The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) celebrated internationally acclaimed actor and alum Sarah Snook and iconic Australian performer and advocate Sigrid Thornton AO, with Honorary Degrees at its Class of 2025 graduation ceremony, recognising their extraordinary creative contributions and lasting impact on Australia’s cultural landscape.
“Our graduates have honed their ability to innovate, improvise and connect with audiences across all platforms and now join a robust creative eco-system as they step into a billion-dollar industry. They build their own work. They draw on the discipline-specific storytelling skills they developed here and step forward as proactive, multi-skilled artists.” said NIDA CEO Liz Hughes.
Federal Minister for the Arts, the Honourable Tony Burke, spoke about the importance of a thriving creative sector, which is essential in strengthening Australia’s cultural future.
Sigrid Thornton AO was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of her highly respected career across stage and screen. “NIDA is a world-class institution, a creative hub, a launchpad for the storytellers of the future. I’d like to think my parents, both academics, would be proud today, especially as I left university after one semester to learn my craft in the field! I’m extremely grateful to all the fellow creatives and colleagues I’ve worked with along the way, and I am most deeply honoured to become the inaugural NIDA Fellow.” said Sigrid Thornton.
Thornton is one of Australia’s most celebrated performers, with landmark roles in The Man from Snowy River, All the Rivers Run, Sea Change and Wentworth. She made history as the first Australian actress in a lead role in a U.S. network TV series with CBS’s western drama Paradise. She has received multiple Logie Awards, an AACTA Award, the Chauvel Award, and the CinefestOZ Screen Legend Award, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for her service to the arts and her advocacy for the screen industry.
NIDA Acting graduate Sarah Snook (BFA Acting, 2008) was awarded an Honorary Master of Fine Arts for her service to Australian and international creative arts.
Sarah reflected on her time at NIDA saying, “You will be a better person for having studied here. You can’t NOT become a better person after studying what it means to be human. You can’t study something, learn about something, investigate something and not grow empathy for it. How wonderful that the thing you’ve been brewing empathy for all these years is yourselves. Trust that you’ve done three years of hard work and it counts for something. Trust in yourself and in the process and in what you’ve learned.”
Sarah achieved global acclaim for her portrayal of Shiv Roy in HBO’s Succession, earning an Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, alongside multiple AACTA’s, including the AACTA Trailblazer Award in 2026. Her stage work has been equally celebrated, winning an Olivier Award (UK) and a Tony Award (US) for her solo performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray, directed by fellow NIDA alum Kip Williams (MFA Directing, 2009).
NIDA graduates received Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Acting, Costume, Design for Performance, Props and Effects, Set Construction and Technical Theatre and Stage Management disciplines, along with Master of Fine Arts qualifications in Dramatic Writing, Directing and Cultural Leadership. Diplomas were presented to students across Musical Theatre, Make‑up, Screen and Stage Performance and Live Production disciplines.
Among the graduating cohort was rising star Catherine Laga’aia, the lead in Disney’s 2026 live‑action feature film Moana, who received a Diploma of Stage and Screen Performance. Catherine follows in her family footsteps, with siblings Tana and Georgia Rose both graduating from NIDA with Diplomas of Musical Theatre in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
“It was rewarding, it taught me grit and perseverance and gave me grounding. There’s such sense of community that you take beyond the walls of NIDA”, said Catherine.
Graduation was a family affair, with sisters Nicole and Annidette Puni both receiving Master of Fine Arts degrees for Directing and Dramatic Writing and twin brothers Brodie and Nicholas Chong graduating together with Diplomas of Stage and Screen Performance.
Oliver Gregg, Emily Lilley, Connor Newman, Lauren Ward – four graduating Props and Effects students were unable to attend the ceremony, having already commenced professional work with Wētā Workshop in New Zealand, a testament to NIDA’s industry‑ready training.
NIDA’s class of 2025 now joins a distinguished global alumni network, including Cate Blanchett, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Essie Davis, Miranda Otto, Murray Bartlett, David Berry, Directors Baz Luhrmann, Justin Kurzel, Designers Catherine Martin, Deb Riley, Fiona Crombie, Michael Wilkinson, Olivier Award-winning writer Suzie Miller and rising stars Yerin Ha, Sophie Wilde and Jack Patten as they step into the industry equipped with the craft, collaboration and creative leadership for which NIDA is irenowned.
Image: Catherine Laga’aia (Diploma of Stage and Screen graduate), Sigrid Thornton AO (Honorary Fellowship recipient), Sarah Snook (NIDA Acting Alum and Honorary Master of Fine Arts recipient), Liz Hughes (NIDA CEO)
