Ruby Rose, 37, made her career-changing TV debut in Australia as a 21-year-old presenter on MTV Australia.
The model, whose full name is Ruby Rose Langenheim, got the coveted gig five years after coming second in the 2002 Girlfriend magazine teen model search, losing out to now international model (and her former fiancée) Catherine McNeil.
But it wasn’t long before Hollywood was calling, and Rose went on to appear in US drama series Orange is the New Black and action films including part of the John Wick franchise.
However, following a long and intense controversy surrounding her casting in the Batwoman series back in 2018 – more on that below – she departed the project and has been keeping a lower profile.
Still, her 22.8 million followers on Instagram alone get regular updates as the actress and DJ works on new projects and road trips around Australia and the US.
So let’s take a look at how Rose rose to fame and where she is now:.
How did Ruby Rose become famous?
It was entering a model search at the age of 16 that first brought the Melbourne girl to the attention of Aussies, as well as talent scouts.
Although, it was her ability as a 21-year-old to down 100 shots of beer in 100 minutes against Jackass star Bam Margera that landed her the MTV VJ role, which ultimately led her to Hollywood.
Rose beat out 2000 other hopefuls to land the plum gig during a three-week on-air search for Lyndsey Rodrigues’ replacement in 2007.
“Being a model, there is always something they want to change. Whether they want someone a little bit skinnier, a little bit taller, a little bit prettier, but MTV want you be yourself … not censoring anything and not conforming to anything,” she told AAP in a 2007 interview.
What TV shows and movies has Ruby Rose been in?
It seems the budding star did some commercials work before her big break.
“In my first acting role, I played a daughter buying her mum a Mother’s Day present,” she told US Weekly in a 2017 interview.
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“My first modeling gig was for fake grass that protects kids when they fall off play equipment.”
But with acting in Rose’s blood – she’s the great-granddaughter of German actress Ellen Bang – it didn’t take long for the MTV VJ to move into dramas.
Rose made her film debut in the 2008 Australian comedy Suite for Fleur and later appeared in the 2013 Australian movie Around the Block, starring Christina Ricci.
After struggling to get a manager, agent, or an audition, Rose started making her own short films to hone her craft, with her 2014 autobiographical pic, Break Free, going viral.
And it seemed to do the trick, with Rose landing the role of Stella Carlin in Netflix drama Orange is the New Black in 2015, making her a huge Hollywood name.
Rose went on to star in blockbusters including: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, John Wick: Chapter 2, Pitch Perfect 3 and The Meg before landing the role of Batwoman role in 2018.
What was the controversy around Ruby Rose in Batwoman?
Rose was cast as Kate Kane (aka Batwoman) in Batwoman, making her the first openly lesbian lead superhero in television.
This is where the controversy first began – and it intensified as the series aired in 2019, enough for Rose to deactivate all her social media.
Commenting on the uproar she experienced, Rose said she was unsure how to approach people’s disapproval over her playing the character, who was reintroduced as a lesbian of Jewish descent by DC Comics in 2006.
“I got an opportunity to audition for Orange Is the New Black because they wanted to have a gender-neutral character,” Rose explained in Entertainment Weekly‘s LGBTQ special issue in June 2019.
“But I’ve also gotten backlash. And that’s when you realise you have to keep up with the terminology.
“When I got cast as a lesbian in Batwoman, I didn’t know that being a gender-fluid woman meant that I couldn’t be a lesbian because I’m not a woman – not considered lesbian enough.”
Was Ruby Rose fired from Batwoman?
Following the end of the first series, Rose announced in 2020 that she was leaving the show, initially saying her departure came after suffering an injury on-set and having back surgery.
Then in July 2021, Rose gave a different reason, saying she had a latex allergy, which made filming difficult.
But around October 2021, Rose levelled accusations of abusive behaviour, negligence and dangerous conditions on-set across a series of posts on her Instagram Story.
“I’m going to tell the whole world what really happened to me on that set,” she wrote, tagging the show’s production company.
Rose alleged the then-President of Warner Bros. TV, Peter Roth, had hired a private investigator on her and claims he forced her back to work just 10 days after back surgery.
Despite saying earlier that she’d quit the show, the actress confirmed she was fired, saying: “I DO NOT QUIT, they ruined Kate Kane and they destroyed Batwoman, not me”.
She also told fans there were no circumstances in which she’d “return to that awful show”.
“I wouldn’t return for any amount of money nor if a gun were to my head,” she wrote.
In response, Warner Bros. said in a statement that Rose’s account was “revisionist history… aimed at the producers, the cast and crew, the network, and the studio”.
“The truth is that Warner Bros Television had decided not to exercise its option to engage Ruby for season two of Batwoman based on multiple complaints about workplace behaviour that were extensively reviewed and handled privately out of respect for all concerned,” a spokesperson told BBC.
What is Ruby Rose doing now?
It’s understood Rose moved back to Australia in November 2021, sharing images from a road trip with her brother along the Great Ocean Road on her now re-activated social media.
In July 2023, the actress returned to the stage in Melbourne, starring in the play 2:22 A Ghost Story, alongside Neighbours alum Daniel MacPherson.
However, it looks like Rose has returned to the US in more recent times and will next be seen on screen alongside Bond girl Eva Green in Dirty Angels.
Rose is also continuing to DJ gigs, including the Minus18 Rainbow Formal.
Is Ruby Rose dating anyone?
After a string of high-profile relationships, Rose appears to be keeping her relationship status off social media at the moment.
Some of those previous romances have played out in front of the cameras, including her engagements to model Catherine McNeil and American designer Phoebe Dahl.
There was also the long-term relationship with Jess Origliasso from The Veronicas, which the on-off pair managed to keep secret from 2008-2016 before going public.
The couple called it quits for good two years later, in 2018.