This is James Mackay - Winner of the 2013 Heath Ledger Scholarship! Yay James!! James is seasoned in the ways of LA so have a listen as we chat about how auditioning is like dating, dodging John Carter shaped bullets, Bollywood fame vs. Hollywood fame and how best to manage actorly expectations. We do some serious bonding over Sydney fringe theatre. Watch this one. He's going places. 

You may not have heard of her but you've probably seen her work - Kate Woods, director of Changi and Looking for Alibrandi, who has worked on countless shows at home (where's that exactly?) and in the States. Kate and I discuss the realities of being a female  working in a male dominated genre, let alone in a male dominated industry, how one phone call can change EVERYTHING (especially if that phone call is made by Anthony LaPagila), the importance of doing your homework and the Underbelly lead recovery of Aussie TV. Coming to you from her little Santa Monica oasis, away from the hullabooloo of "Hollywood". *sigh* You can almost smell my relaxedness! 

Wish you were here with me and Felicity Price in Laurel Canyon? You know you do. Flick is the co-writer and one of the stars of Wish You Were Here (see what I did there?), a great Aussie film that opened Sundance last year and won loads of awards at home. We talk about the journey of making the film - from the moment of inspiration - she recommends couch lying for muse visitiations - to it opening in across the States - a little later than expected due to The Great Gatsby. We discuss the overwhelming love for Aussies in LA and our fatal flaw for being waaaaaaaaaay too honest. What are you waiting for? Go write yourself a role in a feature and get your husband to direct you! NOW! 

Nicholas Bishop - sometimes good guy, sometimes bad guy but rarely acting in the in-betweens... We chart Nic's ups and downs of four years of livin' and workin' in LA. Number one rule of survival - Don't get sick! (Seems I can't even get that right. BOO!) He extols the virtues of the well oiled machine that is Home and Away, the sublime acting talent of Dana Delany and Alan Dale and the sausage rolls at Coffee + Food. Could you shoot 22 scenes in one day? Nic has... 

Be thoroughly charmed by Matthew Le Nevez, star of Channel Ten's Offspring. Matty shares stories of losing two jobs in two hours, being arrested in the States, not-quite-working with Sarah Michelle Gellar and his excitement for his next project a biopic of Aussie war photographer, Damien Parer. We talk about the differences between making films and selling films, not giving people excuses not to hire you (i.e. GET A VISA IF YOU CAN!) and trying to capture the essence of Dennis Lillee via his bowling action. Matt's hammies will never be the same again!

Here is a gloriously actory chat with Daniel Henshall. You may have been terrified of him in the Aussie film Snowtown based on the "bodies in the barrell" murders. I was! Thankfully, in real life, Dan is an intelligent, soft spoken, thoroughly charming gentle soul with a slightly naughy sense of humour. Perfect for podcast... We get into the meat of his prep and performance in Snowtown, sure - but we also talk about the confidence game of being an actor in LA, the importance of having champions of your work, how awesome Jamie Bell is and bust open the overnight success myth. The history of facial hair is touched upon and he uses the word scoundrel. Yup, he's that kinda guy. 

Shooting the breeze with LA blow-in Celia Pacquola, a comedian and actress who generally splits her time between London and Melbourne... but you never know The City of Angels could get lucky! We chat about the virtues of a higher risk - higher reward approach to work, the importance of taking artistic breathers, how much better it is to write with someone than on your lonesome! We crown Toby Truslove King of ABC and wonder whether Damon Herriman might be an actual lizard - in a good (actory) way, of course. And if you liked season two of LAID, well, you better thank Cels! 

Here's Myles Pollard! Star and producer of Aussie surfer drama, Drift. Myles and I chat about making films with mates, monster waves, ignorant tenacity, the changing face of film distribution, competing with Iron Man, Russian accents that morph into Austrian accents, doing what needs to be done and the joy of receiving 4 stars from both Margaret and David!!! I use surfing metatphors occasionally and swear A LOT. Sorry Mum. We try not to do tooooo much drama school reminiscing. But a little is inevitable... 

I chat with freshly acquainted Athina Hilman - ocassional feature writer for Rolling Stone, junior intern at CNN and music festival marketing and pr extraordinaire. She and her overachievement puts me to shame... We discuss how working for Rolling Stone is like working for the CIA, the time she told Morrisey off, braving LA public transport and Seth Rogan's 'fro. We bond over our mutual adoration for The Roots' Questlove and just as quickly fall out over her biggest celebrity crush. Some things cannot be excused - not matter how young you are! 

Kym Jackson is a woman in the know. Dog owner, actress and author of The Hollywood Survival Guide for Aussie Actors, Kym tells me what drove/inspired her to write what is essentially a guide to becoming a WORKING actor in LA. And thank god for that! We also discuss a key ingredient to the magic formula that isn't in the book... That intangible -word of the moment - thing called self-belief.