Alice Englert

Alice Englert – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Discover the inspiring journey of Alice Englert — her Australian roots, breakout roles, creative ambitions, and unforgettable quotes. Explore the life and career of this rising actress-director and find lessons from her story.

Introduction

Alice Englert is an Australian actress (born 15 June 1994) known for her emotionally rich performances, eclectic role choices, and emerging voice as a filmmaker. As the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Jane Campion, she grew up immersed in storytelling, yet she charted her own path — from acting to writing, composing, and directing. Today, Englert is not only celebrated for roles in Ginger & Rosa, Beautiful Creatures, In Fear, and The Power of the Dog, but also as the writer-director of Bad Behaviour (2023), for which she was nominated at Sundance.

Her story resonates with audiences because she blends vulnerability, curiosity, and artistic boldness. Her journey reminds us that creativity is often born from inner questioning, challenges, and a deep desire to claim your own self.

Early Life and Family

Alice Allegra Englert was born on 15 June 1994 in Sydney, Australia. She is the daughter of New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion (director of The Piano, The Power of the Dog) and Australian filmmaker Colin Englert. On her maternal side, she is the granddaughter of actress h Campion and theater director Richard Campion.

Her parents divorced when she was seven. From a young age, she experienced life across many places: her upbringing spanned Australia, New Zealand, England, Italy, and the United States, following the demands of her parents’ careers. She once reflected, “I’ve spent half my life on planes.”

This nomadic childhood exposed her to diverse cultures, creative milieus, and a sense of restlessness that would later infuse her storytelling. Although she was steeped in cinema from childhood, Englert’s route into acting was not strictly predetermined — she has said her creative inclinations “sort of happened quite naturally.”

Youth and Education

Growing up, Englert attended schools in various countries: in Australia, New Zealand, New York City, Rome, London, and England (including Sibford School, a Quaker school in Oxfordshire). She described her schooling as sporadic, moving between different systems and countries.

In her early teens, she watched her mother’s films, which led to curious reactions from others — boys telling her, “Your mum makes sexy films,” prompting her to rethink that assumption after seeing those films herself. At age 13, she first encountered her mother’s cinematic work and wrestled with how others perceived it versus her own understanding.

Eventually, Englert decided to leave formal schooling to pursue creative work. She has also said she dropped out and did not take formal acting classes, choosing instead to learn through practice and immersion.

Despite this unconventional path, she views her exposure to editing rooms, pre- and postproduction sets, and narrative crafts as formative influences shaping her sensibilities.

Career and Achievements

Acting Debut & Early Roles

Alice Englert’s on-screen journey began early. At around age eight, she appeared in the film Listen. At 12, she appeared in her mother’s short film The Water Diary.

Her feature breakout came with Ginger & Rosa (2012), where she played Rosa, an impressionable young girl caught in the tumult of the Cold War era. She followed that with roles in the horror thriller In Fear (2013) and the fantasy romance Beautiful Creatures (2013), in which she played Lena Duchannes. In Beautiful Creatures, she contributed a musical touch too — she wrote and performed the song “Needle and Thread,” recorded in an impromptu setting.

She also acted in television projects: New Worlds (2014), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Top of the Lake (season 2), Ratched, The Serpent, Dangerous Liaisons, and Exposure (2024) among others.

In more recent years, she had supporting roles in The Power of the Dog (2021) and You Won’t Be Alone (2022).

Emerging as a Filmmaker

Beyond acting, Englert is expanding her creative identity. In 2023, she made her feature directorial debut with Bad Behaviour, a dark comedy she wrote and directed. The film was recognized at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

Her trajectory from actor to storyteller in full demonstrates a desire to explore layers beyond performance: character, voice, tone, and narrative structure.

Awards & Recognition

• Ginger & Rosa earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the British Independent Film Awards (2012).

• She was part of the ensemble in Ginger & Rosa that won the Women Film Critics Circle’s Women’s Work / Best Ensemble in 2013.

• She received nominations at the Teen Choice Awards (Breakout, Romantic, Liplock) for Beautiful Creatures.

• Earlier, her short film The Boyfriend Game earned nominations and awards in 2016–2017 in screenplay categories.

Though still early in her filmmaking career, these recognitions underscore her versatility and promise.

Historical Milestones & Context

To contextualize Englert’s growth, it helps to see the environment she entered:

• She emerged during a period when young actors sought more agency and authorship — not just as performers but creators.

• Her mother’s prominence (Jane Campion) meant Englert bore the legacy of auteur cinema and the burdens and opportunities of public expectations.

• Her relocation across countries gave her a pan-cultural lens at a time when global film identities and cross-cultural storytelling were gaining strength.

• In the 2020s, independent and hybrid cinema has grown in visibility (via festivals, streaming, cross-genre work), providing a supportive climate for actor-filmmakers like Englert

Thus, her work is part of a broader movement where artists cross boundaries of medium, nationality, and tradition.

Legacy and Influence

Though still building her legacy, Englert already represents a bridge between inherited cinematic heritage and youthful reinvention.

• Role model for autonomy: She shows that one can grow within a film family yet seek one’s own voice.

• Cross-disciplinary artist: From acting to writing, music, directing — her multifaceted work encourages creatives not to be boxed.

• Modern storytelling: Her projects often embrace nuance, darkness, and ambiguity rather than clear moral lines, reflecting evolving audience tastes.

• Inspiration for younger actors: Englert’s path suggests that taking risks — leaving school, experimenting, self-directing — can lead to distinctive artistry.

In future decades, she may be seen not just as a talented actress but as a distinctive voice in cinema — one who blends poetic intimacy with restless exploration.

Personality and Talents

Alice Englert’s public persona and interviews hint at key traits and creative strengths:

• Introspective & questioning: She often asks “why” and challenges inherited norms. As she said,

  “I think that every child grows up with the ideas that what we are given, is our society … then you hit adolescence and you think, ‘Is it? Why? Why is it like that?’”

• Appreciator of imperfection & discomfort: She prefers art that unsettles:

  “Personally, I like films that make me a little bit uncomfortable because I think you’re uncomfortable when something is real.”

• Grounded in simple pleasures: “I can ride horses. And I read a lot. But that’s kind of it. I think it’s enough.”

• Independent spirit: She deliberately chose boarding school to cultivate her own life away from dependence.

• Sensitive to craft & process: Having grown up around editing rooms, she thinks deeply about the invisible parts of a performance:

  “It’s not what you see on-screen that makes a performance. It’s the things you should never know about — it’s the secrets.”

• Humorous & candid: On romantic scenes:

  “I wouldn’t treat a romantic scene any differently than any other scene. … It’s all about the breath mints!”

These traits show someone aware of both internal world and external demands, striving for authenticity.

Famous Quotes of Alice Englert

Below are selected quotes that reflect her worldview, artistic sensibility, and personal voice:

1. “Stories are the only thing that I can be bothered with. It’s the only way that I can do anything, even if I’m quite useless. It’s the only area in being human where I could be a little useful.”

2. “I think that every child grows up with the ideas that what we are given, is our society … then you hit adolescence and you think, ‘Is it? Why? Why is it like that?’”

3. “I can ride horses. And I read a lot. But that’s kind of it. I think it’s enough.”

4. “Personally, I like films that make me a little bit uncomfortable because I think you’re uncomfortable when something is real.”

5. “It’s not what you see on-screen that makes a performance. It’s the things you should never know about — it’s the secrets.”

6. “I wouldn’t treat a romantic scene any differently than any other scene. … It’s all about the breath mints!”

7. “I deliberately went to boarding school … I wanted to wean myself off being dependent.”

8. “I’ve spent half my life on planes. I have a lot of love for New Zealand, though. That is where the really arty, whimsical side of the family resided.”

9. “I think you manifest what you believe, and when you believe that you have no choice you lose choice.”

10. “I can’t do an accent unless I’m on the set. I forget how to do it until I’m on the set.”

These selections reflect her curiosity about identity, performance, and the hidden layers behind visible art.

Lessons from Alice Englert

From Englert’s life and words, we can draw several lessons:

1. Embrace your roots but cultivate your voice
   Growing up in a creative household offered advantage, but she didn’t let that define or limit her — she insisted on personal autonomy.

2. Curiosity is a sustaining force
   Her questioning of the status quo, of inherited ideas, fuels her artistic and personal growth.

3. Discomfort brings authenticity
   She doesn’t shy away from unsettling work; instead, she leans into what challenges her, believing that real art often arises where we feel uneasy.

4. Art is more than what’s seen
   Her insight into performance underscores that subtlety, context, and the unsaid are just as powerful — often more so — than what is explicitly shown.

5. The path need not be conventional
   She withdrew from formal training, embraced a nontraditional education, and followed her instincts. Her journey illustrates that there is no single blueprint for creative success.

6. Create, don’t just perform
   Her step into writing and directing with Bad Behaviour signals that in today’s creative world, making your own stories can deepen your impact.

Conclusion

Alice Englert is more than an actress — she is a storyteller in the fullest sense, weaving performance, writing, direction, and music into a creative tapestry. From her global upbringing to her bold choices in roles and authorship, she shows us what it means to claim your own self amid expectation, heritage, and boundary.

As her career continues, her influence may lie not only in the characters she inhabits but in the worlds she builds. For those who love cinema, innovation, and emotional truth, Alice Englert’s journey is one to watch — and learn from.

If you’d like a deeper dive into any of her films (e.g. Ginger & Rosa, Beautiful Creatures, Bad Behaviour) or more quotes, let me know and I’ll expand!