How cancer changed Tessa James: ‘My main goal now is to be happy’

THE girl who at the tender age of 13 convinced her parents to fly to LA for acting classes has slowed down after crashing straight into the realities of trying to crack Hollywood and battling cancer.

Tessa James celebrates Royal Ascot with Longines at Ascot Racecourse last week. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty

TESSA James is no longer in a rush.

The girl who at the tender age of 13 convinced her parents to fly to Los Angeles so she could do acting classes in the city which had captivated her childhood dreams of becoming a film star, has slowed down after crashing straight into the realities of trying to crack Hollywood and battling cancer.

“When I was younger that’s all I wanted to do. That’s all I fantasised about, being in Los Angeles and being on film, being a Hollywood actress,” she said.

“Now my dream has changed. Now it’s to work and have an amazing reputation within my peers and the public. I don’t really feel the need to be known. I would just love to have consistent work, whether that be in theatre in Australia or in film in New York or in TV where ever.”

Tessa James is living life to the fullest after her cancer battle. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty

After playing Nicole Franklin on Home and Away for several years, James left the popular soap in 2011 to audition in Los Angeles.

While other Aussie actors have shot to fame in the years in between, she has taken a slower path.

“When I was on Home and Away, I felt I had a great platform to go the US and I was old enough and it’s all I really wanted to do. And then I did it and found out the reality,” she said.

“The reality is that it’s really hard work. The reality of being an actor is that the majority of the time you’re not working.

“The biggest thing that I learnt is that my job is to audition and if I do that really well, I’ll be successful.

“And I think if you don’t audition well you’ll find it really hard. I think once I wrapped my head around that then things started to click.”’

Tessa James loves living in Sydney. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty

It was while she was auditioning for roles in the US that James began feeling unwell.

She was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2014 and returned to Gold Coast, where he rugby league playing husband Nate Myles was based, for treatment.

More than a year since the 25-year-old finished her treatment, she acknowledges the sickness changed her — for the better.

“I’m not in such a rush anymore. I was really jaded and really kind of, ‘well I’ve been doing it for x amount of years, why hasn’t this happened, why hasn’t that happened’,” she said.

“I was just in such a panic and I think by getting sick I’m just so much more content, more patient, and more aware of the world in general. My main goal now is to be happy.

“I can still work hard and achieve things but I don’t need to be stressed out about it and in a rush. I believe being consistently stressed creates bad health and I don’t need to put that on myself.”

Splitting her time now between Sydney and LA, James is enjoying life in Sydney’s north, where Nate plays for the Manly Sea Eagles.

“I love it so much. My world just opened up moving here. It’s actually been nice too because we lived here before and this is where I met Nate,” she said.

“I lived in Sydney for five years before so to get out of it and then to come back in and to know what I did and didn’t want to get involved in has been awesome and I feel really happy.”

Born in Melbourne, she isn’t sure where she will end up permanently.

“We play this game about where we’ll live all the time. We’re such dreamers. I’m like ‘let’s live in Paris, let’s live in London’. I think Nate has anxiety about it! But wherever the work is we’ll live. I really hope we have a base somewhere and are able to split our time with somewhere else,” she said.

Tessa James, who Royal Ascot with Longines at Ascot Racecourse, wants more guys to wear top hats. Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty

And she doesn’t rule out having children in the near future.

“I don’t know, everyone around me seems to be having babies. I don’t know, I don’t think you’re ever ready and I don’t think I’ll ever tick all the things off that I want to tick off, especially in my job, because I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so you can’t wait for that. So I think I’ll just see how it goes,” she said.

Having just witnessed the grandeur and splendour of Royal Ascot racecourse in England as a guest of Swiss watchmaker Longines, James also has a message for Aussie blokes — it’s time to embrace the top hat.

“I 100 per cent think they should bring the top hats to Australian racing. I think we need to,” she said.

“I think Aussie guys would love it. I actually think we’re a little bit too relaxed in that sense. I think it’s really beautiful and racing’s only a specific time of the year so you don’t have to do it all the time and it looks fabulous,” she said.

But what about Nate? Would he wear one?

“He’d have to get one hand made because his head’s so big!” she laughs.