Raised in Wellington, New Zealand

First major film role, portraying writer Janet Frame in the biopic "Angel at My Table", directed by Jane Campion

Co-starred in "The Last Days of Chez Nous", directed by Gillian Armstrong

Moved to England

Cast as one of the titular characters in the TV miniseries "Mr. Wroe's Virgins", directed by Danny Boyle

Breakthrough screen role, as one of the plotting roommates in "Shallow Grave", directed by Boyle

Cast as a seductive lesbian in the British-made "A Village Affair", co-starring Sophie Ward

Portrayed the headstrong daughter of a visitor to an Australian sheep ranch in "Country Life", Michael Blakemore's adaptation of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya"

Played an unhappily English woman who has a relationship with a black soldier during WWII in the HBO drama "The Affair"

Delivered an outstanding turn as the sister of gay man in "The Hanging Garden"

Cast as a foreign journalist on assignment in the Balkans in "Welcome to Sarajevo", directed by Michael Winterbottom

London stage debut in production of "The Maids" by Jean Genet

Returned to the London stage in the Royal Court Theatre production of "I Am Yours"

Had supporting role as a suicidal woman in the vampire-themed "The Wisdom of Crocodiles", starring Jude Law

Played the lover of a drifter who becomes the assistant to a wildlife conservationist in the fact-based "To Walk With Lions"

Co-starred opposite Ray Winstone in the unlikely romance "Fanny & Elvis"

Had leading role in the stage play "Flame" in London

Garnered raves as a married actress who engages in a sexual relationship with a relative stranger in "Intimacy"; screened at Sundance and Berlin in 2001