Alex has been a close friend of Brad's since primary school in Sydney. She has always had a passion for the dramatic arts and is now doing quite well acting on Australian TV as well as just getting her first small role in a Hollywood film. She's a hard worker and knows what it takes to make a career from acting. She's been working predominantly in Australian television since graduating from university and has aspirations to direct and work overseas, preferably in the United States.

"In this country, you don't just call yourself a film actress or a TV actress or a theatre actress; basically you go for what work is available and at the moment 98% of actors are out of work at any given stage, so beggars can't be choosers!" Alex certainly isn't begging though. She's been on several Australian TV shows over the last few years and currently has a main role on a highly rated Australian medical drama series called All Saints.

How do you become an actor these days? It seems like many people would like to become famous, whether it be on film or TV. Alex says that formal education is not required, so everyone's journey is different. She studied drama as part of her HSC (Year 12 High School Certificate) and has also completed a Bachelor of Arts in Performance at one of Sydney's top drama schools, the University of Western Sydney Nepean. There are also plenty of other schools available such as N.I.D.A. in Sydney, W.O.P.A in Western Australia, V.C.A. in Victoria, and Q.U.T. in Queensland. After Alex had completed her uni degree, the university held an 'agents day' for all graduates to show off their talent. She was picked up by an agent called Alan Wilson where she started her post university work immediately. She then found an agent called Shanahans who work for people like Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Heath Ledger and Guy Pearce. Australia certainly embraces acting as a profession with plenty of these successful examples in today's high budget movies.

If you come to Australia looking for work, you firstly need to organise the proper visa to work in the country. Then Alex recommends finding an agent via MEAA (Media Entertainment Arts Alliance) and doing some 'extra' work to start building up some contacts. Like a lot of industries, networking is paramount to getting ahead in film and television. Just because you are well known and doing well in your own country doesn't mean you will just slide right into the Australian industry. You still have to prove yourself and network as much as possible. Even then it is still hard, as she says that most film and TV companies have a lot of paper work to do to explain why they want to employ a foreign actor rather than a local actor. As mentioned, 98% of local actors are out of work, so you've got your work cut out for you no matter what. "I'd probably want to go the states and try my luck over there because the industry is a lot bigger," Alex says.

What's the money like in Australia television? You can get extra work that pays around AUS$20 per hour for a minimum 4 hour shoot. You can then be categorised as being either a 50 worder (approx. $200 per day), a guest role (approx. $400-600 a day) or a main cast member ($1600 week and up depending on your agent and their negotiation skills). The channel that you appear on also makes a difference. Movies are different, as there is a set fee and it depends on the budget of the film and your agent once again. There are still equity minimums that have to be adhered to. Of course there are the perks involved in getting paid by fashion companies and the like to wear their products. Alex adds, "It really all depends on your profile and how well you are doing."

So even though it's a tough industry to get into in Australia, there are an increasing amount of overseas film companies that are coming to Sydney (eg: The Matrix series) as the costs are a lot cheaper and the filming facilities are new and world class. Hence, if companies can find foreigners who live in Australia and fit their foreign film casting, then it's one less hurdle for them and you still have a chance. As Alex as shown, if you have a passion for acting and a desire to work hard at it, you too can be an actor.