Biography
Who is Yael Stone?
Early life and education
Yael Stone was born in Sydney on March 6, 1985. Her parents are Judy, a nurse, and Harry Stone, an architect. She grew up alongside her siblings Elana and Jake. As a child, she suffered from asthma and pneumonia, which kept her away from sports. Instead, she took speech and drama lessons with Robin Fraser, who helped her develop writing and performance skills.
She attended the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts for her secondary education. Following this, she studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art to further train as an actress.
Career highlights
Yael began acting during childhood with appearances in the film Me Myself I and the television miniseries The Farm. She later focused heavily on theatre work in Australia. At the 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards, she won the prizes for Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress for her work in The Kid. Between 2010 and 2011, she performed in The Diary of a Madman, earning another nomination at the Sydney Theatre Awards. She also traveled to New York to perform in the same production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 2011.
In television, she secured supporting roles in local shows such as All Saints and Spirited. She relocated to New York permanently in December 2011. After four months in the city, she secured a major television role in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black. She played Lorna Morello, a prisoner from Boston, gaining wide recognition for her performance. She continued with the show through multiple seasons as the character's storyline expanded.
Family and relationships
Yael married Australian actor Dan Spielman in 2012, and the couple moved to New York together. She announced that her marriage had ended in 2016. Following this relationship, she started dating Jack Manning Bancroft, the founder of the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience. The couple welcomed their first child in 2018, and their second child was born in 2022.
Personal life and controversies
Yael is an atheist. In December 2018, The New York Times published an interview in which she accused actor Geoffrey Rush of sexual misconduct during their time working together on The Diary of a Madman in 2010 and 2011, citing inappropriate text messages and unwanted touching. Rush denied these claims through his attorneys in a statement to the newspaper.
In January 2020, during the Australian bushfire season, she announced her plan to surrender her United States green card and return permanently to Australia to participate in environmental advocacy and climate action.
Birthday and age
Yael Stone was born on March 6, 1985, which makes Yael 41 years old today. That birthday falls under the Pisces sign. Yael shares the date with 56 other famous people.
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