Legendary Australian actress Leah Purcell has revealed she once considered leaving the fickle showbiz industry for a more stable job cleaning toilets.
speaking to New Idea magazine this week, the Wentworth star, 53, admitted she almost ended her acting career recently, but changed her mind when she was offered her dream role in Binge drama series High Country.
“I was about to retire. But what keeps me going is passion, this is probably the only thing I’m good at, so I have to keep going,” he explained.
After being offered the lead role of Detective Andrea Whitford in High Country, Purcell immediately felt her passion for acting had been reinvigorated.
‘It made me think I can do this for another 33 years! I’m just getting started.’
Legendary Australian actress Leah Purcell, 53 (pictured), revealed she once considered leaving the fickle entertainment industry to get a more stable job cleaning toilets.
She added that her role in the mystery series, in which her character investigates several missing people in a small Victorian town, has helped her fully appreciate her work as an actress.
‘As actors we have a lot of fun, but it also requires a lot of hard work. It’s amazing work and something I’m proud of. Through art you can change people’s lives.’
Purcell has starred in several renowned Australian television shows and films, including Wentworth, Lantana and McLeod’s Daughters.
Speaking to New Idea magazine this week, the Wentworth star, 53, admitted she recently came close to ending her acting career, but changed her mind when she was offered her dream role in drama series High Country . (Pictured by Wentworth)
She began her acting career in 1996 with guest roles on the shows GP and Police Rescue, and has since appeared in many popular productions, including The Proposition, Jindabyne and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.
In 2019, Purcell spoke about how her acting roles honor her Indigenous heritage, particularly her mother and grandmother.
In an interview with stellar magazineThe TV star spoke candidly about how his craft intersects with his family’s past.
“I was about to retire. But what keeps me going is passion, this is probably the only thing I’m good at, so I have to keep going,” she explained.
‘[Indigenous stories] “I had no voice,” she said, adding that her grandmother was part of the stolen generation.
‘I was born at the right time and I’m in an industry where [do]and people listen. I feel like if I wasn’t justifying my talents, then what my mother, my grandmother and my great-grandmother had gone through is a waste.’
In addition to acting, Purcell is also a playwright and runs her own independent film studio.
After being offered the lead role of Detective Andrea Whitford in High Country, Purcell immediately felt her passion for acting had been reinvigorated. (In the promotional image of High Country)