Kate Box

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kate Box is an Australian actress who works on stage, in films, and on TV. She’s best known for playing Nicole Vargas in Rake, Lou Kelly in Wentworth, and Dulcie Collins in Deadloch.

She grew up in Adelaide, in Colonel Light Gardens, with her parents Greg and Lorraine and her sister Sally. She started acting with Unley Youth Theatre, where she met filmmakers who would later start Closer Productions. She briefly began a BA at the University of Adelaide, originally intending to study psychology, but she ended up majoring in politics and Australian studies. She trained at the Victorian College of the Arts and then at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, graduating in 2003.

Box’s first stage role was Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2004. She has appeared in stage productions such as Top Girls (for which she earned a Helpmann Award nomination in 2018), Dolores, Macbeth, and A Christmas Carol.

Her screen debut came in 2005 with Small Claims: White Wedding, followed by The Black Balloon (2008) and guest spots on All Saints and My Place. The 2014 comedy The Little Death earned her an AACTA nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama.

Box became widely known for Rake and later appeared in Offspring, Old School, and the mini-series Fucking Adelaide (2018). In Riot (2018), she played Marg McMann and won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama, a moment she says helped her advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights.

In 2019 she appeared in Upright and Les Norton. She joined Wentworth in its final season as Lou Kelly. She also acted in Stateless (2020) and led the Tasmanian noir Deadloch (2023) for Amazon; the show was well received and a second season was announced in 2024.

Box has appeared in the SBS series Erotic Stories (2023) and Netflix’s Boy Swallows Universe as Dr Brennan. She won the 2024 AACTA Award for Best Acting in a Narrative Comedy for Deadloch.

Box is openly gay and has been with partner Jada Alberts since 2009. They have three daughters and live in Sydney. They have considered moving back to Adelaide. She has described Sophie Hyde as a close friend.