Genevieve O'Reilly

Early life and education

Genevieve O'Reilly was born on 6 January 1977 in Dublin, Ireland, and at age ten emigrated to Adelaide, in South Australia. She had two younger siblings when the family emigrated, eventually gaining Australian citizenship.

O'Reilly moved to Sydney to attend the National Institute of Dramatic Art, eventually being accepted after three attempts.

Career

Theatre

O'Reilly was cast as the understudy in director Gale Edwards' production of The White Devil a week after graduating from drama school. She went on to appear in Edwards' Sydney Theatre Company production of The Way of the World. Other theatre credits include The Weir by Conor McPherson, at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, and Richard II at the Old Vic. Her recent parts at the Royal National Theatre have been in new play, Mike Bartlett's 13, and as Helena, wife to Andrew Scott's emperor Julian in the 2011 production of Ibsen's epic Emperor and Galilean.

In July 2012, O'Reilly performed in George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma. In 2015 O'Reilly played Kathryn in Splendour by Abi Morgan at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2017, she played Mary Carney in The Ferryman, first at the Royal Court Theatre and later at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End of London.

Film

O'Reilly has appeared in several productions filmed in Australia, including Matrix franchise sequels, The Matrix Reloaded (2003), and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). which also was marketed under the title Cyber Wars (2006), where she played the lead role of Dash MacKenzie.

''Star Wars''

In 2005, O'Reilly played the young Mon Mothma in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith; In 2016, she reprised her role as Mon Mothma in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and voiced the same character in the animated TV show Star Wars Rebels in early 2017. O'Reilly would reprise her role as Mon Mothma in the first season of the series Andor, that premiered in September 2022. She returned to the role in the Disney+ series Ahsoka in 2023 and then in the second season of Andor in 2025.

Television

In television, O'Reilly's first appearance was in 2001 in the Canadian television series BeastMaster as a guest star in "Slayer's Return". The following year O'Reilly appeared in Young Lions as Kimberly Oswald in the episode "Asylum Seekers". O'Reilly then appeared as a prominent character in All Saints from 2002 to 2005 as Leanne Curtis. Since moving to the UK, O'Reilly starred in the political mini-series The State Within, (first episode 2 November 2006) played Princess Diana in the 2007 television docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess, and had the lead role in The Time of Your Life (summer 2007). In 2009, she played CIA liaison officer Sarah Caulfield in the eighth series of BBC drama Spooks. She played Julie Rees in Harbinger, the two-part, season 9-opening episodes of Waking the Dead. O'Reilly also played the character of Michelle Beadley in the remake of The Day of the Triffids that aired on BBC One in December 2009.

From 2011 to 2014, O'Reilly appeared in the series Episodes as a recurring character alongside Matt LeBlanc. In June 2013, O'Reilly appeared in the pilot episode of the international crime drama Crossing Lines cast as detective and interrogation specialist Sienna Pride, attached to the ICC team from Britain's Scotland Yard. Later in 2014, O'Reilly appeared in the television mini series The Honourable Woman as Frances Pirsig. In 2015, O'Reilly appeared in the BBC television series Banished as Mary Johnson.

In early 2015, O'Reilly starred as Mary Johnson in Jimmy McGovern's Banished, a television drama focusing on British convicts in an Australian penal colony. In 2015, O'Reilly also starred as Dr Elishia McKellar, in an Australian paranormal drama Glitch, set in fictional small country town called Yoorana. The six-episode first series won major awards. Series 2 was broadcast on ABC1 and Netflix toward the end of 2017. In 2016, O'Reilly appeared in the British drama The Secret, for which she gained acclaim and was reported to play her character "beautifully".

In 2017, she was cast alongside Tim Roth as Angela Worth, in the British TV Series Tin Star.

Personal life

In 2005, O'Reilly moved to London with her husband, Luke Mulvihill, intending to stay for a couple of years, but were still living there in 2020.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

References

1. (20 June 2025). "Genevieve O'Reilly". Fandango Media-NBC Universal.
2. Quinn, Karl. (12 December 2020). "Star Wars' Genevieve O'Reilly Nails the Aussie Accent in The Dry. Here's Why".
3. Wise, Jon. (1 July 2007). "Genevieve's Telly Role is Spooky Reminder of Past".
4. Meany, Helen. (12 June 2008). "The Weir".
5. Ganattra, Shilpa. (24 September 2022). "‘I can bring more to it now than I could ever have back then’: Genevieve O’Reilly on reprising Star Wars role". [[The Irish Times]].
6. Fisher, Philip. (2011). "Theatre review: 13 at RNT Olivier Theatre".
7. Thomas, Simon. (17 June 2011). "Emperor and Galilean". Exeunt Magazine.
8. (25 July 2012). "The Doctor's Dilemma, National Theatre, review". [[The Daily Telegraph.
9. (5 August 2015). "Splendour review – Abi Morgan puts four women in the firing line".
10. (February 8, 2017). "Cast and West End transfer confirmed for Sam Mendes' The Ferryman".
11. Tong, Kelvin. (25 December 2000). "Made-in-S'pore Sci-Fi Flick". [[The Straits Times]].
12. Moviefone Staff. (April 11, 2006). "Cyber Wars (2006)". Moviefone Media LLC.
13. (October 19, 2022). "Lucas Was Right About Mon Mothma (It Just Took 17 Years To See It)".
14. Fenton, Andrew. (September 7, 2016). "Aussie Actor Genevieve O'Reilly on Star Wars: Rogue One, Secrets, Glitch, Banished and Episodes". [[News.com.au]].
15. (April 8, 2016). "'Rogue One' and the Surprising Return of Mon Mothma".
16. (September 15, 2022). "'Andor' Star Genevieve O'Reilly Never Thought She'd Get the Chance to Flesh Out Mon Mothma".
17. (7 April 2023). "Ahsoka Show Cast & Star Wars Character Guide".
18. (24 September 2014). "Network TV BBC Week 44: Wednesday 4 November 2009".
19. "Episode 1, The Day of the Triffids - BBC One". bbc.co.uk.
20. (20 June 2013). "Under the Dome: TV Review".
21. Masters, Tim. (4 March 2015). "Banished: Jimmy McGovern tells story of first British convicts in Australia". [[BBC News]].
22. (May 2016). "Genevieve O'Reilly plays The Secret's naive but guilty killer beautifully". Radio Times.
23. (March 3, 2017). "Rogue One's Genevieve O'Reilly On Bringing Mon Mothma to Star Wars Rebels (Exclusive)".
24. BBC Staff. "Cast Confirmed for BBC One Drama Three Families, From the Producers of Three Girls".
25. Hipes, Patrick. (December 6, 2023). "'Avatar: The Way Of Water', 'Oppenheimer', 'Star Trek' Series Lead Nominations For Genre-Focused Saturn Awards".
26. Chu, Michael. (2017-11-08). "Overwatch Devs Discuss Moira, Blizzard World, and Which Overwatch Heroes Play WarCraft". [[Gamer Network.