Yael Stone is an Australian

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She has worked extensively in Australian theatre and has won two

Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...

. On screen, she is best known for her portrayal of Lorna Morello in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Pr ...

''. Stone is also known for her support of

abortion rights Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their p ...

and climate protection, and has vocally advocated for women's issues.

Early life and education

Yael Stone was born and raised in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, the daughter of Judy, a nurse, and Harry Stone, an architect. Her father was born in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, to

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor parents. Stone's father is from a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family and her mother, who is of Romanian descent,

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

. Her brother, Jake Stone, was the lead singer of the band

Bluejuice Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney, active between 2000 and 2014. The group's final line-up consisted of co-lead vocalists Jake Stone and Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jamie Cibej, and drummer James Hauptmann. The band released thr ...

. Her sister,

Elana Stone Elana Stone is an Australian singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Her debut solo album, ''In the Garden of Wild Things'', was released in 2005 on the Jazzgroove label. Its follow-up, ''Your Anniversary'', was released in 200 ...

, is also a musician. She was a sickly child, spending periods in hospital with

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, so did not participate in sport. She took speech and drama lessons with a local woman, Robin Fraser, who encouraged her to develop her skills in performing and writing. Stone attended the

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts The Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary day school in the suburb of Newtown in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is among a few performing arts and vis ...

and then the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(NIDA).

Career

Stone began acting as a child, with roles in the film ''

Me Myself I ''Me Myself I'' is the sixth studio album by British recording artist Joan Armatrading. Released in May 1980, the album was Armatrading's highest ever chart placing both in the UK (number 5) and in the US (number 28). In Australia, the album ...

'' and the miniseries ''The Farm''. She then worked primarily in theatre. At the 2008

, she won the awards for Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ''The Kid''. From 2010 to 2011, she appeared in ''The Diary of a Madman'' (a theatrical adaptation of the

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

), a role for which she was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Sydney Theatre Awards. In February 2011, she travelled to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to perform in the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...

's production of ''The Diary of a Madman'', before returning to lead roles in ''A Golem Story'', ''

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' is an Australian play written by Ray Lawler and first performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne on 28 November 1955. The play is considered to be the most significant in Australian theatre history, and a " ...

'', and ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

'' in Sydney. She also worked in television, including supporting roles in '' All Saints'' and '' Spirited''. Stone moved to New York permanently in December 2011 and co-founded an experimental theatre company. After four months in New York, she was cast in the

series ''

'', a show set in a women's prison. Stone plays Lorna Morello, a prisoner from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

; her accent, a mixture of

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

, was called "the most amazing accent on television" by a journalist for ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'', while another reviewer deemed the role to be Stone's "breakout turn". She reprised her role in the show's second season, and was billed as a series regular in the third season. She appeared as dog walker, Beth in the HBO and web series ''

High Maintenance ''High Maintenance'' is an American anthology comedy-drama television and web series created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. The show follows The Guy, a cannabis courier (played by Sinclair), as he delivers his p ...

'' in 2016. In 2021 Stone played Eleona, a barmaid with a mysterious past, 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 ...

series ''

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 ...

'', an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

vampire horror, comedy series 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.

Personal life

Stone is an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. In 2012, she married Australian actor Dan Spielman and the couple moved to New York. Stone announced that her marriage had ended in 2016. Stone started dating Jack Manning Bancroft, founder of Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience. Their first child was born in 2018, and a second child followed in 2022. On 16 December 2018, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' published an interview with Stone in which she accused Australian actor

Geoffrey Rush Geoffrey Roy Rush (born 6 July 1951) is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Geoffrey Rush, numerous accolades, including an Academy Aw ...

of sexual misconduct during the production of '' The Diary of a Madman'' in 2010 and 2011, including inappropriate texts and unwanted touching. Rush responded in a statement to the ''Times'' through his attorneys. On 7January 2020, midway through the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season, Stone announced her intention to give up her US

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

and return to live permanently in Australia and become involved in the "climate war".

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

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'An Accent Can Tell A Big Story,' Says 'Orange Is The New Black's' Yael Stone
(WBUR audio story, including examples of her accent and her influences) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Yael 1985 births 20th-century atheists 20th-century Australian actresses 21st-century atheists 21st-century Australian actresses Actresses from Sydney Australian activists Australian atheists Australian environmentalists Australian film actresses Australian people of Czech-Jewish descent Australian people of Romanian descent Australian stage actresses Australian television actresses Jewish atheists Jewish Australian actresses Living people National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni People educated at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts