Kat Stewart

Kat Stewart (Katherine Louise Stewart on 30 November 1972 in Bairnsdale, Victoria) is a Logie Award-winning Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage.

Career
Stewart is best known for her role as Roberta Williams (wife of the late Melbourne gangland figure Carl Williams) in the first series of the Channel 9 TV production Underbelly and as Billie Proudman, alongside Asher Keddie, John Waters and Deborah Mailman in the popular comedy/drama, Offspring on the Ten Network.

In 2013 Stewart has reteamed with Shaun Micallef in the lead role of the murder mystery drama/comedy, Mr & Mrs Murder on the Ten Network. The pair play Charlie and Nicola Buchanan, a husband and wife duo that are industrial cleaners with an amateur interest in solving crimes. The two previously worked together on the satirical newscast show Newstopia and both have spoken positively of their on-screen chemistry and rapport with Micallef saying "I wouldn't have considered doing this if Kat wasn't involved." Stewart also shares an Associate Producer credit on the show.

Kat Stewart also appeared in the critically acclaimed relationship drama, Tangle (2009–2012) on Showcase. In the series Stewart played the loveable but flawed, Nat Manning as part of an ensemble cast including Justine Clarke, Ben Mendelsohn, Matt Day and Catherine McClements. Showing she has long been adroit at both drama and comedy, in 2009 Stewart appeared in the Andrew Denton produced, advertising industry satire :30 Seconds on Comedy Channel.

Stewart's other TV credits include a guest appearance in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries in 2012, various roles in Newstopia on SBS in 2007-08, the BBC2/UKTV comedy series Supernova as well as recurring roles on City Homicide, Kick, and Last Man Standing. Stewart has also guest starred on Blue Heelers, Stingers, CrashBurn, Something in the Air, The Secret Life of Us, and Fergus McPhail.

She made her feature film debut in Alkinos Tsimillios’ Em4Jay and played Lady Macduff in Geoffrey Wright's contemporary retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth set in the ganglands of Melbourne.

Stewart has also won acclaim on-stage in a range of dramatic and comedic roles. As an ensemble member of Red Stitch Actor's Theatre from 2002-12, Stewart appeared in over a dozen plays for the company including The Little Dog Laughed, The Shape of Things, Rabbit Hole, Bug and Loyal Women. Her final Red Stitch production was in December 2010 in the part of Tekla in an update of Strindberg's 'Creditors'. She has also worked with MTC on productions such as Festen and 2008’s Frost/Nixon.

Personal life
Kat Stewart was born and raised in Bairnsdale in regional Victoria. When she was 8 years old she, her parents and two older brothers lived and travelled in Europe for a year and Kat says that time "opened my eyes to the world and gave me a lot of confidence." Stewart began acting in primary school and remembers: "Since Year 2 I had been getting a thrill out of doing school drama. I was on the quiet side, but I felt light in my bones when I was onstage. At university I studied marketing and arts, and joined the theatre society, which quickly became my passion. After graduation, I worked in publicity, but I couldn't shake my love of acting, so I enrolled at the National Theatre, hoping I'd outgrow it. Now I understand you need to do what you love to be happy." Stewart made the decision to leave her PR career behind to pursue acting full-time and recalls: "After I finished drama school, I had a couple of acting gigs straightaway, but then I was unemployed fairly consistently over a couple of years. I don't take anything for granted now though, so it wasn't such a bad thing. But I wouldn't want to go back there if I can avoid it."

2008 was a milestone year for the Melbourne-based actor professionally and personally. In February that year she married fellow actor David Whiteley. The two met while working together at Red Stitch Actor's Theatre in 2002.On 12 January 2012 the couple welcomed their first child, a boy named Archie Nicholas.

Awards
Kat Stewart was nominated for Most Outstanding New Talent at the Logie Awards (Graham Kennedy Award) in 2006 and two ASTRA awards in 2006/07 for her role in the comedy series Supernova. She won critical acclaim for her role as Roberta Williams in Underbelly, winning an AFI award for Best Lead Actress in a television drama and being nominated for two Logies in 2009, winning the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress. In 2010 she was nominated again for the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress, this time for Tangle, and an ASTRA award for :30 Seconds. Stewart was recognised for her work as Billie Proudman in Offspring with nominations for the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actress in 2011  and again in 2012.

For her theatrical work Stewart has received two Green Room Awards, the Gerda Nicholson Award for Emerging Actress in 2004 and Best Actress for Bug/The Shape of Things in 2006. She was nominated for two Green Room Awards, one for Best Actress for her body of work in 2003 and Best Actress for The Little Dog Laughed in 2008.

Television credits

 * The Secret Life of Us (2001) as Chiara
 * Something in the Air (2001) as Jenny Cliff
 * Blue Heelers (2001) as Gail Watson
 * Blue Heelers (2002) as Liz Stewart
 * Stingers (2001) as Amanda
 * Stingers (2002) as Sharine Sands
 * CrashBurn (2003) as Mandy
 * Fergus McPhail (2004) as Director
 * Last Man Standing (2005) as Clare Tonitollo
 * Supernova (2005–2006) as Dr. Rachel Mann
 * Kick (2007) as Jan Pollock
 * City Homicide (6 episodes, 2007) as Claire Jackson
 * Newstopia (2007–2008)
 * Underbelly (2008) as Roberta Williams
 * :30 Seconds (2009) as Marion West
 * Tangle (2009–2012) as Nat Manning
 * Offspring (2010–present) as Billie Proudman
 * The Bazura Project's Guide To Sinema (2011) as Mary Spleen
 * Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012, TV) as Miss Lee
 * Mr & Mrs Murder (2013) as Nicola Buchanan

Film credits

 * Catch Her in the Eye (2001)
 * Em4Jay (2006) as Janey
 * Macbeth (2006) as Lady Macduff
 * Dungoona (2009) as Gemma's Mum