Sarah Ruth Snook^[4] was born on 1 December 1987^[5] in Adelaide, South Australia, and grew up in the suburb of Eden Hills. She has two older sisters.^[6] Her father, a swimming-pool salesman, and her mother, an aged care provider, divorced when she was young.^[7] She attended St John's Grammar School in Belair and won a drama scholarship to Scotch College in Torrens Park.^[7] Her first paying job was as a fairy at children's birthday parties.^[7]

In 2008, she graduated from Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Art.^[8]

While at NIDA, Snook performed in stage productions of Macbeth and Gallipoli. She subsequently appeared in King Lear with the State Theatre Company of South Australia in 2009.^[9] She garnered further success with roles in a string of Australian films, including Sisters of War (2010), Not Suitable for Children (2012), These Final Hours (2013),^[10] and Predestination (2014).^[11] Snook won two AACTA Awards for her performances in Sisters of War and Predestination. She also earned recognition for starring in the supernatural horror film Jessabelle (2014). Snook then portrayed Andrea Cunningham in Danny Boyle's biopic Steve Jobs (2015), starring Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet. That same year, she acted in Jocelyn Moorhouse's period drama The Dressmaker, also starring Winslet and Judy Davis, for which she was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She appeared in the biopic The Glass Castle (2017), starring Brie Larson and based on the 2005 memoir of the same name.

In 2016, Snook appeared in an episode of the Netflix science fiction anthology series Black Mirror, titled "Men Against Fire", alongside Malachi Kirby, Madeline Brewer, and Michael Kelly. Also that year, she made her West End debut playing the role of Hilde Wangel in a revival of Henrik Ibsen's play The Master Builder opposite Ralph Fiennes at the Old Vic.^[12] Paul Taylor from The Independent hailed Snook's performance writing, "Sarah Snook, the young Australian star, is a disarmingly direct, deep-voiced and uninhibited as Hilde in an assured [and] striking performance".^[13] Snook returned to the stage in 2018, where she portrayed Joan of Arc in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.^[14][15][16] Her performance was hailed by John Sand of the Sydney Morning Herald, who described her performance as "beyond riveting" and said that "Snook catches the untamed bravado of a teenager fired with passion".^[17]

From 2018 to 2023, Snook gained prominence for her lead role as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy in the HBO drama series Succession. The role earned her widespread critical acclaim^[18] and numerous accolades, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and two Golden Globe Awards, the first for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film followed by a win for Best Actress – Television Series Drama.^[2]

In 2020, Snook acted in the comedy film An American Pickle, opposite Seth Rogen, and in Kornél Mundruczó's marital drama film Pieces of a Woman. In December 2021, she replaced Elisabeth Moss as the lead in the horror-thriller film Run Rabbit Run, directed by Daina Reid.^[19] The film was a critical failure^[20] with her performance receiving mixed reviews. Michael Sun of The Guardian wrote of Snook, "[She], of course, is typically excellent, fresh from her turn as Succession’s petulant, scheming Shiv Roy in another spiky role here – but even her performance, as it heightens towards a crazed delirium, recalls Toni Collette’s in Hereditary.^[21] Monica Castillo of Roger Ebert.com, praised Snook's performance describing it as "marvelous departure from Succession".^[22]

In January 2022, Snook was cast alongside Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks in the comedy drama film The Beanie Bubble, which was co-directed by Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash.^[23] The movie was another critical failure for Snook.^[24] Wendy Idle of The Guardian described her as being "underused" in the film.^[25] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Snook displays a softer side than in her celebrated Succession turn with yet another portrayal revolving around a ruthless businessman."^[26] In 2022, Snook narrated the Netflix documentary film Kangaroo Valley.

In 2024, Snook returned to the West End portraying all 26 roles in the Sydney Theatre Company's production of The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.^[27] Arifa Akbar of The Guardian praised Snook on her performance citing the complexity of the role: "It is a juggling act of high order for Snook. She must perform in real time, react to the recorded footage and manipulate the technology herself in some scenes. She speaks in dialogue but also narrates omnisciently. Some scenes require athleticism, others sudden stillness. It demands an exacting synchronicity and she gets it pitch perfect, powering through 26 characters."^[28] Snook's performance earned further acclaim upon the play's Broadway transfer at the Music Box Theatre the following year.^[29][30][31] Naveen Kumar of The Washington Post praised her "extraordinary grasp on the physics of performing for stage and screen, often simultaneously. She can explode like a firework, containing it for the camera while filling the room with sparks."^[32] Snook won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance.^[33][34]

She also voiced the protagonist in the 2024 stop-motion animated film Memoir of a Snail directed by Adam Elliot.^[35] Her voice performance drew praise from critics. Nate Richard of Collider wrote, “Snook gives one of the best voice performances of the year. Never once does she feel like she is haphazardly reading lines into a microphone. She pours so much emotion and soulfulness into Grace, and it pairs perfectly with Elliot’s stunning animation.”^[36] Manuel Betancourt of The Los Angeles Times remarked, “The filmmaker is helped by Snook’s oft-deadpan delivery. Her voice makes the many outlandish events she describes feel grounded in a reality that refuses the call to pity. There is a push instead toward empathy, toward imagining and caring for the inner worlds of those we might otherwise disregard.”^[37] For her performance, she was awarded her second AACTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, marking the first time the award went to a voice performance.^[38] The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 97^th Academy Awards.^[39]

In 2020, Snook began dating Australian comedian Dave Lawson, whom she married in the backyard of her Brooklyn home in 2021.^[40] She gave birth to a daughter in May 2023.^[41][42][43] Snook is also the godmother of her Succession co-star Kieran Culkin's son.^[44]

Snook has received various accolades in her career. In her early career, she received attention and AACTA Awards for her performances in Sisters of War (2010) and Predestination (2014), and additional nominations for Not Suitable for Children (2012), The Dressmaker (2015), The Secret River (2015), and The Beautiful Lie (2015). Snook's breakthrough role as Shiv Roy in the HBO television series Succession (2018–2023) earned her two Critics' Choice Television Awards (Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2022 and Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2024), two Golden Globe Awards (Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2022 and Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama in 2024), a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2024 (after two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2022 and 2024 (also nominated both years for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series). She won a third and fourth AACTA Award for Succession and Memoir of a Snail (2024); the latter win made her the first to receive the Best Actress prize for a voice-over role.

Snook appeared on West End and Broadway as multiple characters in the play The Picture of Dorian Gray, winning respectively the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. As of 2025, she is only the Academy Award—for which she is yet to be nominated—away from achieving the Triple Crown of Acting.

• List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
• List of Golden Globe winners