Essie Davis on Her Award-Winning Performance in ’Nitram’

Essie Davis has portrayed many a maternal figure of varying degrees of empathy in films such as The Babadook, Babyteeth, and True History of the Kelly Gang. But she has never had the monumental task of allowing empathy for a hated mass murderer. In Justin Kurzel’s Nitram, she does just that with a graceful, transfixing, deeply moving turn as Helen, the eccentric heiress who befriends the titular character (played by Cannes Film Festival Best Actor winner Caleb Landry Jones), who goes on to commit the worst mass murder in Australia’s history — the 1996 Port Arthur massacre where 35 people were killed — instantly changing gun laws in that country. For her performance, Davis won the AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress last year (Australia’s Oscar). It was her second consecutive win, as she was the recipient for Babyteeth in 2020. Awards Daily correspondent Frank J. Avella had the pleasure of Zoom chatting with Essie about the controversial but potent Nitram. NITRAM is now availabl