Biography of Caitlin Stasey
Caitlin Jean Stasey was born on 1 May 1990 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is an Australian actress from Melbourne who is best known for her role as Rachel Kinski in Neighbours. Previously she played Francesca Thomas in The Sleepover Club. Her breakthrough movie role came in with Tomorrow, when the War Began, a 2010 movie adaption of the teen novel of the same name where she acts the leading protagonist Ellie Linton, a girl who fought against invaders of Australia with a group of her teenager friends.
Caitlin and her younger sister Victoria were raised in Melbourne, Victoria. Their parents, David and Sally, are originally from Norwich, England. Sally is a primary school drama teacher at Sandringham Primary School in Melbourne. At age seven Caitlin spent almost a year living in Norwich, and her grandparents were still living in the city in 2008.
Stasey attended Star of the Sea College. In 2000, at the age of 10, she travelled the world as a member of the Australian Girls Choir, and took part in a re-recording of Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home”, for a Qantas commercial.
Stasey made a career breakthrough in September 2003 when she was cast in the children’s TV series The Sleepover Club, based upon the book series by Rose Impey. The series chronicled the adventures of a group of pre-teen friends, one of whom was played by Eliza Taylor-Cotter, Stasey’s future Neighbours co-star. Stasey took upon the role of Francesca ‘Frankie’ Thomas, the self-appointed leader of the club, whose bossiness could cause friction, but who stood by her friends when the occasion arose.
After a year studying and attending auditions, she sufficiently impressed Neighbours casting director, Jan Russ, to be awarded the role of Rachel Kinski, middle child of the troubled Kinski clan. Stasey won the part in April 2005, and her first episode was aired on the 18 August of that year. As Rachel, Stasey has had a range of storylines ranging from parental bereavement to first love.
Stasey made a brief return to the character of Frankie, in the second series of The Sleepover Club in 2006. She also appeared in the Channel 10 special Australia’s Brainiest Neighbour, finishing second overall.
Stasey was nominated for ‘Fave TV Star’ in the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards 2007, but lost out to Big Brother Australia 2004 contestant, Bree Amer.
On 19 May 2008, Stasey sang a duet with fellow Neighbours cast member Dean Geyer (Ty Harper). The song “Unforgettable” was performed at the Erinsborough High School Formal. The song was later released on iTunes. Stasey has sung multiple other songs, both on and off Neighbours. These include “You and Me”, “You Make Me” and “We Share The Same Space”. Stasey also recorded a cover version of Jason Mraz’s hit “I’m Yours”.
In September 2008, Stasey announced in an interview to the Herald Sun that she would be leaving Neighbours in the coming weeks, primarily to concentrate on her end of year VCE exams. The producers stated that her character would not be ‘killed-off’, allowing Stasey the chance to return to the show following her exams. Stasey said “I want to know that when I finish my exams and get my score, it is representative of my abilities, my exams start in November and I want to be able to give them my full concentration.”
Stasey left Star of the Sea College after landing the part of Rachel, but continued to study on a distance education programme.
In 2008, she appeared in the Christmas pantomime Snow White at Norwich Theatre Royal, which started in the beginning of December and finished 16 January 2009. Stasey starred alongside Liza Goddard as Fairy Snowdrop, Richard Gauntlett as Nurse Nellie, Nick Aldis (TV’s ‘The Big O’ and TNA’s ‘Brutus Magnus’) as Igor, David Hulston as The Prince, Tom Beard as Muddles, and Stephen Fry in an on-screen guest appearance as the magic mirror. She is one of the youngest leads that the Norwich Theatre Royal has hosted. Norwich is the city that boasts her favourite football team, known by fans as the “Canaries”.
In 2009, Caitlin Stasey appeared in a 5 minute short, “Many Australians One Nation”. This was part of a program run by Panasonic. She appeared as herself, in a courtroom scene, stating that a certain “Jasminda Goupta” wasn’t Australian. Her evidence of this was that, “listen to Men At Work”, “Watch Hamish and Andy” and “even watch Neighbours”. Caitlin Stasey appeared in the film, by Sandringham Primary School students including Ella Henson, Sarah Hellyer, Lyndon Bramwells, Gabrielle Kidon and other significant members. Her mother, Sally, was a drama teacher at the school.
During 2008, Caitlin Stasey was linked to the live action film of video game/comic series Wonder Boy, written by Robin Morningstar and produced and directed by Uwe Boll. However, it was shut down by Sega. Robin Morningstar revived the project as a CGI movie and Stasey still involved but she withdrew involvement to be in the film adaptation Tomorrow, When The War Began. Her CGI character, although with a new voice, retains her face.
Stasey was chosen to star in the movie adaption of the teen novel, Tomorrow, When the War Began as the lead character Ellie Linton, a teenage girl who documents her time with a group of friends fighting the invasion of Australia (Stewart Jones).
Filming first began in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia, on 28 September 2009 with early shooting in Dungog. Raymond Terrace was chosen as a major location for producing the film. Filming began in Raymond Terrace on 21 October 2009 and ended on 6 November 2009. The film was released on 2 September 2010.
According to various film critics, Caitlin Stasey’s portrayal of Ellie Linton was an excellent interpretation. The film grossed over $10 million dollars in Australia and nearly $2 million in New Zealand.
In 2007 Stasey reportedly turned down a recording contract offered to her by Tom Nichols, who did the same for ex-Neighbours star Stephanie McIntosh. About it she said “acting is my main passion and I wanted to concentrate my efforts on that, although most actors have that triple threat of being able to sing, dance and act.”
In 2008 she covered the song “I’m Yours”, originally by Jason Mraz, for her TV show. In May 2008 her duet Unforgettable with Dean Geyer was released to the Australian iTunes store and peaked at number 40 on the ARIA Digital Tracks chart.
On 3 March 2012, Stasey and her sister were attacked by a group of teenage females near Mentone. Conflicting reports from news outlets place the location of the incident either aboard a Melbourne train or in Mentone Village. Stasey said that the incident was terrifying but she was fine. She called for harsher punishments for young people who commit violent crimes.