Wentworth star Leah Purcell reveals why she almost had to get a job cleaning toilets before her career comeback
Legendary Australian actress Leah Purcell has revealed she once considered quitting the fickle showbiz industry to get a more stable job cleaning toilets.
Speak with New idea magazine this week, the Wentworth star, 53, admitted she recently almost called time on her acting career, but changed her mind when she was offered a dream role in binge drama series High Country.
‘I was about to retire. But what keeps me going is the passion. This is probably the only thing I’m good at, so I have to stick with it,” she explained.
After being offered the lead role of Detective Andrea Whitford in High Country, Purcell immediately felt her passion for performing rekindled.
‘It made me think: I can do this for another 33 years! I’m just getting started.’
Legendary Australian actress Leah Purcell, 53, (pictured) has revealed she once considered quitting the fickle showbiz industry to get a more stable job cleaning toilets
Her role in the mystery series – in which her character investigates a number of missing people in a small Victorian town – allowed her to fully appreciate her work as an actress.
‘As actors we have a lot of fun, but it is also hard work. It’s great work and something I’m proud of. You can change people’s lives through art.’
Purcell has starred in a number of renowned Australian TV shows and films, including Wentworth, Lantana and McLeod’s Daughters.
Speaking to New Idea magazine this week, the 53-year-old Wentworth star admitted she recently almost called time on her acting career, but changed her mind when she was offered a dream role in binge drama series High Country. (Pictured in Wentworth)
She began her acting career in 1996 with guest roles in 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, specifically her mother and grandmother.
In an interview with Stellar magazinethe TV star spoke candidly about how her profession intersects with her family’s past.
‘I was about to retire. But what keeps me going is the passion. This is probably the only thing I’m good at, so I have to stick with it,” she explained
‘[Indigenous stories] had no voice,” she said, adding that her grandmother belonged to the stolen generation.
‘I was born at the right time and am in an industry where I… [do]and people listen. I feel like if I didn’t justify my talents, what my mother, my grandmother and my great-grandmother had gone through was 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 performing rekindled. (Pictured in a promo image for High Country)