Miranda Tapsell was born on December 17, 1987, in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. She is an Indigenous Australian woman of the Larrakia and Tiwi peoples. Tapsell was raised in Darwin and attended Sanderson High School. She showed an early interest in performing arts and was involved in school productions.
Tapsell pursued formal acting training at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, graduating in 2008.
Miranda Tapsell’s acting career began shortly after graduating from NIDA. She has worked extensively in theatre, television, and film. Her performances are characterized by their versatility and emotional depth. She is known for her commitment to representing Indigenous Australian stories and perspectives.
Tapsell gained widespread recognition for her role as Martha Tennant in the 2012 film The Sapphires. Her performance earned her an AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She starred in the television series Love Child (2014-2017), where she played the role of Martha, a young Indigenous woman navigating the complexities of forced adoption policies in the 1970s. Tapsell also co-created and starred in the television series Get Krack!n (2017-2019) and Top End Wedding (2019), which she co-wrote and starred in. More recently, she has starred in the Amazon Prime series “Deadloch” (2023) and the ABC series “After the Verdict” (2022).
Miranda Tapsell has received numerous awards and nominations for her work, including: