 You're doing a course right now, aren't you ?Yes. A Bachelor of Counselling and Human Change. I started a social work degree a long time ago, and then I had to go to Queensland for work and put it aside. I've just gone back to a different degree now. It's really interesting, but it's a little bit stressful to work and find time to do assignments and stuff. But it is great. It's a good course. Is it something you plan to use ?Mmm... I'm not sure at the moment. It's something that I've wanted to learn, so I'm kind of trying to just do that because it's very difficult with acting to do other things. You can start something, and then if you get a job, you can move state. It's just something I have been interested in for a lot of years, so it's good to actually just do it instead of putting it on hold. I just do it two nights a week. I've always wanted to learn about the processes behind counselling. I just think it's really intriguing. How did you get the role on Heartbreak High in the first place ?It's still something where I go, "How did that happen?" I was signed by a modelling agency when I was quite young, and Heartbreak was doing auditions and my agents asked if I wanted to go. What do fans ask you about the show ?There's always questions about the Drazic (Callan Mulvey) and Anita thing. "Were you together in real life?" I mean, all the questions about what was really going on with us. It's quite huge. And people often ask me about Rel Hunt, who played my brother Ryan. "What's he doing now?" But mostly people are genuinely interested in what you're doing now and finding out if everybody's still acting. What is Rel doing now ?I saw an ad for him on Sea Patrol! I was like, "Oh my god, Rel!" It's so nice to see their faces out and about, and Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor's on Sea Patrol as well. They are everywhere, scattered about the place. Callan Mulvey recently guest-starred on McLeods Daughter's too...Yeah! He was good, wasn't he? I was like, "Yay!" I'm so stoked for him. Luke Jacobz is on that too. It's nice to see Luke's face pop up. The show had a big following overseas in places like Holland. Where is the strangest place you were ever recognised ?I have received letters and thought, "Oh wow, I didn't even think it would cross over culturally", but I think it still screens in France because the French people are still quite involved with it, which is really interesting. A guy actually sent me pictures of me and Cal and Rel the other day on my MySpace page. They were so old. We must've been like, 18, 19, 20, and it was such a trip to see them because it was so long ago. But to this guy, it's still screening. He said it's still really popular over there, which is funny because we were such babies. What made you decide to leave Heartbreak ?Well, Cal and I had been on it for a while, and we just thought it was time to try something else, but then they actually ended up finishing anyway, which is a shame. It was a really good show. Did you keep anything from the set ?I did! I took furniture because they had to get rid of everything, so I bought stuff — I bought clothes and furniture. A lot of Anita's skirts were way too short for me. I'm a bit of a jeans girl. I did take some of her standard clothes. She had this red turtleneck that she always wore, so I took that even though it was a bit too cropped for me — just because it has a memory. And I have lots of photos. Do you still see Callan ?I see Cal all the time. Are you guys together ?Best mates, yeah. I see Jonny Pollard, who played Bolton, a lot. And Tara, who played Stassy. I see her quite a bit — she's had a baby, which is beautiful. I see Danny Raco as much as possible. It's difficult with everybody working so much and being around the place. Danny was in Melbourne for a while for Blue Heelers, so we definitely try and see each other as much as we can. What was it like when you left Heartbreak and went to LA ?I didn't know anyone. I only knew two people. Clayton, the guy from Always Greener, was there, and he took me to The Matrix premiere and I met a few people that way. I just met some agents, and one agent sent out my tape to managers and stuff. I joined with this wonderful, lovely man who then sent me out to some auditions. I did a David E. Kelley pilot, which was quite an amazing experience, I have to say, 'cause I didn't really have any expectations going over there. It just seemed like a completely new, challenging experience. You met David E. Kelley then ?I did. I don't think I said very much because I was a little bit nervous. I just think he's amazing — a good writer and I really like most of his shows, so I felt very happy to be part of the new pilot. It was a pilot for a new series and it didn't go to series. But I think they reworked it and, last time I was there, it was on air — a similar story but different. And you came back here for Kangaroo Jack ?No, that was before. After I left Heartbreak, a lot of the jobs I did seemed to be like American series, and I just thought, "May as well try", so I took off. And you were in Voodoo Lagoon ?Yeah, that was a lot of fun. That was also one of my favourite jobs so far. The cast were fantastic. We just all got along really well. Everybody seemed to bond very quickly. Do you prefer working on TV or film ?I love working on films. I just enjoy the whole process. We were lucky on Heartbreak because we had such a strong rehearsal process. We would rehearse every scene before we shot it — I think that is quite a luxury. I like that on films you usually have a bit more time. It's just such a nice process as well, and it's cool being away from home with a new bunch of people. I like it. You were also on the series H20: Just Add Water, which was also shot in Queensland. You should move there !I should, shouldn't I? That was interesting because that was the first time I was the older cast member, which was fun. They were such a lovely bunch of people. Every single one of them is just a really good, fun person, so it was a really enjoyable shoot as well, but I was just up and back, up and back, up and back... which was nice, it was like a mini-holiday. What do you like to do when you're not acting ?I do find that I'm quite busy, so I like to relax — watch movies, walk the dog, do very easy things, hang out with friends. When I do have spare time, I like to see the people that are important to me. What are your memories of shooting the cover of TV WEEK with soap rivals Jacinta Stapleton and Bree Desborough ?Oh my goodness, it's going back a while. Bree is one of my best friends, so it was quite interesting having the three of us doing a shoot together. It was fun. I think they asked us about the rivalry between the shows and whether it was hard to be friends with that kind of rivalry. How well did you know the other two at the time? Did you meet at the Logies ?Bree and I originally met at a function — at the opening of a casino, I think it was. We just had a really strong connection and we saw each other at various functions. We started hanging out, she was coming over to my place, staying at my place. But we did see each other at Logies, that's true. Was it common to interact with people from other shows back then ?Yeah, I moved from Canberra, so most of my friends were definitely the Heartbreak kids. The cast and the crew became like family to me. So Bree and Jacinta would have been exceptions, actually, because the rest of them, I would see at the Logies. |
