Adelaide Clemens

Adelaide Clemens (born 30 November 1989) is an Australian actress. On television, she has played Harper on the W series Love My Way (2007), Valentine on the BBC/HBO series Parade's End (2012), Tawney on the Sundance TV series Rectify (2013–2016), and Blake on the CBS series Tommy (2020). In film, she has played Xandrie in Wasted on the Young (2010), Ladybird in Vampire (2011), Heather / Sharon in Silent Hill: Revelation (2012), Catherine in The Great Gatsby (2013), Hazel in To the Stars (2019), and Carey in The Swearing Jar (2022).

Adelaide Clemens
Photo of Adelaide Clemens
Clemens in 2017
Born (1989-11-30) 30 November 1989 (age 34)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
OccupationActress
Years active2006–present

Early life

Clemens was born in Brisbane, Queensland. Her parents lived in Japan but went to Australia for her birth.[1] She has two younger brothers Sebastian and Felix.[2] Her father, Mark Clemens, is English and was a marketing manager for Seagram. Her mother, Janea Clemens, is an Australian cardiac nurse.[3]

After living in Japan, she was raised in France until the age of 6 and then Hong Kong to the age of 12, where she attended the Hong Kong International School. When she was 12 years old, her family moved to Australia to live in Sydney, New South Wales.[4] She attended high school at the Queenwood School for Girls, in the Sydney suburb of Balmoral.[5]

Career

Clemens began working as an actress in Australian television while in high school. She guest-starred in a 2006 episode of Blue Water High as Juliet, and, in 2007, starred in the children's series Pirate Islands: The Lost Treasure of Fiji, as Alison. Clemens played Harper in the Showtime drama Love My Way that year, and was nominated for the Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New Talent at the 2008 Logie Awards for the role.[6]

Clemens was seen in the MTV Networks Australia dramatic film, Dream Life (2008),[7] and had small roles in the television series All Saints and the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in 2009. She became the face of Jan Logan Jewellery that year.[8] Clemens relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 2009.[9]

Clemens at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival

She starred in the film Wasted on the Young (2010) as Xandrie. Written and directed by Ben C. Lucas, the film tells the story of a high school love triangle that leads to a party ending in gun violence.[10] She guest-starred on the Fox crime drama, Lie To Me, and starred as a sociopathic prostitute in the film Generation Um... (2010).[11] As of January 2010, Clemens was in negotiations to join the cast of Fury Road, the fourth in the Mad Max film series by George Miller.[12]

The following year, she starred in the film Certainty (2011), directed by Peter Askin.[13] She also starred in Vampire (2011) as Ladybird, a suicidal single mother. The film was the English-language feature debut of noted Japanese director Shunji Iwai.[14]

The next year, Clemens starred in Camilla Dickinson (2012), an adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's 1951 novel.[15] She starred as teenager Heather Mason in the horror film Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012).[16] Also that year, Clemens played a lead role as the young suffragette Valentine Wannop in Parade's End (2012), a television mini-series adaptation of the Ford Madox Ford tetralogy co-produced by HBO and BBC Two.[17] She also appeared in the horror film No One Lives (2012).[18]

The following year, she appeared in The Great Gatsby (2013), based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the same name, playing Catherine, the sister of Myrtle Wilson.[19] On television, Clemens began starring as Tawney Talbot in the 2013 Sundance Channel series, Rectify.[20]

In 2020, Clemens took a starring role in the CBS drama Tommy.[21]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2009X-Men Origins: WolverineCarnival girlCameo appearance
2010At the TattooistKellyShort film
Wasted on the YoungXandrie
2011VampireLadybird
CertaintyDeb Catalano
2012Camilla DickinsonCamilla Dickinson
Generation Um...Mia
No One LivesEmma
Silent Hill: RevelationHeather Mason / Sharon Da Silva
2013The Great GatsbyCatherine
2015The World Made StraightLori
The Automatic HateAlexis Green
2017RabbitMaude Ashton
2018The CaretakerSaraShort film
2019To the StarsHazel Atkins
I'll Find YouRachel Rubin
2022The Swearing JarCarey
2024White WidowNatalieCompleted

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Blue Water HighJulietEpisode: "2.5"
2007Pirate Islands: The Lost Treasure of FijiAlisonMain role
Love My WayHarperRecurring role; 8 episodes
2008Out of the BlueFionaEpisode: "1.37"
Dream LifeRoseTelevision film
2009All SaintsStephanieEpisode: "Give and Take 2"
2010The PacificRegistrar GirlEpisode: "Home"
Lie to MeMegan CrossEpisode: "The Royal We"
2012Parade's EndValentine WannopMiniseries; main role
2013–2016RectifyTawney TalbotMain role
2014Parer's WarElizabeth Marie CotterTelevision film
2018Voltron: Legendary DefenderMerla (voice)Main role (season 8)
2020TommyBlakeMain role
2022Under the Banner of HeavenRebecca PyreMiniseries; main role
2023Justified: City PrimevalSandy

Stage

YearTitleRoleTheater
2016Hold On to Me DarlingEssieAtlantic Theater Company
2018The Hard ProblemHilaryLincoln Center

Awards and nominations

AwardYear[a]CategoryNominated workResultRef.
Logie Awards2008Graham Kennedy Award for Most Outstanding New TalentLove My WayNominated[22]

Notes

References