Rose was born on July 24, 1979, in Sydney, Australia. She landed her first role in a movie, Dallas Doll, when she was 12 years old.

Since then, Rose has appeared in a variety of Australian televisions shows including Heartbreak High, Echo Point, and the film Two Hands alongside Heath Ledger. After this, she appeared in various movies like The Date, My Mother Frank, and Clara Law's The Goddess of 1967 for which she obtained the Female Volpi Cup at the Venice Festival in 2000.

Her first experience on a big-budget movie came when she played handmaiden, Dormé, to Natalie Portman, Padmé Amidala, in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. In 2003, she starred, coincidentally, as Rose Mortmain in the adaptation of Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. In 2004, she acted in Wicker Park with Diane Kruger and Josh Hartnett. Here, she heard Wolfgang Petersen was looking for an actress for Briseis in his next movie Troy with Brad Pitt, she got the part and was recognised as one of the most promising actresses in Hollywood.

After Troy, she played Edith in a TV adaptation of Casanova. In September 2005, she started to act in Sunshine, a Danny Boyle movie, where she plays the pilot in a space mission.
She starred with Australian musician Darren Hayes in his music video for his single "I Miss You". Left Los Angeles and moved to London where she owns a house with her sister (2005) In 2004, she and Diane Kruger played the two female leads in both movies Wicker Park and Troy. Is of Scottish and Irish descent Was originally tipped to play "Helen" in Troy but it was "Brisies"'s character Rose felt affinity for. Ranked #16 on FHM's Sexiest women in the world, Australian edition. ( 2006 ) Has two older siblings Lucy and George who is a musician. Best friends with fellow Australian actress Nadia Townsend since they both were 8 years old. Father: Robin, mother: Jane, brother: George, born 1976, sisters: Alice, born 1973 and Lucy, born 1972. She and her Marie Antoinette director, Sofia Coppola, have both played handmaidens in the Star Wars prequels. Sofia Coppola appeared in Episode I, Byrne in Episode II. Divides her time between London and Sydney. Favourite artistes: Jay-Z, Pat Benatar, Bob Marley, Bryan Adams. She studied drama at Syndey's Australian Theatre for Young People and later at David Mamet Acting School, in New York. Her hobbies include yoga, swimming, bicycle riding, crosswords and reading. Named in the Most Beautiful People of 2007 list in Who Magazine.