Rose Byrne can make an insult sound like a reason to stay friends. We rate her especially highly in comedy, where she lets her characters behave badly without asking us to stop taking them seriously.
Fi1m perspective
In Platonic (2023), Rose Byrne's Sylvia and Seth Rogen's Will know exactly how to get on each other's nerves. Byrne makes the need for attention apparent even when Sylvia is being a nuisance. We laughed at their insults because the two deliver them with the ease of an old routine, and neither tries to make the friendship look good for them. The embarrassment matters: these adults still need reassurance from someone who remembers them. The programme repeats its bouts of misbehaviour, but these two remain worth spending time with.
Her move towards comedy came during Damages (2007–2012), in which she played Ellen Parsons opposite Glenn Close. The turn took her through Get Him to the Greek (2010) to the competitive Helen of Bridesmaids (2011). Spy (2015) gave her the extravagant villain Raina Boyanov. In Platonic, that comic timing works alongside a clear sense of how much the friendship matters.
The horror films ask for a different kind of steadiness. As Renai Lambert in Insidious (2010), Byrne gives the supernatural threat the weight of a mother's fear. Patrick Wilson's Insidious: The Red Door (2023) leaves her only three scenes, yet she uses the second to suggest more than Scott Teems's script supplies. The family scenes are more persuasive than most of the scares, and giving her so little room feels like a wasted opportunity. We would happily have traded some familiar horror business for more time with Renai.
Byrne and Natasia Demetriou get only a handful of lines apiece voicing Leatherhead and Wingnut in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023). Jeff Rowe's animated film is funny and worth an evening, but it offers little opportunity to watch Byrne develop a character. We recommend it without pretending her presence is the reason to see it. For a fuller evening with Byrne, start with Platonic and forgive a few repeated antics.
Biography
Mary Rose Byrne is an Australian actress. Born on 24 July 1979 in Balmain, New South Wales, she made her screen debut in the Australian film Dallas Doll (1994) and continued working in local film and television. Her first leading film role came in The Goddess of 1967 (2000), for which she received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival.
Byrne transitioned to international roles with a part in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), followed by appearances in Troy (2004), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Knowing (2009). She played Ellen Parsons in the series Damages (2007–2012), earning Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Comedic roles in Get Him to the Greek (2010) and Bridesmaids (2011) broadened her profile, alongside work in the Insidious and X-Men franchises.
Recent credits include Insidious: The Red Door (2023), voicing Leatherhead in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) and starring as Sylvia in the series Platonic (2023). She has been in a relationship with actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012 and they have two sons.
