HOLLY
AUSTIN
actor | writer | noisemaker
“Austin has a kind of genius in her performance, a happy, infectious tenacity. She’s like Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky or Audrey Tautou in Amélie.”
– See Saw Magazine
Holly Austin is one of Australia’s most versatile multi-disciplinary performers celebrated for her individuality in theatremaking and her unique vocal dexterity.
Not only a skilled performer, Holly is a writer for both stage and screen and generates much of her own work. Holly was co-awarded Belvoir's 'Philip Parsons Award for Playwriting' with Adriano Cappelletta with whom she co-wrote the ABC Fresh Blood series 'Ultimate Fanj' and the beautiful theatre work 'Ruby’s Wish', which toured nationally to The Sydney Opera House, Arts Centre Melbourne and Perth's Awesome Festival.
Holly is a NIDA graduate and the recipient of The Mike Walsh Fellowship and The Inaugural ACTF Joan & Betty Rayner Fellowship. Holly’s commitment to her craft extends beyond Australia. She has pursued advanced training abroad, studying clowning in Switzerland, improvisation with Keith Johnstone in Calgary, and The Second City and io in Chicago. Her international experiences have deeply influenced her approach to performance and creation, enhancing the depth and breadth of her work.
As an actor she has a vast number of screen and theatre credits under her belt most recently including Virginia Gay's Cyrano (Melbourne Theatre Company, Perth Festival 2023), guest hosting on ABC's Play School and as Skye O'Dwyer in Amazon Prime's AACTA award winning series Deadloch.
She was co-awarded $10,000 through Queer Screen's Inaugural Pitch Off Competition and won best screenplay at The Mardi Gras Film Festival for Butch, a queer comedy television series co-written with Zoe McDonald.
Her acclaimed solo family work Dr. AudiYO's Giant Adventure, premiered at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival and
has since toured to DreamBig Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, Parramatta Riverside, The Brisbane Festival and AWESOME Festival.
Holly is also a musician and beatboxer and has performed nationally and internationally with the likes of Grammy Award winning artist Common, Martha Wainwright, John Butler, Amanda Palmer, Holly Throsby, Fergus Brown and Sui Zhen. She co-composed music for Sydney Theatre Company's Education production of 'Hamlet' and Belvoir/Griffin Theatre's 'Tender'.