Shantae Barnes-Cowan (born ) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

actress. She starred in the TV series '' Total Control'' (2019), '' Operation Buffalo'' (2020), and ''

Firebite ''Firebite'' is an Australian drama/horror television series featuring vampires created by Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher. A co-production between See-Saw Films and AMC Studios, the series premiered on AMC+ on 16 December 2021 and r ...

'' (2021-2022), and the feature films '' Wyrmwood: Apocalypse'' (2021), and '' Sweet As'' (2022). Among other accolades, she was nominated for the 2024

AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role The AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The AACTA is a non-profit organisation, whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australi ...

for ''Sweet As''.

Early life and education

Shantae Barnes-Cowan was born in and was placed in a foster family when she was a year old in

Whyalla Whyalla is a city in South Australia. It was founded as Hummock's Hill, and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Gawler, and along ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. She is very close to her foster parents, the Cowans. She is an

Adnyamathanha The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporarily formed grouping of several distinct Aboriginal Australian peoples of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternative name for the Wailpi but th ...

woman, and has three sisters and seven brothers. She did not study drama at school, but always admired

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman is best known for her characters: Parliament of Australia, MP Alexandra "Alex" Irving on the Australian political drama series ''Total Co ...

and

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...

. In 2021, while studying

Year 12 Year 12 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. It is sometimes the twelfth or thirteenth year of compulsory education, or alternatively a year of post-comp ...

in high school, 18-year-old Barnes-Cowan worked on film sets across Australia. She credited her

foster family Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family member a ...

for helping her juggle her career and education. She completed year 12 at Samaritan College, Whyalla, in 2021.

Career

In her screen debut, Barnes-Cowan played Jess Clarke in season 1 of the award-winning Australian political drama series '' Total Control'' in 2019. She played Peggy in '' Operation Buffalo'' in May 2020.

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

casting director Angela Heesom, who auditioned Barnes-Cowan for the role, said later that she had told her that day that she was going to be an actor and was a "star in the making", who had all the natural instinct. She described her "as an Indigenous version of

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across various genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Award ...

". In 2021, she completed filming the horror film ''Wyrmwood Apocalypse'', playing the character Maxi in her first feature film. She played the lead role Shanika in the

AMC+ AMC+ is an American subscription video on demand streaming service owned by AMC Networks that was launched on June 11, 2020. The service is a premium bundle that includes the live feeds and program libraries of the company's television networks ...

international TV miniseries ''Firebite''. ''Firebite'', which was filmed in Adelaide, was created by

Warwick Thornton Warwick Thornton is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. His debut feature film '' Samson and Delilah'' won the Caméra d'Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and the award for Best Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awar ...

and Brendan Fletcher. Shanika is the adoptive daughter of Tyson, played by Rob Collins, and both play vampire-killing "bloodhunters". The series aims to tell the story of the

colonisation of Australia 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

from an Indigenous perspective, using vampires as metaphors for smallpox. She played the lead role as troubled teen Murra in Jub Clerc's directorial feature debut, the coming-of-age film set in the

Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, ''Sweet As'' (2022). She had a leading role in ''Sweet As'', which had its world premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and won the

Crystal Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. In 2023, she completed filming on a short film, ''The Redemption'', an

Australian Western Australian Western, also known as meat pie Western or kangaroo Western, is a genre of Western-style films or TV series set in the Australian outback or "the bush". Films about bushrangers (sometimes called bushranger films) are included in thi ...

filmed in

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

. It was directed by Peter Cameron, and premiered in July 2024. She moved to

to study beauty therapy at

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...

, while also auditioning for new roles, including internationally. In late 2024, Barnes-Cowan was announced in the cast for a second series of Mystery Road: Origin.

Other activities

As a teenager, Barnes-Cowan was an active sportsperson and community leader. She played country and regional netball, as well as regional and state level basketball, representing South Australia. Barnes-Cowan has been South Australian ambassador for the

Indigenous Literacy Foundation The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is an Australian not-for-profit founded in 2011 that works to address the educational disadvantages faced by Indigenous Australian children and young people by providing access to books and literacy prog ...

Recognition and awards

* 2018: Nominated, Young Sisters Dreaming Award in the

Gladys Elphick Awards Gladys Elphick (née Walters; 27 August 1904 – 19 January 1988), also known as Gladys Hughes and Auntie Glad, was an Australian Aboriginal woman of Kaurna and Ngadjuri descent, best known as the founding president of the Council of Aborigina ...

* 2018: Winner, Whyalla NAIDOC Week award for Female Sportsperson of the Year * 2020: Whyalla Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year * 2021: Nominated, Channel 7 Young Achiever Award in the Aboriginal Achievement category * 2022: Nominated as one of Adelaide's 26 most inspiring women by the ''

Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858,SkyCity Adelaide Adelaide Casino, known commercially as SkyCity Adelaide, is a large casino and recreational venue on the north edge of the Adelaide city centre. Located in the heritage-listed Adelaide railway station building on North Terrace, Adelaide, the cas ...

, '' The Advertiser'', and '' Sunday Mail'') *2023: Winner, Outstanding Achievement of a Child or Young Person category in the South Australian Child Protection Awards * 2024: Nominated, AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in Film, for ''Sweet As''

Filmography

Films

TV

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes-Cowan, Shantae Living people Australian film actresses Australian television actresses Indigenous Australian actresses Year of birth missing (living people)