Toni Collette

Collette is the eldest of three children; she has two younger brothers. She was raised in the Sydney suburb of Glebe until the age of six, then in Blacktown, New South Wales. Her father, Bob Collett, was a truck driver, and her mother Judy (née Cook) was a customer-service representative. Collette later learned on an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? that Bob was possibly born as a result of his mother Norma's (née McWhinney) having an extramarital affair with a US Navy chief petty officer stationed in Australia during and after World War II. Norma and her husband (Harold "Stanley" Collett) were going through a divorce, and Bob's DNA test determined that Stanley was not his biological father. Despite a public appeal in August 2015, her biological grandfather's name is not known.

Collette has described her family as "[not] the most communicative" but has said that despite her parents' lack of money, they were supportive and made their children feel cared for. She has fond memories of growing up in Blacktown, where she and her mother watched Saturday afternoon movie matinees presented by Bill Collins. She described her younger self as having "crazy" amounts of confidence. When she was 11, she believed she had appendicitis and convinced her doctors: She was taken to an emergency department and had the appendix removed. As a student at Blacktown Girls High School, her favourite activities included netball, tap dancing and swimming, and she took part in local singing competitions. Her ambition was to perform in musicals, as she loved to sing and dance.

Collette's first acting role was a high school performance of Godspell at the age of 14; she auditioned by singing Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You". She decided to become an actor the following year, and was influenced by Geoffrey Rush's stage performance in The Diary of a Madman (July–August 1989). In 1989, with her parents' approval, she transferred to the Australian Theatre for Young People, later explaining, "I was 16. And it's not like I wasn't good at school, or I didn't enjoy it, I did. I just loved acting more. I don't regret that decision, but I can't believe I made it." The actor returned the extra "e" at the end of her surname which Stanley Collett had removed as it sounded better for a stage name. She started at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in early 1991, but left after 18 months to appear as Sonya in Uncle Vanya (August–September 1992), directed by Neil Armfield, alongside Rush in the title role. Despite cherishing music and singing at a young age, Collette had stopped in the mid-1990s and explained, "[Singing] comes from a very personal place. It's your voice... and it's only in the last couple of years I felt comfortable in myself singing." In 1996 she sang three cover versions for the soundtrack of the film, Cosi: "Don't Dream It's Over" (originally by Crowded House), "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King) and "Throw Your Arms Around Me" (Hunters & Collectors). In 2000 she recorded nine tracks for the cast album, The Wild Party, for the eponymous Broadway musical. Elyse Sommer of CurtainUp, in a review of the musical, wrote that she was a "topnotch singer" and particularly praised her rendition of "People Like Us". For the soundtrack of Connie and Carla (2004), Collette, and her co-star Nia Vardalos, recorded duets of several show tunes including, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair", "Maybe This Time" and "Cabaret". David Haviland of Eye for Film praised the renditions, "The musical numbers are a camp triumph." She sang the track, "Sunday Morning", for the album Summertown by Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier. She has also performed songs for soundtracks of About a Boy, A Long Way Down, Miss You Already and Hearts Beat Loud.

Collette has been writing her own songs since early teens. In 2006 with encouragement of her husband Dave Galafassi on drums (ex-Gelbison), she formed Toni Collette & the Finish in Sydney. Also joining the band were Amanda Brown on keyboards, Glenn Richards on guitar, David Lane on piano and keyboards and Pete Farley on bass guitar. Their first gig was at The Basement, Sydney, "I was completely petrified and I think once I got that out of the way, I have just been enjoying it... In the acting, the film world, they try to hide things from actors, keep them cushioned. So I am really enjoying getting my hands dirty."

On 9 October 2006 the band released their debut album, Beautiful Awkward Pictures, on Hoola Hoop Records. Using her personal life as an inspiration, she wrote all eleven tracks under her married name, Toni Collette-Galafassi. It was recorded in two weeks: Collette co-produced with Zygier. Eclectic of Sputnikmusic gave it a positive review, "Collette's subdued vocals aren't perfect, but they're close enough to love all the same." He did, however, rebuke the lyrics of some tracks remarking that they had "some stunningly bad lines". The album produced two singles, "Beautiful Awkward Pictures" (September 2006) and "Look Up" (March 2007). The latter reached the ARIA Singles Chart top 100. In July 2007 Toni Collette & the Finish headlined the Sydney show of Live Earth, singing a cover of T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution". They toured Australia, but have not performed nor released any new material after 2007. In 2012 she expressed her desire to make another album, but said she found it difficult to find enough time to commit to that project.