Teresa Palmer

She then starred in December Boys, a coming-of-age film set in the 1960s, based on a novel by Michael Noonan.

She played Lucy, who has a romance with Daniel Radcliffe's character in a remote beach town.

Teresa Mary Palmer (born 26 February 1986) is an Australian actress.

Her parents separated when she was three, and divorced in 1992 when she was six.

She has a stepmother, Kaaren Palmer, as well as two half-sisters and three stepbrothers, who lived with her father.

Palmer stated to Interview that she "came from rather humble beginnings"; she lived in public housing with her mother, while regularly visiting her father at his farm near Mylor in the Adelaide Hills (which she later purchased as an adult).

Palmer was named after Mother Teresa by her mother, and has stated that she had a "tough upbringing" due to her mother's manic depression.

Palmer studied Dominique Swain's performance in Lolita (1997) to capture her character's overt sexuality.

Palmer was a student at Mercedes College, a private Catholic day school, and won a local-casting audition, "Search for a Movie Star", in 2003.

Her first acting job was dressing up as a Strawberry Shortcake doll and as an elf assistant to mall Santa Clauses on weekends for promotions in shopping centres near Adelaide.

Palmer went to acting classes for a couple of years and appeared in several television commercials.

She was a fast-food attendant at Hungry Jack's in Rundle Mall in 2005, before working at clothing retailers Supré, Mambo Australia and Cotton On.

After graduating from high school, Palmer thought that she would work in an animal rescue service, and eventually open her own animal welfare agency.

She was accepted into a university to study teaching and was taking a course on journalism, but had always dreamt of acting.

She got a call from an agent about appearing in a student film, 2:37.

The director had seen her head shot on the acting agency's website and wanted her to be in the movie.

Palmer dropped out of the university to work on the film.

Palmer had been an extra on Deck Dogz (2005), and other films shot in Adelaide.

At the age of 18, she was cast by filmmaker Murali K. Thalluri in the independent Australian film 2:37, about a tragic highschool suicide.

A role in Wolf Creek (2005) followed, in a pool party scene.

Palmer starred in the psychological thriller Restraint, with English actor Stephen Moyer and Calvin Klein model Travis Fimmel.

Shot on location around New South Wales in mid-2005, the film was written by Dave Warner and directed by David Denneen.

Palmer was named an Australian "star of tomorrow" by Screen International that year.

The film began shooting in November 2005 on the south coast of Australia.

She was nominated for the 2006 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Lead Actress for her performance.

She then signed with a talent agent in Sydney.

2:37 premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard selection.

The film received a standing ovation, a turning point for Palmer, giving her confidence in acting as a career.

The trip to Cannes led her to meet her manager, David Seltzer, and American talent agents.

She signed with the William Morris Agency.

Palmer was cast to star with Tom Sturridge in her first American feature, Jumper, a science fiction film directed by Doug Liman.

Her part was later recast when the lead characters were rewritten for older actors; her role went to Rachel Bilson.

Palmer was devastated from losing the role and returned to Adelaide for a few months.

She made her Hollywood feature film debut in The Grudge 2 in 2006, a horror sequel starring Amber Tamblyn and Sarah Michelle Gellar.

It was released on 14 September 2007 in the UK and US and 20 September 2007 in Australia and received mixed reviews, and failed at the box office.

She began her career with roles in Bedtime Stories (2008), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010), Take Me Home Tonight (2011), and I Am Number Four (2011).

She received further recognition for starring in the films Warm Bodies (2013), Lights Out (2016), Hacksaw Ridge (2016), and Berlin Syndrome (2017).

She also starred in, co-wrote, and co-produced the drama film The Ever After (2014), with her husband Mark Webber.

From 2018 to 2022, Palmer starred as Diana Bishop in the supernatural drama series A Discovery of Witches.

Palmer was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia, the only child of Kevin Palmer, an investor, and Paula Sanders, a former nurse and missionary.