Yael Stone

Yael Stone was born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales, the daughter of Judy, a nurse, and Harry Stone, an architect of Czech‑Jewish descent. Her father’s parents survived the Holocaust, and although her mother is of Romanian heritage, she converted to Judaism, giving Yael a culturally rich upbringing. A fragile child plagued by asthma and pneumonia, Stone spent long periods in hospital, which limited sport participation but sparked an early fascination with performance; she began taking speech and drama lessons with Robin Fraser, who recognized her talent for both acting and writing. She attended the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Stone’s first screen roles arrived as a child, notably appearing in the film Me Myself I and the miniseries The Farm, setting the stage for a diverse career that would later span theatre, television, and film. After graduating, Stone concentrated on theatre, quickly becoming a standout in Sydney’s vibrant scene. At the 2008 Sydney Theatre Awards she captured both Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Kid, and a subsequent nomination followed for her performance in The Diary of a Madman (2010‑2011). A brief stint in New York in February 2011 saw her reprise The Diary of a Madman at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, after which she returned to Australia for leading parts in productions such as A Golem Story, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, and As You Like It. In December 2011 Stone moved permanently to New York, co‑founding an experimental theatre company, and within four months landed the role of Lorna Morello on Netflix’s critically acclaimed series Orange Is the New Black. Her portrayal—a Boston‑origin inmate with a distinctive Brooklyn‑Boston hybrid accent—was praised as “the most amazing accent on television” and marked her breakout on the international stage. Subsequent screen work includes Beth on HBO’s High Maintenance (2016) and Eleona in AMC+’s vampire horror‑comedy Firebite (2021). Outside of acting, Stone is an outspoken atheist and climate activist; she announced in early 2020 her intention to relinquish her U.S. green card and return permanently to Australia to join the “climate war”. She was married to actor Dan Spielman from 2012 until their 2016 divorce and has two children with partner Jack Manning Bancroft.