Kestie Morassi
Born (1978-08-09) 9 August 1978
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Alma materNational Theatre, Melbourne
OccupationActress
Years active1995–present

Kestie Morassi (born 9 August 1978)[1][2] is an Australian film and television actress. She played Natalie in the TV series Satisfaction (2007). Morassi has also appeared in the films Dirty Deeds (2002), Wolf Creek (2005), The Illustrated Family Doctor (2005), and has made television appearances on Underbelly (2008), Wilfred (2010) and Black Snow (2022)

Early life

Morassi was born in Adelaide, South Australia.[2] She lived in Adelaide until she was thirteen years old. She studied at the National Theatre, Melbourne Drama School, graduating in 1994, and another five years at Drama with a Difference where she later became a full time teacher for the school.[3]

Career

Morassi first appeared on the television series Neighbours in 1996. She would later appear in BeastMaster, Stingers and The Secret Life of Us in the early 2000s before making the transition to films in 2002 alongside an all-star cast including Bryan Brown, Toni Collette, Sam Neill, Sam Worthington, and John Goodman in Dirty Deeds which saw her nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award by the Film Critics Circle of Australia.[4]

Morassi has also appeared in Darkness Falls, Travelling Light, Strange Bedfellows, Thunderstruck, The Illustrated Family Doctor, and Josh Jarman before getting her international break in the Australian box-office success Wolf Creek, which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.[5] She played backpacker Kristy Earl, for which she was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award for Best Supporting Actress 2005.[6] She also starred in the Patrick Hughes short film Signs for Schweppes opposite Nick Russell.

In recent work, Morassi played whip-cracking brothel manager Natalie in Foxtel's groundbreaking drama Satisfaction and portrays sultry and infatuated criminal defence lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson in the Nine Network TV drama series Underbelly.[4] In 2010, she had a guest appearance on Wilfred, playing "Kat".[7][8]

Morassi joined the cast of Seven Network soap opera Home and Away in 2017 as Maggie Astoni.[9][10] She departed in July 2020, along with Rohan Nichol who plays her on-screen husband Ben Astoni.[11]

In 2020 Morassi returned to the big screen in paranormal horror Surrogate alongside Jane Badler. Morassi plays Natalie Paxton, a nurse and single mother, who falls mysteriously ill and struggles to save her family from being destroyed. Surrogate premiered April 6th 2022 at Sun Theatre, Yarraville, Australia for a limited 4 week theatrical run where it was number 1 2 weeks running. Surrogate was released internationally in September 2022 on TubiTV and Amazon Prime.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Dirty Deeds Margaret Feature fil, Nominated  – FCCA Award for Best Supporting Actor (Female)[4]
2002 The Merchant of Fairness Katrina
2002 Travelling Light Rhonda
2003 Darkness Falls Nurse Lauren Feature film
2003 Strange Bedfellows Carla Feature film
2003 Thunderstruck Amy Feature film
2004 Josh Jarman Sasha Feature film
2005 Wolf Creek Kristy Earl Feature film, Nominated – AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress
2005 The Illustrated Family Doctor Jennifer Feature film
2008 Signs Stacey Short film
2009 Piñata Wendy Short film
2009 Birthday Lily Melbourne Underground Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress[12]
2010 The Wedding Party Jacqui Feature film
2010 Blame Cate Feature film
2012 Fearless Rachel Lepinsky Short film
2012 Real Meal Deal Activist Short film
2014 Fractions Peta Short film
2020 Surrogate Natalie Paxton Feature film

Television

Year Title Role Type
1996 Neighbours Charnelle Edwards TV series
2001 The Saddle Club Mrs. Sharlow TV series
2002 The Secret Life of Us Larissa TV series
2003 Stingers Simone TV series
2006 Two Twisted Rose TV series
2007–10 Satisfaction Natalie (main role) TV series
2008 Underbelly Zarah Garde Wilson (recurring role) TV miniseries
2010 Wilfred Kat TV series
2010 Offspring Ivy (recurring role) TV series
2017–20 Home and Away Maggie Astoni (main role) TV series, seasons 30–33
2023 Almost Paradise Janice TV series

References

  1. ↑ "User @kestimorassi". Instagram. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 "MORASSI, Kestie". Genealogy SA. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018. (Newspaper birth notice search)
  3. ↑ Author unknown (date unknown). "Dirty Deeds". Drama With A Difference. Retrieved on 5 April 2010 from http://www.dramawithadifference.com.au/about/articles.html.
  4. 1 2 3 STV (20 November 2009) "Kestie Morassi – Zarah". Underbelly cast guide. STV, 20 November 2009. Retrieved on 5 April 2010 from .
  5. ↑ Dunkley, Cathy; Harris, Dana (3 January 2005). "Dimension up a scary 'Creek'". Variety. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
  6. ↑ Soares, Andre (26 November 2005). "Australian Film Institute Awards – 2005". Alt Film Guide, 26 November 2005. Retrieved on 5 April 2010 from "» Australian Film Institute Awards - 2005 - Alternative Film Guide". Archived from the original on 8 August 2008. Retrieved 10 January 2010..
  7. ↑ Siemienowicz, Rochelle (7 July 2011). "AFI Quick Quiz: Kestie Morassi". Australian Film Institute Blog. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Idato, Michael (13 May 2010). "Wilfred goes to Hollywood". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Groome, Imogen (8 June 2017). "Home and Away spoilers: There's a new family heading to Summer Bay". Metro. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "Kestie Morassi - Seven". Yahoo! TV Australia. 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Kilkelly, Daniel (8 July 2020). "Home and Away's Ben and Maggie Astoni make a life-changing decision". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Everleth, Mike (31 August 2011). "2011 Melbourne Underground Film Festival: Award Winners". Underground Film Journal. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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