
The Masterclass
HERBERT BERGHOF STUDIO ALUMNI. NEW YORK.
Kerry Armstrong is one of Australia’s most renowned stage and screen legends. She has just finished a hugely successful run of playwright Angus Cerini’s latest play, Into the Shimmering World, which premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company to rave reviews.
Having won many of Australia’s most prestigious film and television awards, she made history when she won Best Actress in a Feature Film for Lantana at the AFI Awards and the IF Awards and Best Actress in a Television Series at the AFI Awards in the same year, for her starring role in the original Seachange.
Beginning her career on television in her native Australia, she emigrated to the United States in 1981 to train directly under Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York City on an acting scholarship. With the studio’s Playwrights Foundation, she played Juliet in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Ophelia in Hamlet, and Isabella in Measure for Measure. She then went on to star as Christine in Tom Stoppard‘s Dalliance, had an ongoing role in daytime serial One Life to Live, and starred on Aaron Spelling’s Dynasty as Elena, Duchess of Brahna. An original member of the famed Los Angeles based Actor’s Gang, co-founded by Tim Robbins, John Cusack and Helen Hunt, Kerry continued to work in the US over the years, starring in Murder She Wrote (opposite Angela Lansbury); CBS telemovie Heart of Fire; ABC mini-series 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; The Edge of Night; Tales from the Darkside; and NBC Universal/Stan series Joe vs. Carole.
Upon her return to Australia in 1987, she went on to star in many television shows including (but not limited to): The Wrong Girl; Halifax f.p.; Ocean Girl; High Tide; Bed of Roses; Come in Spinner; Police Rescue; All Together Now; Blue Heelers; Halfway Across the Galaxy and Turn Left; Skyways; Prisoner; Neighbours; Spreadsheet; Grey Nomads; Darby & Joan; Seachange: A New Beginning and comedy series Frayed.Her starring roles in films such as critically acclaimed feature Lantana alongside Geoffrey Rush and Anthony LaPaglia, as well as her many television credits, have seen her nominated for both national and international awards.
Kerry’s other film credits include (but are not limited to): Director Paul Currie’s 2:22 and One Perfect Day; Director Paul Ireland’s Pawno (for which she received an AACTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Kerry’s 6th AACTA nomination); Jesse O’Brien’s comedy horror Two Heads Creek; Anna Reeve’s The Oyster Farmer; Darren Ashton’s Razzle Dazzle; Nadia Tass’ Amy; Mark Joffe’s Grievous Bodily Harm; Dean Murphy’s The Very Excellent Mr Dundee (opposite Paul Hogan), and the Australian classic, Bruce Beresford’s The Getting of Wisdom.
Kerry is a founding member of Big H’Art, a highly acclaimed not-for-profit theatre company known for its work in raising community awareness and empowering marginalized people throughout Australia.