Drama queen … Yarraville actress HaiHa Le at Footscray City Primary School, which she attended as a child. 63701 Picture: PIER CARTHEW
By Alesha Capone
YARRAVILLE actress HaiHa Le has starred in ‘Sea Patrol’, ‘Rake’, ‘Bed Of Roses’, ‘City Homicide’ and ‘Stingers’, but she will soon begin filming episodes for a legendary Australian television program.
The 29-year-old, who grew up in Footscray, has been cast as character Michelle McKenzie in ‘Neighbours’ and she is set to star in 14 episodes of the show.
“I think I wanted to be an actor from the age of 14. At that time my school wasn’t running drama classes, so when I went to Footscray City College I did drama for VCE, which I loved,” Ms Le said.
“I really like being back in the West. I grew up in Footscray and I’ve lived all over Melbourne, but I feel like I’m back home.”
Her first professional show, ‘A Story of Soil’, was at the Footscray Community Arts Centre and soon afterwards she headed overseas to study acting in New York.
Ms Le, who has also been in the televisions shows ‘The Elephant Princess’, ‘Kick’ and ‘Fergus McPhail’, several films, theatrical shows and television commercials, said acting was not all glamour.
“I think a lot of it is really hard work and sometimes you have to get up at 5am, but I’m very fortunate to be working as an actor so I don’t want to be complaining,” she said.
“In my case, it’s probably glamourous 10 per cent of the time.”
As well as acting, she is also co-writing a television show with Duyen Ho, which is about growing up in the western suburbs, and runs a business called Caravan, making audition tapes and shows reels with her partner.
Ms Le said most of her friends from high school have gone onto pursue creative and artistic careers.
“I really love the travel, meeting new people, the changing landscapes and communities I encounter,” she said.
“I think it suits my temperament, I’m always looking for new adventures, you never stay on a project for more than three months and you form very intense relationships in that time.”
See www.actorscaravan.com for more information.
