Australian actress Emily Browning was born in Melbourne, Australia, to Shelley and Andrew Browning. She has two younger brothers. Her start in acting came after a classmate's father, involved in the acting business, noticed her "acting all ditsy" in a school play.
Emily found an agent and was soon filming on location for the Hallmark TV-movie, The Echo of Thunder (1998). She received more roles from there, including parts in The Man Who Sued God (2001), opposite Billy Connolly, Ghost Ship (2002), and Ned Kelly (2003), opposite Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom. From there she has gone from strength to strength, starring movies such as A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Sucker Punch (2011), and The Host (2013).