Genevieve O'Reilly is an Irish actress who has worked in both the United Kingdom and Australia.

Background

O'Reilly was born in Dublin and raised in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

. She is the eldest of four siblings. At the age of twenty O'Reilly moved to Sydney to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Art

National Institute of Dramatic Art

The National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...

, graduating in 2000. In 2005 she moved to the UK with her husband, and currently lives in London.

Career

O'Reilly was cast as the understudy

Understudy

In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...

 in director Gale Edwards

Gale Edwards

Gale Edwards is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. She began her career at Adelaide youth theatre company Energy Connection...

' production of The White Devil

The White Devil

The White Devil is a revenge tragedy from 1612 by English playwright John Webster . A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication and satire made it a poor fit with the...

a week after graduating from drama school. She went on to appear in Edwards' Sydney Theatre Company

Sydney Theatre Company

The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....

 production of The Way of the World

The Way of the World

The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...

. Her other theatre credits include The Weir

The Weir

The Weir is a play written by Conor McPherson in 1997. It was first produced at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, England, on 4 July 1997. It first appeared on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 April 1999. It has since been performed in Toronto, Dublin, Belfast, Boston,...

by Conor McPherson

Conor McPherson

Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.-Life and career:McPherson was born in Dublin, . He was educated at University College Dublin, McPherson began writing his first plays there as a member of UCD Dramsoc, the college's dramatic society, and went on to found Fly By Night Theatre...

, at the Gate Theatre

Gate Theatre

The Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...

, Dublin, and Richard II

Richard II (play)

King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...

at the Old Vic

Old Vic

The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...

.

O'Reilly has appeared in several productions filmed in Australia, including both The Matrix

The Matrix (franchise)

The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...

sequels. She also played the young Mon Mothma in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....

, and starred as Leanne Curtis in the medical drama All Saints

All Saints (TV series)

All Saints is an Australian medical drama which first screened on the Seven Network. The series debuted on 24 February 1998 and concluded its run on 27 October 2009...

.

Since moving to the UK, O'Reilly has starred in the political mini-series The State Within

The State Within

The State Within is a 2006 Seven-episode British television political drama, written by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival, produced by Grainne Marmion as a joint BBC–BBC America production, that was broadcast by BBC1 in the United Kingdom from Thursday, 2 November 2006.The protagonist of The State...

, played Princess Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...

 in the 2007 television docudrama

Docudrama

In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

 Diana: Last Days of a Princess

Diana: Last Days of a Princess

Diana: Last Days of a Princess is a television movie broadcast in the United States by TLC on August 12, 2007 and subsequent dates. It also has aired on Five, UKTV History, UKTV Drama in Great Britain, RTÉ in Ireland, ProSieben in Germany, TF1 in France, RTP in Portugal, Channel 7 Australia,...

, and taken the lead role in The Time of Your Life

The Time of Your Life (TV series)

The Time of Your Life is a British television series made by ITV Productions for ITV, and aired in the summer of 2007.The drama series tells the story of Kate who has awoken from an 18-year coma to find the world that she once knew has slipped away.Initially she is unable to come to terms with the...

. She played CIA liaison officer Sarah Caulfield in the eighth series of BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 drama Spooks

Spooks

Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...

. O'Reilly also played the character of Michelle Beadley in the remake of The Day of the Triffids that aired on BBC One in December 2009.

O'Reilly's film credits include Right Here Right Now (2004), The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria

The Young Victoria is a 2009 period drama film based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Sarah, Duchess of...

(2009) and the 2004 science fiction film Avatar

Avatar (2004 film)

Avatar , also known as Matrix Hunter , Avatar Exile , Cyber Wars is a Singaporean science fiction film directed by Kuo Jian Hong...

, playing the lead role of Dash MacKenzie.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	BeastMaster BeastMaster (TV series) BeastMaster is a Canadian television series that aired from 1999 to 2002. It was loosely based on a 1982 MGM movie The Beastmaster. The series aired for three complete seasons...	Nagha	"Slayer's Return"
2002	Young Lions Young Lions (TV series) Young Lions was an Australian TV police drama broadcast on the Nine Network in 2002 and in Ireland on RTÉ Two.The series was based around the professional and private lives of four rookie detectives, the Young Lions, of South West 101, an inner city Sydney police station.The program rated poorly...	Kimberly Oswald	"Asylum Seekers"
2002–2005	All Saints All Saints (TV series) All Saints is an Australian medical drama which first screened on the Seven Network. The series debuted on 24 February 1998 and concluded its run on 27 October 2009...	Leanne Curtis	Medical drama
2005	The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant is a 2005 film loosely based on the life of Mary Bryant, a Cornish girl convicted of petty theft and is transported to the Australian Penal Colony on the First Fleet with other prisoners bound for Botany Bay. It is written by Peter Berry and directed by Peter...	Allcia	Television film Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
	Life	Shelly Deane	Television film Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
	Second Chance	Susie Fulham	Television film Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
2006	The State Within The State Within The State Within is a 2006 Seven-episode British television political drama, written by Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival, produced by Grainne Marmion as a joint BBC–BBC America production, that was broadcast by BBC1 in the United Kingdom from Thursday, 2 November 2006.The protagonist of The State...	Caroline Hanley	Miniseries Miniseries A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
2007	The Time of Your Life The Time of Your Life (TV series) The Time of Your Life is a British television series made by ITV Productions for ITV, and aired in the summer of 2007.The drama series tells the story of Kate who has awoken from an 18-year coma to find the world that she once knew has slipped away.Initially she is unable to come to terms with the...	Kate	TV series
	Diana: Last Days of a Princess Diana: Last Days of a Princess Diana: Last Days of a Princess is a television movie broadcast in the United States by TLC on August 12, 2007 and subsequent dates. It also has aired on Five, UKTV History, UKTV Drama in Great Britain, RTÉ in Ireland, ProSieben in Germany, TF1 in France, RTP in Portugal, Channel 7 Australia,...	Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...	Docudrama Docudrama In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
2009	Spooks Spooks Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...	Sarah Caulfield	TV series
	The Day of the Triffids The Day of the Triffids (2009 TV series) The Day of the Triffids is a BBC two-part television adaptation of John Wyndham's novel of the same name. The novel had previously been adapted by the BBC in a 1981 miniseries.-Part one:...  (2009)	Michelle Beadley	TV series
2011	Waking the Dead Waking the Dead (TV series) Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...	Julie Rees	TV series

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	The Matrix Reloaded The Matrix Reloaded The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...	Officer Wirtz
	The Matrix Revolutions The Matrix Revolutions The Matrix Revolutions is a 2003 American science fiction film and the third installment of The Matrix trilogy. The film was released six months following The Matrix Reloaded. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers and released simultaneously in sixty countries on November 5,...	Officer Wirtz
2004	Right Here Right Now	Pizza Girl
	Avatar Avatar (2004 film) Avatar , also known as Matrix Hunter , Avatar Exile , Cyber Wars is a Singaporean science fiction film directed by Kuo Jian Hong...	Dash MacKenzie
2005	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the sixth and final film released in the Star Wars saga and the third in terms of the series' internal chronology....	Mon Mothma
2009	The Young Victoria The Young Victoria The Young Victoria is a 2009 period drama film based on the early life and reign of Queen Victoria, and her marriage to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by screenwriter Julian Fellowes. Graham King, Martin Scorsese, Sarah, Duchess of...	Lady Flora Hastings Lady Flora Hastings Lady Flora Elizabeth Rawdon-Hastings was a British aristocrat and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent, whose death in 1839 caused a court scandal that gave the Queen a negative image....
2010	Forget Me Not	Eve

External links