From a poor Indigenous girl in regional Queensland, actor, writer and director Leah Purcell is now at the top of her game.
The Wentworth actor has featured in some of Australia’s most renowned films (Lantana, Jindabyne) and written and directed some of our best television.
“None of Leah’s success surprises me,”
actor Deb Mailman says.
“She doesn’t just open the door, she kicks it off its hinges in terms of creating opportunities.”
But hers is an unlikely success story. By nine years of age Leah had a drinking problem, by 14 she was in an abusive relationship and by 17 she was pregnant. Thoughts of suicide brought her to the edge.
What saved her was a dream to perform. Escaping her small town of Murgon, Leah met her partner Bain Stewart and her acting and singing career began to flourish.
Leah is the first Indigenous woman to write, direct and star in her own feature film, The Drover’s Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson.
She’s woven her family’s complicated history and her own troubled past into a powerful reimagining of a classic Australian tale.
“I wasn’t brought up on my traditional lands. I wasn’t brought up with language. I wasn’t brought up with cultural practice,”
Leah Purcell says.
“So as a contemporary Indigenous woman, I’ve had to create my dreaming, my songlines. And I feel I’ve done that through my art, through my storytelling.”
Introduced by actor Deborah Mailman
Producer: Vanessa Gorman
