Fantastic news! Toni has received an Emmy nomination as Best Actress in a Comedy Series for “United States of Tara”. She shares this category with Sarah Silverman for “The Sarah Silverman Program”, Mary-Louise Parker for “Weeds”, Julia Louis-Dreyfus for “The New Adventures Of Old Christine”, Christina Applegate for “Samantha Who?” and Tina Fey for “30 Rock”. This is Toni’s second Emmy nomination, she was previously in the running for “Tsumani: The Aftermath”. The Emmy Awards will be handed out during a live ceremony on September 20, 2009. Congratulations!

The Australian Women’s Weekly has an article on Toni in its July issue: Toni Collette has come a long way from her difficult 20s. Today, she is a successful actress with a loving husband and beautiful daughter, who has found her true path, as she tells Michael Sheather. Toni Collette’s smile is practically incandescent. In the grey and shadowy confines of a rooftop office, not far from Sydney’s CBD, Toni, the 36-year-old actress and star of such international hits as Muriel’s Wedding, The Sixth Sense and Little Miss Sunshine, radiates a welcome warmth and brightness on a cold winter’s morning. The full article can be read here.

Showtime will be producing a second season of Toni Collette’s acclaimed “United States of Tara”. News came in with a recent Reuters article that Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis will joining the cast in its new season. Davis will appear in seven of the 12 episodes of the show’s upcoming season as Lynda B. Dozier, an unconventional artist who plays a significant role in the lives of Tara (Collette) and her daughter, Kate (Brie Larson). Davis, a veteran TV and stage actress, made her feature breakthrough with “Doubt,” in which she played the mother of a student at a Catholic school in the Bronx.

Toni has been announced to make an appearance on BBC’s “Graham Norton Show”. On June 6, Norton welcomes actor Kurt Russell and Academy Award-nominated actress, Toni Collette. The show will air at 22:00 pm on BBC Two.

Over 120,000 people have attended the Sound Relief fundraising concerts in Sydney and Melbourne to help aid victims of devastating fires and floods in Australia. Artists including Kings Of Leon, Coldplay, The Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, Olivia Newton-John, Gabriella Cilmi, Taylor Swift, electro-poppers Architecture In Helsinki and The Presets played the concerts, which were held simultaneously at the Sydney and Melbourne cricket grounds. The event raised thousands of dollars, with all of the profits going toward appeals in Victoria for victims of the recent bushfires that killed over 200 people in February, and to Queensland for people affected by ongoing flooding. Possibly the most poignant moment of the day, was when actress Toni Collette united both cities in a minute’s silence to remember those that did not survive Black Saturday, immediately following the Princes’ historic address.

According to this source, a new character will be added to Tara’s alter ego in “United States of Tara”. The character who suffers multiple personality disorder will not only have three but four different personas which reportedly will be teased in the end of next episode. Writer Diablo Cody said, “There may be other alters.” Outside her true self, Tara who is played by Toni Collette, has possessed three personalities which are suburb housewife named Alice, beer-gulping male named Buck and a wild and pot-smoking teenager named T. The additional personality is not yet revealed though whether it will be a female or male. The next episode will be aired on Sunday, February 22 under the title “Transition”. The family is under the impression that Tara’s parents, Bev and Frank, are visiting to celebrate Charmaine’s birthday. But when Frank approaches Max about taking the kids to live with them, Max does everything he can to prevent Tara from switching. At the party that night, Tara learns of her parents’ plan and is hurt that they think she is an unfit parent. Sweeping her feelings under the rug, she remains calm. However, later that evening, Max wakes to find something that changes everything.