Abbey Lee

Abbey Lee (birthname: Abbey Lee Kershaw) made the jump from Australian supermodel to film actor with her debut role in George Miller’s highly acclaimed sequel, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, which was nominated for ten Oscars and grossed $380.4 million worldwide for Warner Bros. Lee appeared prominently in the cast of director-writer Brendan Cowell’s Australian film version of his play, Ruben Guthrie (2015), with Patrick Brammall, Alex Dimitriades, Jack Thompson and Robyn Nevin.

Lee had a supporting role in producer-director Alex Proyas’ commercial and critical failure, Gods of Egypt (2016), starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Elodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Rufus Sewell, and Geoffrey Rush, and losing money ($150 million global take) for Lionsgate/Entertainment One.

Lee was cast by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn for his dark take on the fashion industry, The Neon Demon (2016), starring Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves, premiering in competition at the Cannes film festival before a theatrical release by Amazon Studios and Broad Green Pictures returning a poor $3.6 million gross.

Abbey Lee played an escort in the ensemble of the Will Speck/Josh Gordon-directed comedy,  Office Christmas Party (2016), with Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jillian Bell, Vanessa Bayer, Courtney B. Vance, Rob Corddry, Kate McKinnon and Jennifer Aniston, and grossing a strong $114.5 million globally via distributors Paramount Pictures and Mister Smith Entertainment.

Lee had a prominent supporting role in Columbia Pictures/Imagine Entertainment’s Stephen King adaptation, The Dark Tower (2017), with Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, and Jackie Earle Haley under Nikolaj Arcel’s direction, resulting in a poor $113 million for Sony Pictures Releasing.

Lee co-starred in the Stephen McCallum-directed Australian biker drama, Outlaws (formerly titled 1½) (2017), riding with Ryan Corr, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville, and Aaron Pederson, and premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Lee played her first lead title role in director-writer Sebastian Gutierrez’s sci-fi movie, Elizabeth Harvest (2018), co-starring Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino, Matthew Beard, and Dylan Baker, and premiering at the South by Southwest film festival before an IFC Films release.

Abbey Lee co-starred opposite Caleb Landry Jones and Eleonore Hendricks in director-writer Peter Brunner’s drama, To the Night (2018), produced by Ulrich Seidl and which premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Lee co-starred with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Beatrice Dalle, Felix Maritaud, and Karl Glusman in Gaspar Noe’s provocative Lux Æterna (2019), which premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Lee joined the ensemble of filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s sci-fi horror movie, Old (2021), with Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Embeth Davidtz, and released by Universal Pictures to a very healthy return of $90.2 million worldwide.

Lee had a supporting role in director/writer/producer John Michael McDonagh’s crime drama, The Forgiven (2021), starring Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Mourad Zaoui, Marie-Josee Croze, Alex Jennings, Said Taghmaoui, and Christopher Abbott, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival before opening to poor business ($1.4 million) for distributors Roadside Attractions/Vertical Entertainment/Universal Pictures/Focus Features.

Abbey Lee was part of the ensemble of Kevin Costner’s failed Western multi-part epic, Horizon, starting with Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1 (2024), with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Giovanni Ribisi, Jena Malone, Michael Rooker, Luke Wilson, Isabelle Fuhrman, Jeff Fahey, Will Patton, Tatanka Means, and Owen Crow Shoe, and losing money for New Line Cinema and producers Territory Pictures. Lee reunited with director/writer/producer John Michael McDonagh as star of the thriller, Fear Is the Rider (date to be announced), with co-star Christopher Abbott.