Rose's time to bloom

It is the question of our age, or perhaps of all ages. How come Rose Byrne isn’t the biggest star on the planet? As movie people go, she’s up there in the Angelina Jolie division of Beautiful People. As actors go, she’s easily the equal of Kate Winslet. And glossing over an occasional yen for a decent soya latte – “you just can’t get them in the States,” she sighs – as movie folks go, she’s a down-to-earth Aussie chick with a low maintenance lifestyle.

“I’m a working actress,” she shrugs. “That’s how I think of myself and I’m very lucky to have that. I know plenty of incredibly talented people who never got the breaks. But I’ve had a few great years. Knowing is very exciting.”
Knowing, the first official gambit of the summer blockbuster season, stars Nicolas Cage as an astrophysics professor who stumbles upon a time capsule containing chilling end-of-days prophecies. With a hefty $50 million production budget, this commendably crazy sci-fi from Alex Proyas, the director of The Crow and I, Robot might just be the Ms Byrne‘s ticket to the big leagues. If she’s bothered, she’s certainly not letting on. 
“I think I’ll be happier when everything has calmed down a little bit,” she says. “I am an Australian. So I’m always a bit cynical about these things.”
This is a fairly typical response from the unflappable Ms. Byrne, an actress who has consistently shunned the red carpet in favour of the smartest characters roles. A mistress of all dialects, she has played a down-at-heel English aristocrat in I Capture The Castle, the saucy Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac in Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and Natalie Portman’s loyal handmaiden in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, a film she has never seen.
What? Never?
“No. Honestly. I don’t like watching myself onscreen. If I go to a premiere I make straight for the back door. And it wasn’t a massive role or anything.”
But it’s Star Wars, lady.
“I know. But Star Wars isn’t really my kind of thing. I don’t really get the whole genre cinema thing.”
That didn’t prevent her from heading off to space with Cillian Murphy in Danny Boyle’s super-smart physics opera, Sunshine, or from battling viruses in 28 Weeks Later. Ms. Byrne is, of course, thrilled by her old chum Mr. Boyle’s recent Oscar success with Slumdog Millionaire.
“He’s one of the nicest people in the business,” she gushes. “It could not have happened to a nicer person. And Slumdog is fantastic.”
Ms. Byrne, meanwhile, has been on her own winning streak. She was Brad Pitt’s bit on the side in Troy and obscure object of desire in Wicker Park. Lately, she’s been picking up Golden Globe nods for her work on Damages, the freaky, twisty lawyer show where luminaries such as Glenn Close and Marcia Gay Harden get to chew furniture with their mouths open. The cast are currently signed on for six seasons, the third of which will air in 2010.
“I’m going to have to think about moving to New York or LA permanently,” says Ms. Byrne. “It’s a bit strange when you’ve been moving around as much as I have over the last few years.”
I wonder if such a chilled-out, yoga-loving person doesn’t stick out like a particularly sore thumb in such an industry-minded hub?
“Oh no,” she laughs. “LA has plenty of lazy people. And there’s definitely plenty of yoga.”
It hardly needs to be said that Rose Byrne does not hail from a show business background. Born in Sydney to a primary school teacher and a Tasmanian statistician turned garlic farmer, she started acting at the tender age of 8 when her older sisters decided she’d like the attention.
“Because I was the youngest there was always an element there of me playing the clown,” she recalls. “So I wasn’t pushed into acting. It just happened. I started a class and thought it was fun. Then I got my first film role in Dallas Doll when I was 12 and that was fun, too. There was no pushy parent or great plan. I was just dressing up and playing.”
She admits that dress up and make believe is still a huge factor in her career choices; “With Marie Antoinette, I got to wear Marisa Berenson’s costumes from Barry Lyndon. That was such a thrill. And I loved playing the duchesse. She was just such a naughty, corrupting influence everywhere she went.”

Knowing is on general release