Maminydjama Magnolia Maymuru (born 1997) is an Aboriginal Australian actress and model who won Best Supporting Actress at the 9th

AACTA awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the cinema of Australia, film and ...

, for her portrayal in '' The Nightingale''. She was born in

Yirrkala Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. Its population comprises predominantly Aboriginal Australians of th ...

in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and belongs to the

Yolngu The Yolngu or Yolŋu ( or ) are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnuma ...

community. In 2014, as a teenager, she was spotted by a model scout while withdrawing money from an ATM. First, she turned down the offer as she was continuing her education. She agreed to take part in a fashion show and to enter fashion industry, as she met Mehali Tsangaris, director of NT Fashion Week, while she was shopping. As a model, she used her registered middle name, Magnolia. At the age of 19, Maminydjama Magnolia Maymuru became the first Aboriginal woman from the Northern Territory to enter the Miss World Australia beauty pageant and reached the national finals. She is the niece of media commentator and television show producer Leila Gurruwiwi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maymuru, Maminydjama Living people 1997 births Australian female models Indigenous Australian actresses People from the Northern Territory Yolngu people 21st-century Australian actresses