Career beginnings (2011–2016) '' (2011) in Sydney Debicki made her feature film debut in the 2011 Australian film
A Few Best Men, with a brief appearance as a secretary. This was her first role after graduating from drama school. After seeing her
audition reel, director
Baz Luhrmann, who was casting for his upcoming film adaptation of
The Great Gatsby, flew her to auditions in Los Angeles, where she screen tested with actor
Tobey Maguire. In December 2012, Debicki was the subject of a photo shoot for
Vogue Australia. Around this same time, Debicki also starred in a 13-minute short film called
GÖDEL, incomplete The following year, she starred as Mona Sanders alongside
Mark Strong and
Hope Davis in the world première stage adaptation of
Georges Simenon's novel
The Man on the Bench in the Barn titled
The Red Barn by
David Hare at the National Theatre's
Lyttelton Theatre in London. The play ran from October 2016 to January 2017. In 2016 Debicki played major roles in two television shows. She played the lead role of Dr. Anna Macy in the eight-part Australian television series
The Kettering Incident, which was largely shot on location in Tasmania.
Breakthrough (2017–present) Following the success of
The Night Manager, Debicki landed a supporting role in the
Marvel Studios film
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, in which she portrayed
Ayesha, leader of the Sovereign people. She returned for its sequel and the final installment in the film series,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In June 2017, she was added to the cast of director
Luc Besson's
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in an undisclosed voice-over role. The film arrived in theatres around two months later, at which time her role was revealed to be that of Emperor Haban-Limaï. 2017 also saw Debicki as Eva in Australian actor
Simon Baker's directorial debut
Breath, for which she received an AACTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The film garnered five additional AACTA Award nominations, including Best Film, and won Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound at the
8th AACTA Awards. In 2018, Debicki appeared in five films. She played the role of Jensen in
The Cloverfield Paradox, the third instalment in the
Cloverfield franchise. The film was released on Netflix in February 2018, directly after
Super Bowl LII. Following this, she appeared as Mrs. G in the critically acclaimed HBO film
The Tale. In November 2018, she played the role of Alice in
Steve McQueen's heist film
Widows. Upon the film's release, she received some of the best reviews of her career, with many critics stating how impressed they were that she managed to stand out among such a crowded cast, which included the likes of
Viola Davis and
Liam Neeson. The same year, Debicki also starred as
Virginia Woolf in
Vita & Virginia and was the voice of Mopsy Rabbit in
Peter Rabbit. She returned for the 2021 sequel,
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. Debicki had a leading role in the 2019 thriller
The Burnt Orange Heresy, in which she starred opposite
Claes Bang and
Mick Jagger. The following year, she starred in
Christopher Nolan's spy film
Tenet (2020) as Kat, the estranged wife of
Kenneth Branagh's character.
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian thought that she had "the most recognisable human emotions here, shouting, crying and even smiling in a way that no one else quite does" but added that her role was similar to the one she played in
The Night Manager. In an interview with
The Hindu, Debicki recalls, "Playing Kat, I understood the harrowing scenes are important to show the audience the threats to her existence — physical and psychological — she faced." Debicki portrayed
Diana, Princess of Wales in the final two seasons of the
Netflix period drama series
The Crown. Her performance in the fifth season earned her nominations for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, the
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series – Comedy/Musical or Drama, and the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. In 2024, Debicki won a Golden Globe Award,
Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the sixth and final season of
The Crown. Her portrayal of Diana, Princess of Wales also earned her a nomination for the
British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2025, she returned to the stage acting opposite
Ewan McGregor in Lila Raicek's
My Master Builder, a contemporary adaptation of
Henrik Ibsen play
The Master Builder at the
Wyndham’s Theatre on the
West End. ==Acting credits==