Meet Philippa Northeast, Our New Favorite Period-Drama Heroine From 'My Brilliant Career'

Calling all period-drama fans: Netflix's My Brilliant Career introduces your new favorite heroine. Out on August 13, the new Australian series adapts one of the country's seminal books, the titular 1901 semi-autobiographical novel written by then-21-year-old Miles Franklin. It follows Sybylla Melvyn, the daughter of a poor rural family who's sent to live with her wealthy grandmother in hopes of finding a rich husband. The rebellious writer is determined to build a fulfilling life outside of society's expectations, but her convictions are tested when she accidentally falls in love.

Since its debut, showrunner Liz Doran's adaptation has become a word-of-mouth hit, with countless fans falling for star Philippa Northeast's performance as the headstrong feminist heroine. Now that the Australian actress is on the verge of a major global breakout, read on to learn more about Philippa Northeast, from her early career to her special connection to Sybylla.

Everything to Know About Philippa Northeast

Philippa Northeast is an Australian actress who started her career in soap operas.

Philippa Northeast, 31, was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, where she grew up with four siblings. Northeast first became interested in acting as a teenager, but not as a career; she had planned to study criminology at the University of Melbourne. Instead, after her first term at the university, she got the chance to audition for Home and Away, the iconic soap opera that launched the careers of actors like Naomi Watts and Chris Hemsworth.

"I moved out of home for the first time, went to Sydney, and suddenly had a full-time job," she told RUSSH Magazine of joining the series at 18. "It felt like an apprenticeship. I was working, but I was also figuring out how to live."

After starring as Evelyn MacGuire on Home and Away from 2013 to 2017, Northeast went on to appear in Australian shows and movies like Standing Up for Sunny, The Newsreader, Paper Dolls, and The Family Next Door. She also crossed over to the U.S. with starring roles in the 2022 Hallmark movie A Royal Runaway Romance and the CW series Good Cop/Bad Cop. Netflix fans may recognize her most for playing Susie Lawson in the 2024 country series Territory.

Philippa Northeast's boyfriend stars in one of TV's most cult-loved shows.

It turns out that Northeast is one-half of an Australian acting power couple. The My Brilliant Career star has been in a relationship with The Vampire Lestat star Sam Reid since at least 2018, at least according to her Instagram. The pair co-starred in the rom-com Standing Up for Sunny in 2019, so it seems that they fell for each other while filming. (Northeast and Reid later reunited onscreen in seasons 2 and 3 of The Newsreader.)

Reid is notoriously private and off social media, so the pair haven't said much about their relationship publicly since they made their red-carpet debut in 2019. In 2025, Northeast gave some rare details in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald. She told the outlet that she and her partner (who she declined to name) share a pup named Rani and split their time between Sydney, Australia, and a farm in a rural community southeast of the city.

"She is our everything, and the hardest thing to be away from when we’re working," Northeast said of Rani. She added about her relationship, "We keep the personal details of our life pretty quiet, because it’s just for us."

Philippa Northeast thinks 'My Brilliant Career' is a "vital" story among "reversals of women’s rights around the world."

While promoting My Brilliant Career, Northeast has praised the series for telling a feminist story at a time when women's rights have been challenged worldwide.

"I feel so proud we’re putting this story out right now," she said in an interview with ELLE Australia. "We are seeing reversals of women’s rights around the world. It is a pretty fragile political space in a lot of countries. A story like this, told in the way we are telling it, is vital—especially for young women coming through and realising that there is still a need to fight for your own independence and agency. It’s not a matter of sitting back and hoping these things will come to you."

Northeast also opened up about relating to the character, as someone who also pursued their dream career at a young age.

"Because I came into acting in an unconventional way, there was always a part of my mind asking when this path was going to run out,” she explained. “Doing Sybylla lit a creative fire within me. There will be ebbs and flows, but now I know who I am as a creative. Sybylla really gave me my voice."