Hanna Griffiths is an award winning actor and producer from Melbourne, Australia. She has been working professionally since the age of 14. She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts.
Early life
Hanna trained and competed in EquestrianDressage winning events all across Australia. Hanna rose to compete at the highest level equestrienne competition called the Garryowen, Australia's most prestigious horse riding event for females, which is held at the Royal Melbourne Show. The competition is judged on mount, costume, saddlery, riding ability and general appearances of horsewomen. Only 40 talented riders throughout Australia qualify to compete for the prestigious honor in front of a packed grandstand, at Melbourne Royal Showgrounds. Her family own a large 870-hectare property. The coastal farm is in East Gippsland, the property is named Giffard, and is situated down , with the name giving away just a little of the family's long-standing history in the region – her family once bred horses for the British Army in India. Her uncle Dan Boland runs the property, Mr Boland'd grandmother was a McGauran, who were among the first to settle at Giffard. Her ancestors migrated from the County of Cavan in Ireland – hence the farm's original name, . When Hanna's father took her to see The Horse Whisperer an American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford based on the 1995 novel The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans. Hanna's passion for horses, literature and creativity merged into life path.
Career
Hanna began acting at age 13 she started with school plays and theatre groups. Hanna studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, Victoria. She was trained in the theatre and is very active as a stage performer, having leading roles in theatrical productions of Three Tall Women a play by Edward Albee which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Richard III a historical play by William Shakespeare, as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Then Così a play by Australian playwrightLouis Nowra and Hamleta tragedy also written by William Shakespeare. She was also very successful in advertising, resulting in campaigns for iconic brands such as Ray-Ban, Coca-Cola and Lee , and national television commercials for Macintosh with a very popular series of commercials for Nintendo with a four-time Grammy Award winner Australian Superstar Olivia Newton-John that aired during the Australian Open on the Seven Network served as the host broadcaster for Australia, ESPN International in Central and Latin America and BBC in the United Kingdom to over 21.5 million viewers. Hanna's film and television career is equally as diverse. She had the opportunity to star in one of Australia's most successful television shows, a series Underbelly. The show, was inspired by a true story relating to Sydney's criminal underworld, is highly regarded as the highest-rating series in the history of Australian television, and Hanna became familiar to the audience due to her appearance on the show portraying the real-life character Jodie. In addition to her role on Underbelly, Hanna also starred in award-winning televisions series Rush and feature film Evil Never Dies, alongside Katherine Heigl. This was her first supporting role in a film. Hanna then went on to star in many other works - including films such as Brothers, Josh Jarmen, Backstage Pass, and Macbeth directed by award-winning Geoffrey Wright.
Producing
Hanna is on the Producing team for Angels in the Sky, a film and high end television series based off the Amazon best selling novel. About the creation of the Israeli Air-force based on the true story of Mitchell Flint an American veteran aviator Commander and war hero later served as an American Volunteer pilot in 101 Squadron during its War of Independence. Alongside Producer Mark Damon, whose credits include 2 Guns and Lone Survivor, who bought the film and television rights for Israeli war story in a pre-Cannes Film Festival deal. Mark Damon, the co-head of and Foresight Unlimited, will executive produce with as primary financial backer. Hanna partnered with Paramount Pictures executives Mike Flint and Jerry Meadors along with Mark Lansky. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Hanna was asked what material she is interested in - she said " I am drawn to true stories. The stories I want to make are about people that are brave. People that did things for a greater good. Ordinary people that did extraordinary things against the odds. They had a higher purpose. We call them heroes”. In 2019 she announced she was producing American Cherry a feature film starring , who plays a Manson Family member in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood along with and Leonor VarelaVariety has learned exclusively. The psychological thriller-romance is directed by. American Cherry is set in small town, low-income suburbia American Cherry follows a teenage girl who must navigate her freedom and personal identity within a fractured, dysfunctional family. Varela plays her mother, suffering with mental illness and substance abuse, and Denton plays the boy next door who becomes the object of her fascination. The project filmed in Arkansas where Hanna lived for 4 months. Hanna cast Matty Cardarople from Stranger Things and A series of Unfortunate Events in to play 'Clay Elliot', a young inattentive father who becomes aware of his son’s issues but doesn’t know how to handle him. Controversy broke out that the Producers had fired the Assistant Director Over ‘Uncomfortable Comments’ and ‘Unwanted Advances’ half way through filming, Griffiths did not respond to a request for comment.
