave birth to her son, Arlo Robert Galafassi, with husband Dave Galafassi , in Australia (22 April 2011).



Was 5 months pregnant with her son Arlo when she completed filming on the third series of Taras Welten (2009).



Returned to work 3 months after giving birth to her son Arlo to begin filming Mental (2012).



Performs "Throw Your Arms Around Me", "Don't Dream It Over" and "Stand By Me" in the film, Cosi (1996).



On the set of Taras Welten (2009), in which she portrays a person with personality disorder, she once breastfed her three months old daughter, fully dressed as her male identity Buck.



Is occasionally mistaken for singer-songwriter Annie Lennox



Shares her birth date (November 1, 1972) with actress Jenny McCarthy



On the show Who Do You Think You Are? (2008), Toni discovered that her biological paternal grandfather was likely an American serviceman with whom her grandmother, Norma Ruby (McWhinney), had had a relationship, while ending her marriage to Toni's legal grandfather, Harold Stanley Collett. As of the show's airing in 2015, Toni did not know the name of her biological grandfather, and at the end of the episode, Toni showed a picture of the man and asked the public if anyone can recognize him.



Has portrayed the caregiver of young adults with autism in two films: As Maggie Mollison, the mother (and primary caregiver within the family) of a son with autism in The Black Balloon (2008) and as Scottie, the group-home primary caregiver of a young woman with autism in Please Stand By (2017).



In 2015 Kate Winslet has said she would like to work with Collette.



For her portrayal in The Black Balloon (2008) as Maggie, a mother who uses sign language to communicate with her son who has autism and a condition now known as "selective mutism," she learned more words and phrases in sign language than the script called for so that she could improvise and also give more complete meaning to things her character said when signing with Luke Ford , who also learned how to sign some words and phrases to portray, Charlie, the son with autism.

Personal Quotes (10)

I'm an actor not a movie star. I prefer it that way. I think when you watch big stars on screen; it's really difficult to look beyond that very familiar persona. As an actor, you can play different characters and not be recognized. I know I've got parts that other bigger, more famous actors wanted. I think in some cases their fame is a hindrance because they're too identifiable.



I'm very happy with my lot. I like the variety I get. You don't want to spend your life repeating yourself. It's true of any kind of artist, you want to explore as wide and far as you can go, so that's what I've been trying to do.



My family, my relationships with my friends, my home and my music are the most important things in my life. I like being married, but it was never something I felt I had to do. Women in the States seem to think 'I gotta meet a man, I gotta get married'. I don't get that, I was getting on with my life and having a great time. I really did not expect to meet my husband and it was probably the best surprise of my life. It is everything, it's fun, comforting, it makes me feel so safe and centered.



I don't know that I want to do it forever. When it gets too much, I just walk the beaches of Sydney and get calm again. You just grab your surfboard, splash in those waves and feel happy to be alive. That's what really matters.



I find it strange that actors are on the covers of magazines. When I watch a movie, someone's beauty isn't what engages me, it's what's going on internally. And I imagine it's what the audience thinks, too.



The better you know yourself, the better your relationship with the rest of the world.



Sometimes life hits you on the head with a saucepan. But I'm not here to talk about saucepans.



Travelling's so much better when you know you've got a lovely home to go back to. I can just enjoy it for what it is, without depending on it too much.



I've always been a working actor. Big difference. I'm not interested in promoting myself or being famous. Don't get me wrong, I like getting tables at restaurants that have been booked out for months. But I don't want people to identify with me instead of the character I'm playing.



[on horror films] The only time I watched them was at sleepovers as a teenager. I have such a vivid imagination and I don't need to feed it with that kind of stuff. But something specific to both 'The Sixth Sense' and 'Hereditary' is that they are not solely horror films. They are beautiful portrayals of something really deep, and that makes them more complex, more interesting - and probably scarier.



Salary (2)