While she has only been acting since 2010, the bestDanielle Macdonaldmovies and TV shows feature several fantastic performances from the Australian actress. Macdonald began acting as a teen, and after attending the Australian Institute for Performing Arts, she moved to Los Angeles and started her Hollywood acting career. She got her first role inThe Thief, a short film directed by Rachel Weisz, and then earned her first feature film role inThe East(2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Since that time, Macdonald has become a legitimate star, earning critical acclaim in television shows and movies, both theatrical and on streaming. She has worked with majordirectors like Greta Gerwigand top movie stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Aniston.Macdonald has also switched between lead roles, supporting roles, and even smaller guest roles, and often steals the show in any movie or TV show she appears in. While award recognition has not yet come, her future looks bright.
10Every Secret Thing (2014)
Danielle Macdonald Played Alice Manning
Danielle Macdonald took on one of the lead roles in the crime drama thrillerEvery Secret Thingin 2014. The movie stars Macdonald as Alice Manning, an 18-year-old who was just released from juvenile hall after serving seven years for the kidnapping and murder of a biracial infant. Serving the same sentence for the crime was Dakota Fanning’s Ronnie Fuller. When a second biracial baby disappears, the truth about what happened seven years in the past finally comes to the surface.
Critics raved about Macdonand’s performance, praising her quiet anger and intensity.
Directed by Amy J. Berg, who is best known for her documentariesDeliver Us from EvilandWest of Memphis, helms this difficult story of murder and secrets in a small town. While the film received a low 32% Rotten Tomatoes score,critics raved about Macdonand’s performance, praising her quiet anger and intensity and her ability to really draw in the viewers with her expressions. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, after which it received a theatrical release in the United States.
Bird Box
Cast
Bird Box shows the apocalypse through the ears of Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock), a mother of two who tries to get her children to safety after realizing that the demonic entities who are ravaging the world only affect their victims through their eyes. The 2018 Netflix hit is based on Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel of the same name.
Danielle Macdonald had an important role in the Netflix horror movieBird Box. Based on the novel by Josh Malerman,Bird Boxis a post-apocalyptic story about unseen creatures that cause people to take their own lives if they see them. This means most people have to wear blindfolds when outdoors to protect themselves from the deadly consequences. At the same time, there are also growing cults that want people to die, believing it was meant to be.
Bird Box 3: Confirmation, Setting & Everything We Know
Bird Box Barcelona is the start of 2018’s Bird Box being a franchise for Netflix, and talk of where Bird Box 3 will go next is already underway.
Sandra Bullock is the main star, Malorie Hayes, and she is protecting two young children on her journey to find help.Danielle Macdonald stars as a pregnant woman named Olympia, part of a group of survivors that Malorie discovers.Bird Boxreceived mixed reviews with a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was a massive hit, with almost 26 million viewers in the first seven days of release, and a sequel was greenlit andarrived in 2023 calledBird Box Barcelona.
The Tourist
The Tourist is a dramatic action-thriller series created by Harry and Jack Williams. It was initially released on BBC One in the UK before being released in the US on HBO Max. The series follows Elliot Stanley, an Irish man who wakes up in an Australian hospital with amnesia and must piece together his identity before those pursuing him find him first.
Danielle Macdonald is one of the main cast members of the Max seriesThe Tourist. Jamie Dornan stars in the series as an Irishman who wakes up with amnesia in an Australian hospital with no memories of who he is or what happened to him. He soon meets a local woman named Luci (Shalom Brune-Franklin) who offers to help him figure out who he is. As forDanielle Macdonald, she plays Probationary Constable Helen Chambers, and she is investigating the case of the mystery man and what happened.
The Touristhas two seasons and 12 episodes, airing on BBC One in the UK and Stan in Australia before streaming on Max in the United States after that. The series was critically lauded with an almost perfect 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and praise going to both Dornan and Macdonald for their performances. Macdonald won the Breakthrough Award at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
7I Am Woman (2019)
Danielle Macdonald Played Lillian Roxon
I Am Womanis a 2019 biopic starring Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Helen Reddy, the iconic singer from the 1960s and 70s who created a movement in the music industry with songs about female empowerment during the women’s liberation movement, including the song that the movie was named after, the 1972 track “I Am Woman.” The film shows her struggles as she attempts to release this music in a male-dominated production industry.
I Am Womanalso earned 16 AACTA Awards nominations.
Danielle Macdonaldco-stars as Lilian Roxon, a real-life Australian journalist and author. Roxon was best known for her coverage of David Bowie, who she became friends with, and of her report about the August 1970 women’s rights march in New York. Macdonald plays an important role in the movie, as a close friend of Helen Reddy, who helps her make music connections. Critics gave the movie mixed reviews, with a 67% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.I Am Womanalso earned 16 AACTA Awards nominations.
American Horror Story
American Horror Story is a Horror Anthology series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. The franchise has seen stars like Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, Denis O’Hare, Zachary Quinto, Evan Peters, and Dylan McDermott. Each season follows a new premise and spans an array of horror genres like witches, ghosts, serial killers, and more.
TheAmerican Horror Storyfranchise has utilized a lot of actors over the years, and Danielle Macdonald got her chance to join the cast inAmerican Horror Story: Roanoke. In this season of the anthology horror series,the first half of the season plays out like a paranormal documentaryand the second half is found footage style.The cast had plenty of familiarAHSnames, including Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, and Angela Bassett.
The Best Performance In Every American Horror Story Season
American Horror Story boasts one of the best casts of any anthology series, with many of them delivering standout performances throughout.
Danielle Macdonald showed up in the explosive season finale as Bristol Windows, a fan ofMy Roanoke Nightmarewho is interviewed about her thoughts on the showand the people involved, saying she felt bad for Lee Harris (Adina Porter). The season had mostly positive reviews, with a 74% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The season earned four Primetime Emmy nominations, winning for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup.
French Exit
French Exit is a dark comedy directed by Azazel Jacobs. Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Frances Price, a penniless Manhattan socialite who moves to Paris with her son Malcolm, played by Lucas Hedges. The film follows their eccentric journey as they attempt to start a new life in France, accompanied by their cat, who Frances believes is the reincarnation of her deceased husband.
Based on the novel of the same name by Patrick DeWitt,French Exitis a 2020 prestige movie with Michelle Pfeiffer starring as Frances Price, a Manhattan heiress who has all her property seized by banks years after her husband dies. Now, almost penniless, she and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) sell everything in their house and move to a small apartment in Paris that Frances’s sister owns. She also has a family cat, which might be her reincarnated husband. The film only received a limited theatrical release and finished with a low $1.6 million box office (viaBox Office Mojo).
Critics gave the movie mixed reviews, with a 64% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This was a disappointment since the move was expected to be an Oscar-worthy release, especially for Pfeiffer.Danielle Macdonald played Madeleine the medium inFrench Exit, a medium who scares passengers on a cruise ship by predicting their deaths. However, she is a real medium who helps them speak to Frances’s dead husband at a séance. Pfeiffer earned a Golden Globe nomination.
Lady Bird
Acting as Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut, Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a high school senior who dreams of leaving what she sees as a miserable existence in Sacramento, California, and going to college on the East Coast. Lady Bird’s dreams clash with the overbearing wishes of her mother Marion, played by Laurie Metcalf. As Lady Bird faces the social and emotional challenges of her final year of high school, her relationship with her mother becomes more and more strained the harder she attempts to break free.
2017’sLady Birdis acclaimed director Greta Gerwig’s solo feature film directorial debut. Saoirse Ronan stars as Lady Bird McPherson while Laurie Metcalf is her mother, Marion. Lady Bird wants to attend a prestigious university, but her family knows they can’t afford it, with Marion telling her daughter she is ungrateful for having such big dreams.As high school graduation and college looms, Lady Bird begins to rebel, making her home life and relationship with her mother harder.
15 Lady Bird Quotes To Live By
Teen coming-of-age drama Lady Bird is a hotbed of memorable quotes and unforgettable life lessons.
Danielle Macdonald plays Olivia inLady Bird, and while it was only a small appearance, it was a huge moment for her. “It was one day of work, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to work on a Greta Gerwig film. I don’t care that I have one line’” (viaW Magazine).The film has an almost perfect 99% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and went on to pick up five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Beast Director, Best Actress (Ronan), and Best Supporting Actress (Metcalf).
Easy
Easy is an anthology series that explores the nuanced complexities of love, sex, and relationships through the lives of a diverse group of Chicagoans. Each standalone episode delves into modern-day dilemmas, from open marriages to aging - few topics are off the table.
Easyis an anthology TV series where each episode is a stand-alone story without any need to watch the other shows to follow along with the current one. This also means there are a lot of actors who work on the episodes, with many newcomers showing up each episode for a new story. One of the standouts in the second season wasDanielle Macdonald, who starred in the sixth episode, “Prodigal Daughter.“She plays a teenager named Grace in the episode.
When her wealthy parents (including Judy Greer as her mother) catch Grace making out with a boy, they punish her by making her to to church every Sunday until she leaves for college. She finds a way to strike back at them when she donates her life savings (thousands of dollars) to the church when the minister says rich people can’t get into Heaven. Critics praised Macdonald and Greer for their performances, and the series itself has a high 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Dumplin'
2018’s Dumplin' was written by Kristin Hahn and directed by Anne Fletcher. Starring Danielle Macdonald, Odeya Rush, and Jennifer Aniston, the comedy release follows a young high school girl who is raised by her pageant-loving aunt as she enters a pageant with friends in protest.
The movie that introduced Danielle Macdonald to most of the world was the Netflix originalDumplin'.Macdonald stars as Willowdean “Dumplin'” Dickson, a young woman raised in a small Texas town and raised mostly by her Aunt Lucy. Her mother, Rosie (Jennifer Aniston), is a former beauty queen who is too busy running pageants to pay attention to her. After Lucy dies, Dumplin wants to strike back at her mother and enters into a beauty pageant as an act of protest.
However, with a love of Dolly Parton and the help of a group of drag show performers,Dumplin' is able to dive into the pageant that she entered and prove that a person doesn’t have to have an “ideal” look to be a queen. Critics praised the film, awarding it an 86% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also earned several awards, including a Golden Globe, for the Dolly Parton and Linda Perry song “Girl in the Movies,” which played in the Netflix movie.
Unbelievable
Starring Toni Collette and was created by Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, and Ayelet Waldman. The 2019 miniseries takes an introspective look at a serial assault case that took place in Washington State and Colorado
The best TV show that Danielle Macdonald has appeared in over her career so far is the 2019 true crime biopicUnbelievable. The miniseries is based on a real case ofawoman who reported that she was raped, only to end up being prosecuted for making the claims. Kaitlyn Dever stars as Marie, the sexual assault survivor who was painted as a criminal for reporting her rape. Toni Collette and Merritt Weaver star as two police detectives investigating the reports of a serial rapist.
Danielle Macdonaldstars in the miniseries as Amber Stevenson, a second sexual assault victim, and the woman who got the two police detectives to start looking into the case, eventually connecting it back to Marie.The miniseries has a Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 98% and over 32 million viewers watched the miniseriesafter it hit Netflix.Unbelievablewas nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards and won a Peabody Award for Entertainment.
