# Jacki Weaver
**Jacki Weaver** AO (born 1947) is an Australian actress who was a household name in Australia for four decades before rising to international prominence with an Academy Award nomination for her role as the crime-family matriarch Janine "Smurf" Cody in *[Animal Kingdom](https://www.edgepedia.org/animal-kingdom-film)* (2010)[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). She received a second Best Supporting Actress nomination for *Silver Linings Playbook* (2012)[2](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/jacki-weaver-joining-silver-linings-family-44701/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947, Sydney, New South Wales[3](https://newmedia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/JJ-May-2026.pdf) |
| Breakthrough role | Janine "Smurf" Cody in *Animal Kingdom* (2010), Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947) |
| Second nomination | Dolores Solatano, Bradley Cooper's mother, in *Silver Linings Playbook* (2012)[2](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/jacki-weaver-joining-silver-linings-family-44701/) |
| Early awards | Australian Film Institute Award for *Stork* (1971); second AFI Award for *Caddie* (1976)[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947) |
| 2010 critics' honors | Best Supporting Actress from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, plus a Golden Globe nomination[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-03/jacki-weaver-honoured-by-us-critics/2360762) • [5](https://www.sonyclassics.com/animalkingdom/animalkingdompresskit.pdf) |
| Hollywood debut | *The Five-Year Engagement* (2012)[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947) |
| Television leads | *Blunt Talk* (2015–2016), *Secret City* (2016–2019), *Perpetual Grace, LTD* (2019), *Bloom* (2019–2020)[6](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jacki-weaver) |
## Early career in Australia
Weaver appeared in stage productions in Sydney as a teenager and sang on the Australian music show *Bandstand* before being cast in the children's television series *Wandjina!* at eighteen[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). She has said she has been acting since she was 15[7](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind).
Her film debut came with 1971's *Stork*, for which she won her first Australian Film Institute Award[8](https://www.sonyclassics.com/magicinthemoonlight/magicinthemoonlight_presskit.pdf). During the period of Australian "new wave" cinema she appeared in *Alvin Purple* (1973), *[Picnic at Hanging Rock](https://www.edgepedia.org/picnic-at-hanging-rock-film)* (1975), and *Caddie* (1976), winning a second AFI Award for *Caddie*[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). Later Australian film credits include *Cosi* (1996)[9](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/jacki-weaver-filmography). Alongside screen work she acted in theater productions including *The Cherry Orchard*, *A Streetcar Named Desire*, *Last of the Red Hot Lovers*, and *Death of a Salesman*, and in 2010 and 2011 she played opposite [Cate Blanchett](https://www.edgepedia.org/cate-blanchett) in *Uncle Vanya*[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). By her own account she had appeared in about 70 plays and about 15 films in Australia before Hollywood took notice[7](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind).
## Animal Kingdom and the 2010 awards season
**The breakthrough.** In David Michôd's Melbourne crime drama *Animal Kingdom* (2010), Weaver played Janine "Smurf" Cody, the menacing matriarch of an underworld family[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947) • [5](https://www.sonyclassics.com/animalkingdom/animalkingdompresskit.pdf). Weaver has said Michôd sent her the script ten years before shooting began[10](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/aussies-hollywood-podcast-jacki-weaver).
The performance swept the season's critics' awards. She was named best supporting actress by the [National Board of Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-board-of-review) in the first major announcement of the Oscar race, a group of 110 US film critics and historians[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-03/jacki-weaver-honoured-by-us-critics/2360762), and also won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and San Francisco Film Critics Circle awards and the AFI Award for best actress[11](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-13/weaver-earns-la-critics-honour/2372522) • [12](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-16/superstitious-weaver-wont-mention-oscar/2376042). She received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress[5](https://www.sonyclassics.com/animalkingdom/animalkingdompresskit.pdf).
The attention changed her working life. "The attention I got in America for Animal Kingdom really did change my life," she told an interviewer in 2012; she went from being a contented working actor in Australia to being sent American scripts regularly[13](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/12/03/interview-silver-linings-playbooks-jacki-weaver/). She was 63 when Hollywood, as she put it, came to her[7](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind).
## Hollywood career
Weaver made her Hollywood debut with the comedy *The Five-Year Engagement* (2012)[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). Her second Oscar-nominated role followed the same year as Dolores Solatano, the mother of [Bradley Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/bradley-cooper)'s character in [David O. Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-o-russell)'s *Silver Linings Playbook*, opposite Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro)[2](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/jacki-weaver-joining-silver-linings-family-44701/). The film was the first since 1981's *Reds* to receive Oscar nominations in all four acting categories[8](https://www.sonyclassics.com/magicinthemoonlight/magicinthemoonlight_presskit.pdf). For the Philadelphia-set part, Weaver did her own observational research in the city and worked with a dialect coach, Susanne Sulby[13](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/12/03/interview-silver-linings-playbooks-jacki-weaver/).
Subsequent Hollywood films include *Stoker* and *[Parkland](https://www.edgepedia.org/parkland-film)* (both 2013), *Magic in the Moonlight* (2014), *The Disaster Artist*, *Bird Box*, and [Steve McQueen](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-mcqueen)'s *Widows* (2017–2018), *[Poms](https://www.edgepedia.org/poms-film)* (2019), *Stage Mother* (2020), and *Father Stu* (2022), in which she played Kathleen Long[6](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jacki-weaver) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind). On Metacritic, her highest-scored film is *Widows* at 84 and her lowest *Reclaim* at 26, with an average career score of 56 across 37 movies[14](https://www.metacritic.com/person/jacki-weaver/).
## Television and later work
On television Weaver starred in the Starz comedy series *Blunt Talk* (2015–2016), the Fox Showcase political thriller *Secret City* (2016–2019), the Epix thriller *Perpetual Grace, LTD* (2019) opposite [Ben Kingsley](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-kingsley), and the Stan science fiction series *Bloom* (2019–2020)[6](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jacki-weaver) • [10](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/aussies-hollywood-podcast-jacki-weaver). Later screen work includes the animated *Memoir of a Snail* (2024), in which she voiced Pinky, and the miniseries *Clipped* (2024) as Shelly Sterling[6](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jacki-weaver) • [14](https://www.metacritic.com/person/jacki-weaver/).
She has often played mothers of prominent younger actors, listing [Emily Blunt](https://www.edgepedia.org/emily-blunt), Melissa McCarthy, and [Elizabeth Debicki](https://www.edgepedia.org/elizabeth-debicki) among her screen children; Debicki is 6 ft 3 in while Weaver is under 5 ft, a difference that forced director Steve McQueen to seat them for shared shots in *Widows*[7](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind).
## Recognition
Weaver holds the [Order of Australia](https://www.edgepedia.org/order-of-australia) (AO)[1](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947). Her career award and festival nominations tracked by one database total four, across the Academy Awards, BAFTA, and Golden Globes[15](https://cinegraph.org/people/jacki-weaver). A 2016 TNT television adaptation of *Animal Kingdom* moved the story to California with [Ellen Barkin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ellen-barkin) taking over the Oscar-nominated Smurf role[16](https://time.com/4371206/animal-kingdom-and-greenleaf-are-summer-surprises/).
## References
1. [Jacki Weaver AO, National Portrait Gallery of Australia](https://www.portrait.gov.au/people/jacki-weaver-1947)
2. [Jacki Weaver On Joining the 'Silver Linings' Family, Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/jacki-weaver-joining-silver-linings-family-44701/)
3. [Jocks' Journal, Volume 38, May (Newmedia)](https://newmedia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/JJ-May-2026.pdf)
4. [Jacki Weaver honoured by US critics, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-03/jacki-weaver-honoured-by-us-critics/2360762)
5. [Animal Kingdom press kit, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/animalkingdom/animalkingdompresskit.pdf)
6. [Jacki Weaver Movies and TV Shows, Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/en-GB/person/jacki-weaver)
7. [Jacki Weaver: 'I can be a cow, but I had a very polite English mother who taught me to be kind', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/05/jacki-weaver-i-can-be-a-cow-but-i-had-a-very-polite-english-mother-who-taught-me-to-be-kind)
8. [Magic in the Moonlight press kit, Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.sonyclassics.com/magicinthemoonlight/magicinthemoonlight_presskit.pdf)
9. [Jacki Weaver Filmography in Order, Pop Culture Files](https://popculturefiles.com/filmographies/jacki-weaver-filmography)
10. [Aussies in Hollywood Podcast: Jacki Weaver, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia](https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/aussies-hollywood-podcast-jacki-weaver)
11. [Weaver earns LA critics honour, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-13/weaver-earns-la-critics-honour/2372522)
12. [Superstitious Weaver won't mention Oscar, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-12-16/superstitious-weaver-wont-mention-oscar/2376042)
13. [Interview: Jacki Weaver's Silver Linings Playbook, Awards Daily](https://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/12/03/interview-silver-linings-playbooks-jacki-weaver/)
14. [Jacki Weaver, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/jacki-weaver/)
15. [Jacki Weaver, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/people/jacki-weaver)
16. [Animal Kingdom and Greenleaf Are Summer Surprises, TIME](https://time.com/4371206/animal-kingdom-and-greenleaf-are-summer-surprises/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Australian actors › Surnames T to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license