Anna McGahan (born 2 May 1988) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, who has appeared in Australian television, film and theatre. She is best known for playing the roles of

Nellie Cameron Nellie Cameron (born Ellen Katherine Kelly; 1910 – 8 November 1953), known as "The Kiss of Death Girl", was a notorious Sydney prostitute in the 1920s and 1930s, who was featured extensively in the 2011 Australian television mini-series '' Un ...

in the Australian television series, '' Underbelly: Razor'' (2011), Lucy in ''

House Husbands ''House Husbands'' is an Australian television comedy drama. The show debuted on the Nine Network on 2 September 2012. Set in Melbourne, ''House Husbands'' stars Firass Dirani, Gyton Grantley, Rhys Muldoon and Gary Sweet as four fathers who s ...

'' (2012-2014), and Rose Anderson in

The Doctor Blake Mysteries ''The Doctor Blake Mysteries'' (also ''The Blake Mysteries'') is an Australian television series that premiered on ABC TV on 1 February 2013 at 8:30 pm. The series stars Craig McLachlan in the lead role of Dr. Lucien Blake, who returns home t ...

(2015-2018). She received the Queensland Young Playwright's Award in 2008 and 2009, and was short-listed for the Queensland Premier's Drama Award in 2010, for her play 'He's Seeing Other People Now'. She co-wrote the immersive theatre piece 'The People of the Sun' with Joel McKerrow, which toured Melbourne and Sydney in 2016 and 2017. In 2016 she was shortlisted for

The Saturday Paper ''The Saturday Paper'' is an Australian weekly newspaper, launched on 1 March 2014 in hard copy, as an online newspaper and in mobile news format. The paper is circulated throughout Australian capital cities and major regional centres. Since ...

's national essay award, the

Horne Prize The Horne Prize is an Australian award established by Aēsop and ''The Saturday Paper'' in 2016 for a literary essay of up to 3000 words on Australian life. The prize is valued at $15,000 (Australian) and named in honour of Donald Horne (1921– ...

Career

McGahan has appeared in Australian film, television and theatre. Her most notable appearance to date is starring as

in the hit Australian TV series '' Underbelly: Razor'', in which she plays a 16-year-old 1920s

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

from a wealthy background who influenced some of the era's most powerful men, for which she won the Inside Film 'Out of the Box' Award and was nominated for two Logies. In 2012 she received a 'Best Emerging Artist' Matilda Award for her performance in La Boite Theatre Company's ''Julius Caesar''. McGahan appeared in the 2012 film '' 100 Bloody Acres'' and Australian TV series "House Husbands" on the Nine Network in the same year. On 27 June 2012, McGahan was awarded the

Heath Ledger scholarship Australians in Film (AiF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that serves the Australian community working in the film and television industry. It awards the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship to emerging Australian actors, as well as sev ...

at the

Australians in Film Australians in Film (AiF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that serves the Australian community working in the film and television industry. It awards the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship to emerging Australian actors, as well as sev ...

benefit in Los Angeles. In 2014 she played Sister Olive Haynes in the six-part miniseries for ABC Television ''

ANZAC Girls The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comman ...

''. Based closely on real characters, she plays opposite Brandon McClelland as the Australian soldier Norval 'Pat' Dooley, who married Haynes in 1917. In May 2021, McGahan played Katharina in William Shakespeare's ''

The taming of the shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...

'' with Queensland Theatre (in the Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane), directed by Damien Ryan. Petruchio was played by Nicholas Brown.

Personal life

McGahan grew up in Coorparoo, Queensland she went to Brisbane Girls Grammar School located in Brisbane City and studied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at QUT, graduating in 2010. She subsequently relocated to Sydney. Growing up she was a dedicated ballet dancer and then began studying psychology upon finishing high school. She studied screenwriting at AFTRS in 2015. In 2012 McGahan converted to Christianity while reading a

Gideon's Bible Gideons International is an Evangelical Christian association for men founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Gideons' primary activity, along with their wives in the Auxiliary, is "encouraging each other to do the work of the Lord, focusin ...

in a hotel room, where she had a "series of spiritual encounters". In 2019 her memoir of her spiritual journey was published by Acorn Press, and was nominated for the global ECPA Christian Book Awards. She is no longer heavily involved in the church as an institution, and in 2021 stated that she creates work that ‘prioritises a defiant female gaze to explore experiences of embodiment, motherhood, sexuality and spirituality’. McGahan is also a

. She won the Queensland Theatre Company Young Playwright's Award in 2009 and 2010, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Drama Award in 2011. In 2012 she produced her full-length play ''He's Seeing Other People Now'' through the Metro Arts Independents Season in Brisbane. McGahan married Jonathan Weir in April 2017. They welcomed their first child, Mercy Weir, in February 2018, born prematurely at 33 weeks. They separated in 2021, and she now lives in Brisbane with her two daughters.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

QUT
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia.
The Courier Mail
- an Australian newspaper

The Sydney Morning Herald
The Courier Mail
- an Australian newspaper
The Gatehouse
- Studio B
Marquee

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGahan, Anna Actresses from Brisbane Australian Protestants Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Australian film actresses Converts to Protestantism from atheism or agnosticism Queensland University of Technology alumni 1988 births Living people