Name: Teresa Edwina Palmer Nicknames: Tez, Tezza Date of Birth: February 26, 1986 Place of Birth: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Height: 5' 5¾" (1.67 m) Hair: Blonde Eyes: Blue

001. Biography 002. Quotes 003. Trivia 004. Outro

Teresa Edwina Palmer was born February 26, 1986. She was born and raised in Adelaide, South Australia as an only child. Ever since she was a little girl, Teresa dreamed of becoming an actress. As a teenager, she worked in a Cotton On outlet in Rundle Mall. Teresa's big break came in 2003 when she entered and won an Australian talent competition called Search for a Movie Star. One of her prizes was a year's worth of acting classes, which she followed up with one audition after another and a couple of commercials.

Upon graduation from Mercedes College in 2003, Teresa landed small roles in such Australian productions as Wolf Creek (2005) and Deck Dogz (2005) as well as the popular television series McLeods Daughters. Next Teresa won one of the leading roles in the gritty Australia drama 2:37 (2006). The film, which revolves around suicide and several troubled characters, competed at the Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" category and was featured at the Toronto International Film Festival. "It was one of those projects that no one really believed in other than a few people close to Murali [K. Thalluri] but we knew it was something special all along," Palmer said. In 2:37 Teresa plays Melody, a kind hearted girl with a dark secret. The role would certainly provide a real challenge for any actor, let alone a complete beginner like Teresa - and she already commanded the screen like a true professional. For her powerful performance Palmer was nominated at the AFI Awards for Best Lead Actress.

Teresa's success led to a small yet memorable role in The Grudge 2 (2006), in which she co-starred with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Beals. It was filmed in Tokyo, Japan. "It was all very Lost in Translation but it was the kind of experience I'll hold for the rest of my life," Palmer said. "You have to grow up really quickly." While the film may not have been a critical hot, the exposure no doubt brought Teresa many new admirers.

Her next role was Lucy in December Boys (2007) opposite Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe; a touching coming of age story about four adolescent orphans, based on the book by Michael Noonan and directed by Rod Hardy. "I really love the fact that I've never seen or heard of a character like Lucy before who was this young flower girl who is very overtly sexual and she uses her body to manipulate men. It was so interesting to play with all of those elements." Teresa actually filmed her role when she was 19 years old, even before The Grudge 2 but it was released at a later date. Teresa says that she did not know who Radcliffe was prior to filming together in South Australia as she has not seen the Harry Potter films. "But, everyone around me made such a huge deal about it that I couldn't help but be really nervous when I first met him. I remember I was like shaking. It was sort of bizarre because I'd never seen him in anything."

In 2006 Palmer was cast as the female lead in Doug Liman's Jumper (2008) opposite Tom Sturridge, but both ended up being replaced by more prominent stars, Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen. "The role was reconceived," Palmer said. "I signed on to play an 18-year-old and they ended up getting rid of myself and Tom Sturridge, who was also 20, and recast 25-year-olds." Teresa has described this period as being very difficult and she ended up going back to Australia for a couple of months to re-consider her priorities.

Teresa Palmer filmed the UK/Australian co-production Ravenswood, a modern film noir which follows the plight of a pair of fugitives on the run from a murder scene. The film was featured at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, later on renamed Restraint and released on DVD in late 2008. Directed by David Deneen, the film also features newcomer Travis Fimmel and UK actor Stephen Moyer, who later broke out with HBO's True Blood. Teresa plays Dale, another multi-layered and intriguing female character torn between two completely different worlds.

After her work on December Boys, Teresa went over to Los Angeles to look for work. "I got my agent and my publicist and everyone on board. I got my team together and I started auditioning for films and I got a few offers in that first week when I came over here so it was exciting." Everything started moving fast so she made the move in 2007. In result, Teresa was cast opposite Topher Grace in Young Americans. "I am playing Tori Frederking who is the dream girl of Topher Grace's character, Matt Franklin, and it's an 80s comedy so I did the 60s with December Boys, now I did the 80s with Young Americans and it was really fun. It's like American Graffiti but for the 80s. It's sort of got that Superbad type of feeling to it. It's so hilarious. I worked with comedic geniuses. It was wonderful." Unfortunately, Young Americans has been in a release limbo ever since its completion and is now, years later, looking at a January 2011 release.

Palmer next went on to score a major role in Disney's Bedtime Stories (2008) as Violet Nottingham, a snobby heiress and love interest of Adam Sandler's character. When she first auditioned for the role, she was told she wasn't "Paris Hilton" enough to play the part, but Adam Sandler believed Teresa was the right for the role. The role ended up being Teresa's biggest break yet and lead to Miss Palmer winning the female leading role in another Disney flick, the Jerry Bruckheimer produced epic, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The film, in which Teresa stars opposite Nicolas Cage, is due for release during the summer of 2010.

Teresa also appeared in the music video for Breaking Up by West Australian rock band Eskimo Joe and modelled for Sydney jeweller Jan Logan's 2008 collection and Just Jeans' Viral campaign in 2009. She is currently splitting her time between Los Angeles and Adelaide. During her off-time, Teresa does volunteer work with animal welface. Back home in Adelaide she has two puppies, Chester and Saba.

"I'm about as far away from the rehab-bound starlet as you'll ever meet. My plan is to stay away from all of that and to keep working on projects I'm passionate about. I'm in this for the long haul."

"The last few years for me have been a snowball. It’s been insane. I still am pinching myself and I just know how blessed I am to be here and to be doing what I love."

"My favorite film, which the girls will understand what I'm talking about, is The Notebook. Everyone loves that. We all cry. To watch a film like that, it's so beautiful and you get wrapped up in the story and you want to have a relationship like that and you want to die together and all these silly things."

"In terms of acting, I like acting in dramas. I like pushing myself and constantly being challenged. The first film I did, actually, I played a rape victim who was pregnant with my brother's baby which was pretty intense especially for the first time I'd ever acted as well. And then December Boys came along after that. So, I'd say drama for sure to act in."

"I've been really happy with the work that I've done. I've been reading some amazing scripts lately. I like it. It's all very exciting."

"I think the fact that I lived on the beach in Adelaide was such a beautiful thing for me. I could wake up in the morning and just open my doors and walk along the beach with my dogs and go swimming. Actually I wouldn't go swimming because there's so many shark attacks in Australia. It's really scary. I think here, I live in Beverly Hills, I mean the ocean is in Santa Monica but you have to drive to get there. I guess that's what I miss – the natural beauty of Semaphore Beach where I'm from."

"I'm very much into animal welfare. I've been doing some volunteer work with one of the animal places around here. I'm trying to get my own thing up and running in the next few years like the Animal Welfare League back in Australia. So I'm working on that in the meantime in between films."

"I think that sexiness comes from within. The way you are. Your confidence. I think the thing about Lucy is that she really uses her body, and the way she moves, to lure Maps into her little world. I think the sexiest people in the world, like Scarlett Johansson..."

"I would totally agree with Jessica Alba. She is at the top of my list of most beautiful women in Hollywood. She is also very sexy, and I think personality is what makes a lot of these people attractive. They all seem very approachable."

"I'm happy doing Australian films but I wanted to push myself further."

"You never know when the next up-and-comer's will be in the spotlight so people forget you. There's no guarantees."

"I think it's very easy to get typecast out here and I think that's something that I've tried to steer away from as much as possible by doing some darker films and taking on some darker, grittier characters."

"I'm naturally quite a bubbly, happy person and I'm not a seductress."

"I came out here (United States) after I finished December Boys. I got my agent and my publicist and everyone on board. I got my team together and I started auditioning for films and I got a few offers in that first week when I came over here so it was exciting. Everything started moving really fast and I actually did make the move three months ago."

"It's a big adjustment obviously. It's very different from where I'm from, but it's exciting and it's where you need to be for my career. I'm enjoying it so far. I've been really happy with the work that I've done. I've been reading some amazing scripts lately. I like it. It's all very exciting."

"I had no brothers or sisters so I had to create my own world to occupy myself."

"I kind of fell into it and I was like "Wow, this is fun. I'll just keep going with this.” I was talking to my mom about it and she really thinks that is a big reason to do with it, the fact that I'm here doing what I'm doing."

"I want to do a drama or maybe a period piece so I'm sifting through absolutely everything and trying to find something I could really fall in love with."

Has appeared in a Subway commercial.

Is known for staying in character while filming.

Was voted worst kisser your high school. "I hadn't kissed anyone before. I didn't know what to do. Then the boy dumped me, and said I was a really bad kisser. I've never forgotten it. He knows who he is. He told his friend. Then this rumor spread that I was a bad kisser. It was so embarrassing. Especially for someone who is so young, and its their first time kissing someone. I still remember. I'm still bitter over it."

Thinks Dominique Swain was phenomenal in Lolita and used the performance as an inspiration for December Boys. "It was one of the best performances I've seen in a very long time. I watched that many, many times."

Has not seen or read Harry Potter.

Has two dogs named Chester and Saba.

Used to date Stuart Dew, who quit his AFL football career with Port Adelaide. Has also dated Russell Brand and Topher Grace.

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