Nadia Townsend

In 2009 she appeared in the United States produced science fiction thriller film, Knowing, playing Grace Koestler, alongside Nicolas Cage and Rose Byrne. She was assistant dramaturge on George Miller's film, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Townsend was born in Sydney on 27 November 1979 and lived in Gladesville, the younger daughter of television presenter, producer and print journalist, Simon Townsend (1945–2025) and his second wife Rosanna (c. 1950–2003). She grew up with an elder brother (born 1978). Their elder half-sister Lisbeth Kennelly (born c. 1968), had been put up for adoption soon after she was born: her parents (Simon and a former girlfriend) had already separated. The Townsend family were reunited with Kennelly in 1992, she had also become an actress. As a child, Townsend began ballet lessons but was removed for talking too much. For secondary education she attended Hunters Hill High School, where she befriended fellow future actress, Rose Byrne, in a year 9 Science class.