Emily Jane Browning was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Andrew and Shelley Browning. She has two younger brothers, Nicholas and Matthew.[1]
In 2006, Browning appeared in the music video for Evermore's "Light Surrounding You". In the behind-the-scenes video for the clip, the band stated, "[We] suck as actors, so we decided to get Emily".[6] She attended the L'Oreal Fashion Festival as a festival ambassador on 1 February 2007.[7]
2008–2011
Browning played the lead role in the 2009 horror film The Uninvited, an American remake of the 2003 South Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters. She turned down a request to audition for the role of Bella Swan in Twilight, citing exhaustion, despite an endorsement from series author Stephenie Meyer.[8][9] In 2009, she was cast as Babydoll in Zack Snyder's action film Sucker Punch, as a replacement for Amanda Seyfried, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.[10] Filming took place in Vancouver from September 2009 to January 2010,[11] and the film was released on 25 March 2011.[12] In an interview at Comic-Con, she confirmed that she would be singing in the film, while claiming that her audition tape brought tears to her casting agent's eyes and the song she selected ("Killing Me Softly") was one of Zack Snyder's wife Deborah's favourites, which Browning referred to as the "selling point" on her being cast in the role.[13]
In February 2010, it was announced that Browning would play the lead role in the independent Australian film Sleeping Beauty, directed by Julia Leigh.[14][15] She replaced Mia Wasikowska, who was committed to a film adaptation of Jane Eyre at the time.[16] The film screened at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival. In a review from the festival, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film "Technically elegant with vehemence and control ... Emily Browning gives a fierce and powerful performance ... There is force and originality in Leigh's work".[17] Fionnuala Halligan in Screen International wrote "Browning has gone the distance for her director and together, they have delivered something here that sometimes catches your breath".[18] At the festival Browning said, "Even reading the screenplay, it made me feel uncomfortable. But that was something that attracted me to it. I would prefer to polarise an audience as opposed to making an entertaining film everybody feels ambivalent about."[19]
Browning starred in Paul W. S. Anderson's 2014 epic romantic historical disaster film Pompeii. The project was filmed in Toronto and the city of Pompeii.[29] The film received generally mixed to negative reviews, although Browning's performance was generally assessed more favorably.[30] Browning took a break from filming on Pompeii, and returned home to Australia to film a music video for the song "No Matter What You Say" by the band Imperial Teen. The video follows Browning as the lead character, conducting a 'live art-piece'.[31][32]
In 2014, Browning filmed Shangri-La Suite. The story follows two young lovers who break out of a mental hospital in 1974 and set out on a road trip to Los Angeles to fulfill the boy's lifelong dream of killing his idol Elvis Presley, who appears as a supporting character. Luke Grimes and Avan Jogia co-star.[33] The same year, she appeared in Years & Years's "Take Shelter" music video.[34]
In 2015, Browning appeared in the biopic crime thriller Legend, alongside Tom Hardy, who portrayed twin brothers and infamous 1960s London gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray. She portrayed Frances Shea, the first wife of Reggie Kray.[35]
Browning was cast in American Gods as Laura Moon. Neil Gaiman, author of the novel, said, "I've been fascinated by Emily Browning since A Series of Unfortunate Events. She has a challenge ahead of her: Laura is a tricky character, and the Laura on the screen is even trickier and more dangerous than the one on the page. She's going to have a wonderful time bringing Laura to life".[36]
When Browning was 21 years old, she moved to London, but then moved to Los Angeles when London became "too expensive to live." She initially disliked the city but then settled down on the Eastside and currently resides there, while sporadically traveling back to her hometown in Australia.[43][44] She also has spoken on her depression and stated she has been doing therapy ever since being diagnosed.[45]
Browning noted that she is spiritual but not religious: "I like the idea there is something innately magical about human connection. But I don't know, I'm okay with not knowing, and I get pissed off by anyone who claims to know for sure. A dogmatic atheist is just as annoying as a Bible-thumping crazy person."[46]
