Samara Weaving

Early life

Weaving was born to Simon Weaving—a filmmaker and lecturer at the University of Newcastle in Newcastle, New South Wales and artistic director of the Canberra International Film Festival—and Helena Bezzina, an art therapist who teaches museum studies at the University of Newcastle. She grew up in Australia, Singapore, Fiji and Indonesia. Her younger sister, Morgan, is also an actress; their uncle is actor Hugo Weaving. Weaving and her family moved to Canberra in 2005 and she attended Canberra Girls Grammar School. She became vice drama captain and appeared in various school and theatre productions. In interviews, Weaving said watching Pirates of the Caribbean in Malta at age 12 inspired her to get into acting; according to the Australian Daily Telegraph in 2013, Weaving was rumoured to be meeting with casting directors and had reportedly been shortlisted for a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

Career

Weaving made her screen debut in 2008, being cast as Kirsten Mulroney in the Australian soap opera Out of the Blue when she was 16. The series was well received, but it was not commissioned for a second season. She then relocated from Canberra to Sydney to play Indigo "Indi" Walker in the Australian soap opera Home and Away. While initially cast in a recurring capacity, she was later brought into the main cast, playing the character from 2009-2013. Weaving described the experience as difficult, comparing it to a "machine." She was nominated for Best Female Performance at the AACTA Awards in 2012. Weaving began modelling for Australian underwear brand Bonds in 2012. In 2013, Weaving appeared in the crime film Mystery Road, alongside her uncle Hugo. She played the recurring role of Heather in the comedy horror series Ash vs Evil Dead in 2015, earning attention after a picture of her in a make-up test was used in a hoax. Also in 2015, she appeared in the comedy web series Squirrel Boys. The following year, she appeared in the action comedy Monster Trucks as Brianne. She was cast in the film during her first trip to Los Angeles in 2014.

In 2017, Weaving starred in the action comedy-thriller Mayhem, which saw her co-star with Steven Yeun and playing the role of Melanie Cross. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com compared her to Margot Robbie and called her "captivating and a little scary at the same time". She also played the girlfriend of John Hawkes in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, for which she was nominated for numerous awards with the acting ensemble and the title character in the comedy-horror film The Babysitter. She also appeared in the music video for Charlie Puth's song "Attention." From 2017-2019, she played Nelson Rose in the Showtime series SMILF. In December 2018, it was announced that Weaving was leaving the show after the second season. Weaving asked to be released from her contract after making a complaint about having to perform a nude sex scene. Daniel Holloway of Variety reported that Weaving felt uncomfortable with the behaviour of show creator and co-star Frankie Shaw during a similar sex scene in the first season, leading to an investigation of alleged misconduct by Shaw, which found that there was no wrongdoing on Shaw's part, however the show was cancelled shortly after by Showtime. Also in 2018, Weaving appeared in the Picnic at Hanging Rock miniseries as one of three students who disappear during a school trip to the titular Hanging Rock.

Weaving next starred as Grace in the 2019 comedy-horror film Ready or Not, her first leading role in a theatrical American film. The film marks her first collaboration with directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who described her as "just one of those people that we'll be friends with forever. She's one of our favorites." The film and her performance received positive reviews and helped to establish her as a scream queen. Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times called her "fantastic" and wrote that she "gives heart to this efficiently blood-drenched harpooning of soul-sucking greed and inbred family values." Simran Hans of The Guardian believed that her performance would earn a cult following. Also in 2019, she starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe in the action comedy Guns Akimbo.

Public image

Throughout her career, Weaving has starred in various film genres, primarily horror films, including Ready or Not, Mayhem, The Babysitter, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, Scream VI, Azrael and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come; consequently, she became known as a scream queen. Filmmakers Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, who directed her in Ready or Not, Ready or Not II: Here I Come and Scream VI, stated that Weaving is "one of our favorites" and her presence in Scream VI inspired them to "have fun with her role" and use the "level of excitement [from the fandom] surrounding her involvement [in the film]," declaring that "she has the best scream in the world!" Kevin McCall of Collider stated that "Weaving continues to solidify herself as an icon of the [horror] genre". In 2019, analyzing Weaving's career path for The Sydney Morning Herald, Elaine Lipworth wrote that she "is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents". Weaving has appeared in magazines such as Harper's Bazaar Australia and Women's Health Australia.

Personal life

Weaving has been in a relationship with writer Jimmy Warden since meeting him on the set of The Babysitter. They announced their engagement on 10 March 2019 and married that same year. As her film career flourished, she relocated to Los Angeles. In December 2025, Weaving announced she was pregnant with her first child. Weaving gave birth to a daughter in 2026.

Weaving is a lifelong Harry Potter fan with the Deathly Hallows symbol tattooed on her ankle and took the role in the 2019 film Guns Akimbo just so that she could work with actor Daniel Radcliffe. Weaving also told versions of a story where she hid the tattoo from Radcliffe by wearing long socks and pretending she could not remember his name. When Radcliffe spotted the tattoo and recognized the symbol, he asked if it was a Potter tattoo and Weaving's save was to insist it was about the books and author J. K. Rowling, not him.

She is also an avid video game enthusiast, as she discussed in a promotional interview for Ready or Not II: Here I Come, having expressed her interest in several gaming franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. She has also stated that she takes her PlayStation 5 with her while travelling and played the Gran Turismo series to prepare for her role as a getaway driver in the film Eenie Meanie (2025). She also expressed her love for the Nintendo character Yoshi.

Filmography