David Black interviews Hope Beale for The Australian Short Film Network
Hope Beale is an amazing actress that has made the transition from stage to screen and is knocking out some amazing performances! I first remember her from when she was a background actress on a short horror I made where people were melting as their souls were being sucked out of their bodies. We also did a few promo shoots at that one for overseas film festivals and TV shows. It was when I looked at the footage later that I could see that her skills were way above the usual extra and decided that I had to have her starring in “The Rotten Fruit of Eden.”
Today, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to chat to her and find out a bit more about how she honed her skills to such a high level.
DB – Hi Hope, thanks for taking the time to chat to me today. You were in a number of stage productions, such as “Heroes and Villains” (2012), “Long Live Rock and Roll” (2013) and “Back to the 80’s (2014). Can you tell us about your stage work?
HB- Thanks so much for having me David! Before I transitioned to film and television, I did start out my acting career on stage and performing live really just made me fall head over heels in love with the craft of acting! Both “Heroes and Villains” and “Long Live Rock and Roll” were plays that I auditioned for during high school and they were my first real introduction to the world of performing and auditioning.
I remember being so nervous but also super excited and after I landed leading roles in both productions I was beyond a doubt determined to pursue acting as a career. “Long Live Rock and Roll” was a particularly fun performance as I was cast as a goofy school teacher who falls in love with a cowboy who doesn’t speak! It was a great way for me to learn about quick comedy as well as the art of remembering a heck of a lot of lines!
DB – Between 2014 – 2015, you did a few short films too, such as “Homeless Awareness”, “Das Puppenhaus” and “She’s out of My League”. Were these your first shorts? Can you tell me a bit more about these?
HB – Yes they were! My first ever short was “Das Puppenhaus” which was a film I also assisted writing and directing. It was a school production for my German class and was an amazing opportunity to not only learn the craft of screen acting, but also to be able to use my German language skills as well! “She’s Out Of My League” was the first ever music video I worked on and also the first project I did that was completely independent from school! It was so amazing being on set and seeing how everything worked in a professional setting.
My mum actually drove me to set and because I felt a little out of my league (pun intended) she actually helped me make friends with the leading lady for the shoot! I definitely have her to thank for the extra screen time I grabbed because I was friendly with the main cast! Thanks mum!
DB – During this time, you were also studying at NIDA, Australian College of Dramatic Arts and New Faces Talent Academy. You must have been really busy. Tell us a bit more about your training
HB – I definitely was! The more I learnt about acting the more I wanted to learn! As I was finishing off my VCE I absolutely threw myself into any and every acting course I could find!
NIDA Open was my first taste of just how much work truly goes into acting and how intensive training needs to be so that an actor can truly understand how to bring characters and stories to life!
The New Faces Talent Academy, or NFTA, played a pivotal part in the development of my career and it was here that I met lifelong friends, mentors and industry contacts. Through NFTA I auditioned and was chosen as one of only seven Australian actors to travel across to Los Angeles and represent our country at the International Talent and Model Association. I competed in many different categories and ended up placing 4th overall out of 227 contestants for both my Monologue Delivery and my Cold Read Scene. I really just love learning and am excited to work and learn from as many different acting coaches and institutions as I can!
DB - You went on to doing quite a bit with Channel 10 with parts in “Romper Stomper”, “The Wrong Girl”, “My Life is Murder” and “Neighbours”, as well as Channel 7 with “Behave Yourself.” I know that I missed a few things, so let’s just summarise that as you having gotten your foot in the door with the big league! How has that experience been?
HB – It has been an absolute whirlwind! Getting my foot in the door with some of these big scale productions was really just a dream come true! “Behave Yourself” was my first big project and I was thrilled when I was able to watch myself on television for the first time! It was also a super fun shoot as I had slime poured all over me!
Seeing how these sets run and working with the team at both Channel 7 and Channel 10 was such a surreal experience! I remember when I first went on set for “The Wrong Girl” I was there as only an extra initially, however, the 2nd AD actually came up to me personally and asked if I would be interested in interacting with Jessica Marais (the star of the show!). I was so ecstatic and ended up getting more screen time and a line as well! Overall I feel truly grateful to have been able to work in not only the Melbourne independent film scene but also studio productions here too! Definitely looking forward to doing many more!
DB – From 2012 – 2021, in just 9 years, you have hit the ground running and really made progress Hope. I have to ask you, where is this heading? What are your plans for the future?
HB – Thank you so much David! It’s been a wild ride and I can honestly say I’ve loved every minute of it! Well in all honesty I just want to continue creating meaningful stories and characters and sharing them with people!
I love my job as an actor and the ability to be able to experiment and explore new realities has always drawn me to the creative arts! I know that acting is the thing I was put on this earth to do and I plan on doing it for a long while yet!
I’m currently in pre-production for a webseries that we are shooting over zoom during lockdowns and I am so excited to be able to share it with everyone super soon! My plans are really to just keep being involved in as many different projects as I can dig my claws into and eventually I would love to be able to work alongside some of my role models! My biggest dream is to be cast alongside Colin Firth! Look out world, there will be a Hollywood star with Hope Beale on it yet!
DB – where can our readers follow your work?
HB -