Jenni Baird

Jenni Baird (born 29 April 1976) is an Australian actress, Baird earned her education in acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts from which she graduated from in 1999 and upon graduation Baird appeared in the Australian short film "I Promise" . Baird has since appeared in several high profile television series that have been nation wide in Australia with these roles listed as "All Saints", "A Place to Call Home" and "The 4400" and in Australian movies "Alien Trespass" and "Backtrack".

Following her debut role in "I Promise" Baird then appeared in several low key television roles and made her first prominent nation wide TV role on the long running multi award winning drama series "All Saints" as Paula Morgan. With Baird making her first appearance in the episode "A Little Death" on 6 November 2001,^[1] Baird then made her final appearance in 2004 on 27 April.^[2] Whilst on the show Morgan's storylines included her being a nurse at the hospital at which the show is based, getting engaged, being a single mother to her son Max and making the ultimate decision to move to New York. Following her stint on "All Saints" Baird appeared in "Global Frequency", "Amorality Tale" and "Conviction" in 2005. In 2007 Baird made her first appearance in the American Mystery Drama series "The 4400" as Meghan Doyle, Baird appeared in Season 4 of the television series and made her premier appearance in the first episode of the series "The Wrath of Graham" and then made her last appearance in the series at the end of the fourth season. In 2009 Baird appeared in the Australian comedy science fiction movie "Alien Trespass" in which she portrayed Tammy, the film received mixed reviews form critics but was praised for having a "warm tone".^[3] The movie gained Baird further recognition due to her appearance in the film building on the fame she had gained from her appearances in "The 4400" and "All Saints". In 2015 Baird appeared din the Australian thriller drama movie "Backtrack" which was written by Michael Petroni, in the film Baird appeared as Carol Bower. "Backtrack" was subsequently praised for being "Masterful" by Filmink and was named "Chilling" by Dread Central.^[4]

In 2013, Baird was confirmed to have been cast in the upcoming period drama "A Place to Call Home".^[5] Prior to the airing of Baird's first appearance in the television series Baird stated she was "worried" about the fan reaction due to the extreme character she was set to portray.^[6] Baird made her first appearance in the Australian television drama "A Place to Call Home" in the episode "Cane Toad", Baird subsequently appeared a recurring chart the rain the rest of Season One of the series. The episode was subsequently awarded an Australian Cinematographers Society award under the category of "Telefeatures, TV Drama & Mini Series Award of Distinction". When the series was renewed for a second series following successful ratings Baird returned as a recurring character and reprised her role, when "A Place to Call Home" was renewed for a third season Baird returned to the series and as a main character this time. In 2014 Baird shared with the rest of the cast of "A Place to Call Home" the nomination "Most Outstanding Drama Series" at the Logie Awards of 2014, alongside this stunningly impressive nomination the show was nominated for the award under the category "Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series" at the 2014 Equity Ensemble Awards Ceremony. In 2015 Baird appeared on the TV Week list of "The Top 10 Aussie Villains".^[7][8] The third series premiered in 2015 and following the end of the broadcast of the third season the series was renewed for a fourth season set to air in 2016, in regards to the fourth season of the show Baird stated that the audience "ain't seen nothing yet" saying the series was dark than ever before.^[9] At the Logie Awards of 2016 Baird was nominated for the award "Most Outstanding Supporting Actress" due to her appearance in "A Place to Call Home".^[10] This nomination made Baird her first TV Logie nomination as an actress that had not been shared with rest of the cast of "A Place To Call Home". In 2016 Baird appeared on the cover of the Australian newspaper "The Guide" under the title "How costumes complete A Place To Call Home".^[11] Before the end of the airing of the fourth season "A Place to Call Home" was confirmed by Marta Dusseldorf to have been renewed for fifth series set to air in 2017.^[12]

Baird has publicly stated that she supported Hillary Clinton in the United States presidential election of 2016.^[13]

Early career

Baird attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 1999. She then participated in the 1999 edition of the ANPC/Stages Young Playwrights Weekend.

Career

1999 - 2004: Debuting on Australia's Movie Screens and finding fame

Following Baird's graduation from Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1999 Baird made her debut to the filming industry in the Australian short film "I Promise". In the year 2000 Baird appeared in the movie "Metropolis" in which she starred as Charlotte. The following year Baird appeared in the TV Movie "Crash Palace" in which she appeared as Chris Stanford. Although despite these appearances Baird first found fame when she was cast in the long running and multi award winning soap hospital drama "All Saints", in the show she appeared as Paula Morgan. Baird appeared don the show first in November 2001 and made her final appearance in April 2004 with Morgan deciding to move to New York City to pursue new adventures. Upon first appearing on the show Baird was described as a "new star".^[14] Whilst on the show Baird was considered a main character and appeared in over fifty episodes by the end of her stint on the show. When the show ended Baird appeared prominently in the "Final Farewell Trailer" which featured memories from across the entire show.^[15] In 2004 Baird left the cast of All Saints after three years as a main character making her final appearance in the episode "Bad Pennies" on 27 April.^[16] Also in 2001 Baird appeared in the Australian soap drama "Crash Palace" as Chris Sanford.

2005 - 2006: Debuting on America 's Screens

In 2005 Baird appeared in the Australian short film "Amorality Tale" which featured Baird as the protagonist character of Roz. Later in the same year Baird made her debut on the American small screens in the TV Movie "Global Frequency" in which she starred as Dr. Katrina Finch, the film was originally a pilot episode but as the series was not renewed for a full length series the episode was treated as a television movie. Alongside these appearances Baird also appeared in the Television drama movie "Conviction". Baird in 2006 appeared was a guest star in the police mystery drama "Justice" as Linda Wallis, Baird appeared in the episode "The Wrongful Death" which aired on 27 September 2006.^[17]

2007: Further American Recognition

In 2007 Baird appeared in the Australian short "Love Is Love" as Sabrina. Later the same year Baird was confirmed to have been cast a main role in the fourth season of the Primetime Emmy nominated America TV Show "The 4400", Baird subsequently appeared in her first episode on 17 June 2007^[18] as Meghan Doyle. Following the end of the broadcast of Season 4 the show was unexpectedly cancelled, due to the shock cancellation of the series outrage was expressed publicly by fans of the show with a petition gaining over 70,000 signatures for the show to be brought back onto the screens.^[19]

2009: Returning to Acting

In 2009 after a year's break Baird returned to the life of fame having been cast in the Australian science fiction drama movie "Alien Trespass" as Tammy. The film gained mixed reviews following its release with some naming the movie "cheesy" however some critics praised the film. For example in the case of the "Boston.com" review with critic Ty Burr dubbing it "pretty endearing" and also described the movie to have more "more simple joy to be found here than in all of DreamWorks' 3-D extravaganza";^[20] alongside this review Entertainment Weekly gave the movie a fairly positive review giving it a "B+" grade,^[21] in regards to Baird's appearance in the movie the magazine regarded Tammy as someone who "thinks on her feet".^[22] Baird as a member of the main cast at WonderCon in 2009 to talk about the film.^[23]

2012 - 2016: A Place To Call Home and Backtrack

In 2012 Baird appeared as guest star in the American television series "GCB" as Mikki. The following year of 2013 Baird was cast in Bevan Lee's Australian drama television show "A Place to Call Home" as Regina Standish, Baird was originally told her character would be a guest star in the TV show.^[24] Baird made her first appearance in "A Place to Call Home" in the episode "Cane Toad" which was awarded a "Australian Cinematographers Society" under the category of "Telefeatures, TV Drama & Mini Series Award of Distinction", Baird then appeared the rest of the episodes in Season One with these totaling her appearances to five episodes. Baird then returned to "A Place to Call Home" for the second season arriving back as a recurring character, in 2014 the show achieved three TV Logie Awards nominations and also gained a nomination under the Equity Ensemble Awards. Following the second season of A Place To Call Home the show was cancelled by the show's broadcaster Channel Seven but later Foxtel finalized a deal that would allow for a third series of the show to be created and aired on Foxtel.^[25] The third season premiered in 2015 and this time Baird returned to the show but as a main character for the first time. "A Place to Call Home" was subsequently renewed for a fourth season set for release the following year.^[26] During 2015 Baird starred in the Australian thriller mystery drama film "Backtrack" in which she appeared in as Carol Bower, the film gained a review that achieved stated the movie gained "an overall atmosphere of dread".^[27] In 2016 due to her portrayal of Regina Standish in A Place To Call Home Baird was nominated for a Silver TV Logie Award under the category of "Most Outstanding Supporting Actress".^[28][29] Prior to the release of the fourth season of A Place To Call Home Baird stated that the drama would be "darker than ever" and that the fourth series is set to be "explosive" but also said that she was "excited" for the series to return to the small screens^[9]. The fourth season premiered in September 2016^[10]. Before the end of the series the fourth season the show was renewed for a fifth series set to begin filming in February 2017^[11].

Personal life

Baird has two children one girl who was born in 2008 and a boy who was born in 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jenni Baird.

• Jenni Baird at the Internet Movie Database