University of Melbourne. Photo: Biatch at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_college_university_of_melbourne.jpg)
University of Melbourne. Photo: Biatch at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trinity_college_university_of_melbourne.jpg)
Penelope Mitchell is an Australian actress known for playing Letha Godfrey in Hemlock Grove and Liv Parker in The Vampire Diaries. Her screen work also includes Hellboy, Between Worlds, Star Trek: Picard, What You Wish For, Sting, and Oh, Canada.
Background
Penelope Mitchell was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and spent most of her childhood there. Her mother was a French-born artist and her father was an Australian entrepreneur; she grew up with two older brothers. She studied ballet from the age of four until sixteen and completed the International Baccalaureate, graduating in the top one percent of her year.
Mitchell's family includes actress Radha Mitchell, who is her cousin. Her early life combined academic achievement, artistic training, and an interest in journalism and performance before she moved toward professional acting.
Education
Mitchell completed an International Baccalaureate diploma before attending the University of Melbourne. She studied journalism and literature initially and completed an undergraduate degree in Arts, Media Communication. The University of Melbourne, founded in 1853, is one of Australia's oldest universities and has long combined liberal-arts education with professional and research training.
While studying, Mitchell wrote for publications and initially considered becoming a lawyer or journalist. She later moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting, linking her media studies with work in Australian and American screen production.
Mitchell began appearing on Australian television in the late 2000s. Her early credits included the children's program Toon Time, the police drama Rush, and Offspring. She also appeared in the ABC program Next Stop Hollywood, which followed six Australian actors as they travelled to Los Angeles to audition for American television pilots.
Her first major American television role was Letha Godfrey in Netflix's horror series Hemlock Grove, which was based on Brian McGreevy's novel and set in a fictional former Pennsylvania steel town. Mitchell appeared in thirteen episodes of the first season in 2013. The series formed part of Netflix's early expansion into original serialized programming and helped establish her American screen career.
Mitchell subsequently played Olivia “Liv” Parker in The Vampire Diaries during its fifth and sixth seasons. The CW series was an American supernatural drama that ran from 2009 to 2017, and Mitchell appeared in twenty episodes. Her later film work included Zipper, The Curse of Downers Grove, Curve, The Fear of Darkness, Between Worlds, Look Away, The Midwife's Deception, and Hellboy.
Her subsequent credits included the films Becoming, The Hyperions, R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, Muzzle, What You Wish For, Sting, and Oh, Canada. She also played Renée Picard in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, a Paramount+ science-fiction series set within the Star Trek television franchise.
Achievements
Mitchell established an American television career through prominent roles as Letha Godfrey in Hemlock Grove and Liv Parker in The Vampire Diaries.
She expanded her screen work from Australian television into American feature films and major genre productions, including Hellboy and Star Trek: Picard.
(Netflix horror series based on Brian McGreevy's novel; Mi...)
2013
The Vampire Diaries
(The CW supernatural drama series in which Mitchell played...)
2014
Star Trek: Picard
(Science-fiction television series in which Mitchell playe...)
2022
Toon Time
(Australian children's television program on which Mitchel...)
Rush
(Australian police drama series in which Mitchell appeared...)
2009
Offspring
(Australian comedy-drama series in which Mitchell played C...)
2011
Interests
She studied ballet from childhood through adolescence and has expressed an interest in journalism, literature, and media. She has also identified Star Trek and John Belushi's films, including Animal House, among her favorite screen interests.
Artists
Mitchell has identified Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman among her favorite actors.
Connections
Mitchell is a cousin of actress Radha Mitchell, who had already established a career in American film and gave her advice about developing an independent identity while pursuing work in Los Angeles.
Cousin:
Radha Mitchell
Australian actress with an established career in Australian and American film.
References
Next Stop Hollywood: Penelope Mitchell profile
ABC Television profile documenting Mitchell's early acting work, University of Melbourne studies, interests in journalism and literature, move toward Los Angeles, and relationship to Radha Mitchell.
2013
Penelope Mitchell biography
Biographical reference covering Mitchell's birthplace, media-communication degree, acting profession, family connection to Radha Mitchell, and early television work.
Hemlock Grove: Cast and Crew
Cast reference documenting Mitchell's role as Letha Godfrey and the series' horror-drama setting and Netflix production context.
2013
Hemlock Grove
Netflix Media Center reference describing the series, its setting in a former Pennsylvania steel town, its source novel, and its production context.
