ABOUT ME

Emilia Radisich burst on to the scene six weeks early, born in Queensland to her British mother and Croation/Kiwi father. Because of her father’s globe-trotting motor racing career, Emilia’s early life afforded her much international travel and a spell living in the UK, where she was heavily influenced by the family’s proximity to the London theatres and her fascination of UK and European heritage. It was during this time it became evident Emilia looked through different lenses from most children her age – she would notice nuances in people’s characters or expressions and use her observations in storytelling. Her imagination exploded with ideas, characters and fictitious scenes. As a primary school child, the headwinds were always present, but it wasn’t until later school years, the pressure to conform to teenage identity, created some waves.

In 2011, Emilia’s family migrated to New Zealand and during the first year at school, Emilia became involved with poetry competitions and the school’s theatre productions. A member of the gymnastics team, Kapa Haka group and athletics squad ensured full participation in middle school, but it was in the inter-school soapbox derby, Emilia developed a new skill and was chosen as the school’s driver- hopping in and posting the fastest time, with no practice. Not entirely a surprise, given her father’s racing pedigree.

At High School, Emilia felt she needed to apologise for her individuality – her inner world colliding with the expectations of being a regular teen. In her words, ‘high spots were few and I couldn’t wait to escape’. She did however, make her mark in drama classes, which became her sanctuary. Again, it was the encouragement of the Head of Drama Studies who observed Emilia’s intuitiveness in class. It resulted in probably her greatest high school success, with her self-written monologue achieving the highest score of her grade. This gave Emilia the confidence to take her passion to Auckland’s National Youth Theatre, where she auditioned and was awarded the roles of Miss Tenney and the Moderator in the company’s production of High School Musical.

In 2018, it was time to trade school for love (her love of acting) and pursue her life’s passion by training under Tom McSweeney at the Warehouse Studio on the Gold Coast, taking the 30 week Professional Screen Acting & Showreel Course. She was the youngest student to successfully audition, at only age 16, but it was the first time Emilia truly felt she ‘belonged’. This is when Emilia found her wings, through exploring her vulnerability and working harder than at any time in her life.

She transitioned from ‘I don’t fit’ to ‘I get this, I get me’. During this time Emilia was exposed to all facets of screen acting, including voice-over in which she found a new skill, voicing the characters for Disney animated movie scenes.

It was her mentor of the time, The Warehouse director Philip Holder, who suggested Emilia apply to train with Sydney-based Screenwise. But she was too young to audition, so back to Auckland she flew and took on some temporary office work and several casual extras jobs including some featured extras roles in feature films and television series.

Having previously earned her place in Auckland’s National Youth Theatre company’s lead cast, Emilia returned to audition for their production of Annie The Musical, cementing her place, with the lead role of Lilly St Regis and then as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Both roles exemplified Emilia’s character-acting ability and her convincing US and character accent proficiency. Her American accent training at The Warehouse Studio had brought authenticity to her ‘deep south’ Lilly St Regis role in front of a 2000+ audience.

By now it was time to confront her long-held desire to act professionally, so Emilia took the plunge and auditioned for the Screen Acting Diploma with Screenwise. To her delight, she was accepted, which meant packing up her life in Auckland and moving to Sydney, without her family and at one of the most uncertain times in history – during the pandemic. As daunting as it seemed, Emilia did what she does best and faced the challenge head-on, showing the utmost resilience throughout two tough, but highly productive years.

In embracing the course, Emilia has discovered her life’s calling and has established herself as a fearless, resilient and intuitive actor, who likes to push boundaries and take risks.