BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: Leah's minded of the opportunities her mother and her grandmother didn't have and what she's afforded now. Who's going to love her like a mother? In 2019, she went on to write the bestselling novel, The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, which was adapted for the screen when Purcell made her directorial debut in the acclaimed film of the same name in 2022, for which she had also written, produced and starred as the titular character. ", Bain told her she had been nominated by her Indigenous peers. Her play, The Drover's Wife, opened at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre in September 2016.It won a swag of awards in 2016 and 2017. Henry Lawson has his interpretation, Purcell says. PAULINE CLAGUE, FILMMAKER AND ACADEMIC: I call it a contemporary songline that she's creating for herself. Books by Leah Purcell. (Leah unveiling her plaque on the Australian Walk of Fame). [11] She went on to appear in three 2004 films, Somersault, The Proposition and Jindabyne, as well as playing the role of Condoleezza Rice in David Hare's play, Stuff Happens in Sydney and Melbourne. "But I thought if I killed myself and my daughter survived, who's going to understand her? She is the youngest of seven children of Aboriginal Australian descent. LEAH PURCELL is a proud Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman from Queensland. You go half pace.' LEAH PURCELL: I've done a lot of things in my career acting, writing, directing, producing. 1970-08-14. 1,029 posts. I dream up stuff and he would, you know, dream it up further and believed in it and would chase money. Let's go. To make people laugh. LEAH PURCELL: And he said, 'So why don't let's sleep on it. You know, first show to be written, directed, produced by First Nations artists. [2][4] Her father was a butcher and a boxing trainer. The cold conditions were testing during the shoot. I think I'm going to do a film. Email the writer at gmaddox@smh.com.au and follow him on Twitter at @gmaddox. And we're going to survive again. And shes also found out that her film The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson has been selected for opening night of the Melbourne International Film Festival, the $60,000 competition for courageous, audacious and cutting-edge cinema at Sydney Film Festival and the $100,000 competition at CinefestOz in Western Australia. Its just what my day is bringing. What do we do with her? We submitted that to Screen Australia and then we negotiate a book publishing deal with Penguin Random House. Everyone's either gone home or flaked out and he's got her in the back room and he's shouting at her. And back ourselves in that. [17][30], In June 2022, Purcell was honoured with a star on Winton's Walk of Fame, which was unveiled during The Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival. And if it was basically good enough, it would then be actually scheduled in the theatre. In 2014, Purcell wrote and starred in the play, The Drover's Wife, based on the original story by Henry Lawson. Leah, singing: I am woman hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore. But I thought if I killed myself and my daughter survived, I said, who's going to understand her. They think she was around five years old. When Leah Purcell was filming the acclaimed movie Jindabyne in 2006, she would go up into the Snowy Mountains on her days off. In the great flourishing of Aboriginal cinema, such talented Indigenous women as Rachel Perkins, Beck Cole and Catriona McKenzie have directed Australian films, but only Tracey Moffatt has written, directed and starred in one before Purcell. Leah: Would it be a good thing to go through Molly's 2020 journey. Bain's away. Nah, I've already done that. Age (2022) 51. INTRODUCTION: Hi. All the time she was watching and learning:"I never sit in the green room. Leah Purcell as Molly JohnsonCredit:John Platt. These are no small achievements for a proud Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman who left Murgon in country Queensland as a 19-year-old single mother. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: Animals, kids, period piece. So I want to use [film] to bring stories to the forefront and be a truthteller.. A Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka woman, she is the storyteller, the holder and keeper of the stories. $1 Million - $5 Million. It tells the story of a woman left alone with her four children after her husband heads off droving sheep for three . LEAH PURCELL: The night before we were supposed to shoot Drover's Wife, I said, what are we doing? Early in their relationship, they had their first disagreement. An incident sets her on a path of going back and discovering.. Leah Purcell was only 19 when she packed up her bags and left her small Queensland hometown of Murgon to chase her acting aspirations. Leah, in character: I'm just a Drover's wife. [31], Purcell's partner is Bain Stewart, who is also her business partner in Oombarra Productions. Far fewer know their real story. What are you doing?. She had come a long way from the small Queensland town of Murgon, adjacent to Cherbourg, which was once a government reserve where Aboriginal people were taken when they were forcibly removed from their country. Ali tried to transfer $30 for his nephew's birthday. She was putting herself out there every night to lay herself bare. I had suicidal thoughts. LEAH PURCELL: I truly believe that he was a gift from the ancestors because he's just been such a support. Children are caught in the crossfire in the movie: Malachi Dower-Roberts (Danny Johnson), Amahlia Olsson (Delphi) , Jobe Zammit-Harvey (Joe Junior) and Nash Zammit-Harvey (Henry James). Finally, the woman on the autocue noticed she had trouble reading and helped her. dead by daylight hooked on you release date leah purcell daughter amanda So I think it was a breath of fresh air actually to see Leah sort of really take these roles with such guts and make them her own. Leah purcell daughter amanda The Upcoming Production Report is a list of scripted and documentary titles that are in pre-production production or post-production in Australia. Purcell is well known for acting in the TV dramas Redfern Now (2012-13), Janet King (2016) and Wentworth (2018-21), the films Lantana (2001), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006), the semi-autobiographical play Box the Pony (1997) and the documentary Black Chicks Talking (2001), which she co-directed then adapted into a book and a stage show. "I just remember thinking how stunning she was and the sort of passion and energy that she had wanting to be an actor.". While she loved growing up in Murgon her father was a butcher of German and English stock who trained boxers, her Aboriginal mother raised seven children it was a tough upbringing with her light-skinned family experiencing racism from both sides. Leah Purcell on 'The Drover's Wife'. Leah was only 18 when her mother died of bowel cancer at the age of 60. She is an actor, writer and director. Hated it, Purcell says. Follow. She sought him out and told him he had a lot of explaining to do. "I come from the dirt, a sole parent's pension, and I'm proud. It took me nearly 12 to 15 years to psychologically get that pattern out of my life. And it's like, there she is. "And all of a sudden I had a tiger by the tail." Escaping her abusive relationship at 19, she threw her belongings into her "little yellow . I yelled out. And I would go back there and I would climb out of it again. You know, I've got my name in the car park, you know. When she was 32, she made her peace with her father. The acclaimed Aboriginal actress, singer, and filmmaker rose from poverty in Australia's outback to become a household name in her country. I give birth and theyve got to look after her., My mother came from a generation of Aboriginal women that werent given a voice: Leah Purcell in The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson. Credit:John Platt. We haven't unpacked, let's just get out of here. I sung up the movie. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: There are some themes that are in a lot of Leah's work. Man: One action straight through, shoulder and hip. [Skip to the in conversation with Leah Purcell] An introduction to The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson. [9] She then wrote and directed the documentary film Black Chicks Talking, which won a 2002 Inside Film award. I think it's going to be Drover's wife and I think I'm going to be in it, in it, in it and it echoed around the mountain range. Multi talented Leah Purcell is a Theatre, Film and Television Actress, Singer, Director, Playwright and Author. Me and another mate would sit out on the verandah and talk about cricket and footy. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. My mother came from a generation of Aboriginal women that werent given a voice, Purcell says. She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech 's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as, Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006). Ms Purcell. Let's get out there tomorrow, have a go and see what happens.'. She thinks that at some instinctive level, her . After adapting it into a play, a novel and a film, she is now planning a television version. Leahs life could have turned out very differently. Leah: Oh cameras! Leah, in character: Johnson. She first appeared in the first episode of season six, broadcast on 19 June 2018. I refuse. Cut to 2019, "and I am literally on the opposite mountain range and I'm singing out 'action' and 'cut' on my debut feature film". By placing two Indigenous characters at the heart of this version, the original is . Grandkids all away. Melbourne International Film Festival is scheduled to run in cinemas August 5-15 and online August 14-22. "I was at the crossroads of whether to be a good girl or a bad girl. STEPHEN PAGE, ARTISITIC DIRECTOR BANGARRA: She's not even an Aboriginal character. Leah: And we just need to organize that war doco documentary at some stage. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: But she can sing. ", She would give them the voices they never had, shouting them as loudly as she could. And then become the best at that. LEAH PURCELL: In cultural ways, you have that thread of a songline which connects you to country, connects you to family, connects you to culture. Stream this episode on ABC iview and YouTube, ABC feature article | Leah Purcell was part of 'the secret family on the other side of town'. Home; Uncategorized; leah purcell daughter amanda; Posted on January 19, 2023; By . We had a combustion stove. And in cultural ways you have that thread of a Songline which connects you to country, to family, to culture. It's OK to lead. But he and my mother did have six children together. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: I said to Leah, there's a film in this as well. This is an Australian story and I want my Australian audience to own this. A young Purcell found her calling at Murgon High School during a three-month musical theatre course. Purcell's versions centres around Molly, who is left alone on a remote homestead while heavily pregnant and having to care for her four children while her husband is away droving cattle. Leah, in character: Used to initiate you to become a man. Wife: It's a war injury, plays up every now and then. "I'd want to get home. This is an Australian story and I want my Australian audience to own this: Writer, director and actor Leah Purcell, who has interpreted a classic Henry Lawson short story for the film The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson.Credit:Louise Kennerley. You're either going to be a nurse or work at the meatworks.' My grandmother was considered sub-human: the drive behind Leah Purcells new film, This is an Australian story and I want my Australian audience to own this: Writer, director and actor Leah Purcell, who has interpreted a classic Henry Lawson short story for the film, My mother came from a generation of Aboriginal women that werent given a voice: Leah Purcell in. She re-imagined the classic story through the prism of her own family history. "It's about a mother's love, it's about women, it's about family, survival, strength, determination," she says. It is estimated that Purcell's net worth falls somewhere in the range of $4 million to $6 million. The Purcell version of Lawsons story turns a briefly mentioned Aboriginal character into the heroic Yadaka, based on her great grandfather, whose crime is existing whilst black. She has written and directed landmark Australian film, television and theatrical work now part of the Indigenous canon such as Box the Pony, Redfern Now, Cleverman, The Secret Daughter and The Drover's Wife.. At the core of Leah's storytelling are female and First Nations themes, characters and issues. I loved Wentworth because we women had kickass, bad-ass, boss-bitch moments.". Son: A story. DR VALERIER COOMS, FRIEND AND HISTORIAN: Bain was, was such a gentle person, even though he could probably put anyone he wanted to on life support, he wouldn't ever have done that. Amanda Leah Brown born June 4 1985 is an American singer and dancer from New York City. Included in Leah's creations is Black Chicks Talking, featuring a 2001 documentary film, a 2002 book, a stage production and an art exhibition. Even then she had confidence that was at odds with being beaten down as a teenager. In allen's grocery weekly ad; i sneezed and something popped in my head . Leah Purcell only knows one pace when it comes to anything she turns her hand to, and that's flat out. Bain: So I am catching up with Screen Queensland next week. Purcell seemingly spent the better part of the year in the public eye, as she picked up a never-ending stream of . "He said, 'Stop. She's, she's already doing it. LEAH PURCELL: We went up to Mount Kosciuszko and you know, took in the beauty and then all of a sudden I yelled out, and this is true. The play, co-written by Purcell and Scott Rankin, would tour on and off . It was announced that she was one of three new leading cast members to join the series for its sixth season, alongside Susie Porter and Rarriwuy Hick. As well as directing, she had to swing an axe, fire a gun and take part in fight scenes to play Molly. Leah Maree Purcell AM (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist.She made her film debut in 1999, appearing in Paul Fenech's Somewhere in the Darkness, which led to roles in films, such as, Lantana (2001), Somersault (2004), The Proposition (2005) and Jindabyne (2006).. Leah, in character: Fly away bundaburra, fly away. The messy family drama behind one of the world's biggest K-pop empires, Self-help author Marianne Williamson launches primary challenge against Joe Biden for 2024 Democratic nomination, A Nazi-hunting nun, an accused murderer, a theatre legend: This Australian actor plays them all, feature film The Drover's WifeThe Legend of Molly Johnson, Lights, cameras, AACTAs: Awards celebrate best of bingeworthy Aussie TV and films, Aboriginal filmmaker flips script on well-worn Australian myths in her take on Henry Lawson story, How has one tiny town produced so many rugby league stars? Molly walks to her shotgun which rests on the verandah post. Could electric vehicles be the answer? Chinese migrants walked a gruelling 500km to Victoria's goldfields in the 19th century. So you know, Leah I have similar backgrounds, which is obviously in part why we've always got on and understand each other. I didn't want that for her and this little voice said, 'didn't you want to be an actor?'". I saw my mother as that drover's wife. Leah was 17 when she gave birth to her daughter Amanda. I had a lot of responsibility as a child. In January, her play - a radical postcolonial re-imagining of Henry Lawson's The Drover's Wife, which Purcell wrote and starred in - also took home the Victorian prize for literature which . Growing up in the bush in the 1980s, she says that kids often ended up working at the local meatworks or in nursing. She's won AFIs and AACTA awards and Helpmann's. The book would win the 2017 Victorian and NSW Premier's Literary Award. I think, you know, just be brave. And what she has to deal with while her husband is away. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: She was bricking it, as they say, and and then it sort of came and it sort of went. Anyway, I'm getting something. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: It's this epic four generational, linear story of grandmother, mother, Leah, daughter. The Ukraine war may be a battle for the global order but whose rules are we fighting for? In TV, God bless them, nine times out of ten, you just screaming at 'em, because you got to . Leah Purcell is a proud Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka woman born and bred in Murgon, Queensland. Submit your Australian Story now. Now she's directed her most ambitious project yet, weaving her family's story into an epic film about a frontier woman surviving against all odds. Theyre looking at me and going, Leah, youve got another five weeks of this. Net Worth in 2021. Sample Page; ; She directed across both series of Indigenous drama Cleverman. My grandmother never had a voice. And then, of course, fate steps in and I get a phone call and they say, we want you for Wentworth. Good. Nhn hiu; Sng ch; Kiu dng cng nghip I don't know, not really. Host: Tonight, we celebrate one of Australia's most diverse artists Leah Purcell, very excited. And I've sung up business on it. She says that "The essence of the Henry Lawson short story and his underlining themes of racism, the frontier violence and gender violence are [in her story]". I turned 18 in August, my daughter was born in September and then my mum died in October, she says. DEB MAILMAN, FRIEND AND ACTOR: Redfern Now it was extraordinary. "He knew I was interested in acting and he really encouraged me with my singing.". But the snakes here are white, male and merciless. My mother was the drover's wife. It was me putting her to bed. When Wentworth actor Leah Purcell was in high school, she tuned out of geography class. Out of loneliness and hardship, Florence had turned to the bottle. And we realised that we were sort of pretty. [32] She believes that Stewart has been "a gift from the ancestors", as he has been such an important support to her through difficult times. In weeks she was singing in a band starring in the Aboriginal musical Bran Nue Dae and hosting on Australias television music channel RED. I was a C average student. Set in 1893 in Australian Alpine Country of the Snowy Mountains, a heavily pregnant Johnson struggles to take care of her children. You know, I love this landscape. Her cousin set her up on a blind date with Bain Stewart and 30 years later they are still going strong. LEAH PURCELL: Because I believe that if you call Australia home, this ancient culture is yours as well. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: This is Leah's first feature film that she directed. Biography. And that just blew my mind and I went, 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry, you are so right'," Leah recalls. We have estimated Leah Purcell's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets. My DNA is within it. Author "Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and Dance 1930-1970" (Bloomsbury 2020) BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: It's genius the way she's taken this, what I call a foundation story of Australia through this great Australian writer, Henry Lawson, and she's completely flipped it on its head. I never went to uni. I don't know what I'm getting. Pending lockdown, Sydney Film Festival runs August 18-29 with the full program to be announced soon. "An incident sets her on a path of going back and discovering." As well as writing and directing, Purcell could also play Molly in a 10-episode series. McCord has her hair soaking wet, and she is holding a glass of red wine. It is Purcells latest take on Henry Lawsons classic short story The Drovers Wife after adapting it first into a play in 2016 then a novel in 2019. Leah, in character: I can take care of myself. If my ancestors want me to keep that issue alive until change actually happens then I hope that I can be a part of that journey., If my ancestors want me to keep that issue alive until change actually happens then I hope that I can be a part of that journey.. Leah Purcell was born on 14 August 1970[1][2] in Murgon, Queensland, and she was the youngest of seven children of Aboriginal (GoaGunggariWakka Wakka Murri[3]) and white Australian descent. And I've sung up business on it. Purcell kindergarten teacher Amanda Uhlenhake has been named the District-wide Teacher of the. She was hoping to become an actress like the Hollywood icons she used to imitate in the mirror: Doris Day, Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand and Whitney Houston. Then Leah would recreate the movie in the wardrobe mirror in her bedroom. leah purcell daughter amanda. At 17, Purcell was pregnant with her daughter, Amanda. Leah Purcell's life is a true rags-to-riches story. Leah, in character: Horse dead in the yard. I was listening to her dreams and aspirations. She has a daughter and two grandchildren. ucla environmental science graduate program; four elements to the doctrinal space superiority construct; woburn police scanner live. Before Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman Leah Purcell was a Logie-nominated actress and a four-time NSW Premier's Literary Award-winning writer, she was a teenager growing up in Murgon, a rural Queensland town 270 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. And she just hung on to that. The relationship with my dad isn't like a father daughter relationship. I was brought up with boxing. I'm an observer." Purcell is also the author of the famous entertainment film, The Legend of Molly Johnson, composed by Leah. NEIL BELNAVES, ART PHILANTHROPIST: We decided to underwrite the development of a script every year by an Indigenous writer that could be developed as part of Belvoir's theatre programming. LEAH PURCELL: That was the first time really that I actually got money and I went, you mean I can actually just sit down and write. I wasn't brought up with cultural practice. She spiralled into a vodka-fuelled depression. Housing policies favour the rich and leave first home buyers high and dry. Her voice echoed around the mountain range. At the heart of her work are female and First Nation themes, characters and issues. He must. All I can share is the truth in my family's stories, because that's all I know.". The play received standing ovations at Belvoir Street Theatre. Once again we meet a drover's wife, alone with her children in a harsh frontier landscape. VO: Flowers for Leah Purcell to admire and $20,000 to fund her dream to write a major stage play. PAULINE CLAGUE, FILMMAKER AND ACADEMIC: Box the Pony was such a crucial part in Leah's storytelling because it was the moment where she realised that she had to start writing her own stories to show you the truth. And The Drovers Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson opens in cinemas on October 14. Leah, in character: My children need me they need their mother. I didnt like the path I was going. She raised her seven children and two nephews, she looked after her own mother for 20 years. Leah Maree Purcell AM (born 14 August 1970) is an Aboriginal Australian stage and film actress, playwright, film director, and novelist. "I was born to look after her. You know, we were here, we lived through two ice ages. Watch Australian Story's The Songlines of Leah Purcell on iview and YouTube. Well, at least, you know, her childhood. Sharpen up Purcell. Her daughter, Amanda, is temporarily living with Purcell and her husband of two decades, Bain Stewart. Leah, in character: Nothing. DEB MAILMAN, FRIEND AND ACTOR: And you know, not necessarily all these roles were written as Indigenous characters. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: She's somebody that had a dream and actually followed it to its nth degree. Children are caught in the crossfire in the movie: Malachi Dower-Roberts (Danny Johnson), Amahlia Olsson (Delphi) , Jobe Zammit-Harvey (Joe Junior) and Nash Zammit-Harvey (Henry James). For 30 years now she has been telling the story of her family, of her mother and grandmother. She really claims it not as an Aboriginal woman, but as an actor. LEAH PURCELL: Bain was 110% behind me chasing my dream. Leah Purcell admin@creativerep.com.au Actor Writer Producer Director ", She loaded up her yellow Datsun Sunny, shoved it down the drive, push-started it, "and away I went. LEAH PURCELL: Once the play got up in 2016 at Belvoir Street. She was a staunch woman and she had a lot of stuff thrown at her and she survived, she says. The awards and accolades would pile up when she appeared in high-profile films Lantana, Somersault, The Proposition and Jindabyne. I was tired," Leah says. Leah might have gotten out of Murgon, but she never left her people. And while she sees her mother in Molly, there is also a lot of Purcells own resilience. A year later, in 1988, Florence died. Februar 2023 . And then it took off. "I saw myself as the little boy because I didn't have my father around. Purcell says the story means a lot to her because it was something she shared with her mother. Bring baby Jess. Leah Purcell in the ABC series Redfern Now.Credit: She first had the idea of adapting The Drovers Wife while shooting Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains declaring on top of Mount Kosciuszko that she would be back to make a film. "She loved a man that she couldn't have. In the boardroom of her new films distributor in Sydneys eerily quiet Pyrmont just before lockdown, the celebrated writer, actor and director checks the digital recorder on the couch beside her is working yep, theres numbers flashing then gets down to talking about everything thats happening. Without you bub I'd have been in the gutter. LEAH PURCELL: What . LEAH PURCELL: I was going to semi retire after I did the Drover's Wife play because I wanted to focus on my writing and directing and just really get my head around that. That's all gone now, now they get drunk and they flog their women to prove that they are a man and we stand there and take it to be initiated as women. She was four-foot-nothing but she was unreal. To make people cry. i 'll freak you right i will drake; ari melber parents; houses for rent spokane, wa under $1500; seamans club st maarten address "She's somebody that's untrained," Bain says. I want to make a Hollywood movie. arthur scargill daughter; robert h book net worth; Actualits. She's too strong an actor for that. That's exactly what happened with Drover's Wife. I'm actor Deb Mailman. I want to go, yes, Ive been working bloody hard and its all coming home now.. I'm a bit like the Chilli Palmer character in Get Shorty, you know, all of a sudden I accidentally stumble into this sort of Hollywood game or, or whatever. So she was writing a screenplay during rehearsals of the play. Posted By was tasha cobbs husband married before in floridita washington heights menu 25. Leah: Their love was deep as the highest peak to the lowest valley and as wild as the Snowy River. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. First film writing, directing, lead actor. She's got publishing deals. [10] She appeared as Claudia in the Australian film Lantana for which role she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by Sydney-based Film Critics Circle of Australia; she lost to Daniela Farinacci. That was the first time really that I actually got money and I went, you mean I can actually just sit down and write?" You weren't afraid to go, oh, I'm not too sure. Together. So it's exciting that this that this classic story that I've reimagined has lots of lots of life in it still. My job was to protect her and look after her. I couldn't let it go and so away she went. "Leah wasn't just someone who looked like me, but someone who had . LEAH PURCELL: When I finally did arrive to Sydney. And he doesn't like you talking about Bain because he wants you to talk about Leah. And while she sees her mother in Molly, there is also a lot of Purcell's own resilience. Through family history, she had found that her great grandfather was Daniel Johnson, a white stockman who lived in the Aboriginal camp, and who had tried to save her grandmother from being stolen but had been unable to reach her. Credit: "We're starting it in 2020 with Molly Johnson's great, great, great, great grand-daughter," she says. Actress Leah Purcell appeared in a variety of films over the course of her Hollywood career. [00:20:17] Leah Purcell Television directing and film directing - there is a difference and its time and money because there's more of it, and well, not that we had a lot, but there's more of it, and you can afford time to allow an actor to find whatever they need to find for that moment a little more. In 1972, he and his family moved to Bondi, New South Wales in Australia, and later to Western Sydney in Penrith. She meets an Aboriginal man fleeing police, called Yadaka, and a personal drama evolves. BAIN STEWART, PARTNER: And everywhere she looked she had an ally. "She never went to NIDAor an AFTRS or a Conservatorium of Music, but she's directed scores of episodic TV, directed theatre on all the main stages in Australia. "I copied what Mum did . She was born to a black mother and a white father who did not publicly acknowledge her as his daughter. Hopefully we can hook a streamer in and away we go, she says. Leah was 17 when she gave birth to her daughter, Amanda.