Funny is what gets actor Toby Truslove (UTOPIA, LAID, THE STRANGE CALLS, THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE) up in the morning. We caught up while he is here in Los Angeles having his first pilot season experience. And boy has it been a hectic one! No time to ruminate, no time to mourn. It’s just go, go, go. He shares his uncertainty about whether to maintain an American accent at all times and his experiences of being a ham & playing to the room and misreading scripts. (Take note: there are no thoughtful pauses in a multi cam…) We also talk about how LA is more like eight cities than one, finding your niche, the clammy actor handshake and those fear inducing pharmaceutical ads. If pain persists, PUHLEASE see your doctor!

After a couple of years in Los Angeles, actress Hannah Levien baulked at the suggestion from a friend that she move to Vancouver. After all, she liked it here and she wasn’t to keen on the idea of upping her life once again to move to another country. But life did some nudging and in the past 18 months she has booked some strong US network TV credits - those that had been so elusive to her in LA. She shares her experiences of waiting for the rain on BATES MOTEL, playing a lesbian rock chick in THE RETURNED, her unexpected path to LA representation through her display of demonic powers. What she can’t share just yet is whether she has mad magic skills in syfy’s “Harry Potter goes to college” show,  THE MAGICIANS. You’ll have to watch to find that out! 

AACTA winner and HLS nominee Joel Jackson (DEADLINE GALLIPOLI, NOT THE BOY NEXT DOOR) has an inquisitive spirit. Whether it’s learning from Sam Worthington and Hugh Dancy about the technical side of screen acting or dissecting behavior and extracting character from text like it’s a crime scene. He shares how he had to get out of his own way and find his version of Peter Allen for Not the Boy Next Door and how playing Charles Bean in Deadline Gallipoli was an opportunity to give something back to his grandfather. We have a rant and rave about drama school and also on coming to terms (or not!) with the American “sell”. But let this be said - Fortune does, indeed, favor the brave! 

Actress Viva Bianca (SPARTACUS) is feeling at home in LA. Starting out on a high of five star hotels and red carpets, she then had to come to terms with the realities of living and working here. With much candour she shares what it was like to play villainess Ilithyia, the pitfalls of being on a show with the reputation of being oh-so very sexualised, google search results and how to state what you will and won’t do. We also discuss her fabulous website She Ra, working with people you’ve watched since a kid and gender equality in the film industry. So yeah, just the small stuff! 

Actor and Host Nick Hardcastle (HOME AND AWAY, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT THE MUSICAL) didn’t intend to to move to LA. And he certainly didn’t intend become Mr. Australia. But I’m glad he did - on both counts! As one of the co-founders of the Australian Theatre Company, Nick wants to bring Australian stories to US stages and put the multitudes of  talented Aussie expats to work. We have a moan about flakey Angelinos, get fired up about making your own rules and celebrate creating community. 

Director of Photography Denson Baker (THE BLACK BALLOON, THE WAITING CITY, ORANGES AND SUNSHINE) is the real deal - he has some fancy letters after his name to prove it! After a bit of back and forth, he and his "wife/director” Claire McCarthy decided to make the move to Los Angeles. We discuss director Jim Loach’s approach to filmmaking, to have or not to have an agent and working with such acting greats as Donald Sutherland, Emily Watson, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham. He talks about getting emotional behind the camera, the beauty of the magic hour and the responsibility of being the first audience for the film. And he is generous enough divulge advice passed on to him from other DPs... You’ll have to listen to find out!!