Geraldine Hakewill steps back into the past for new role
Sydney actor Geraldine Hakewill brings 1960s Australia back to life in her latest lead role for the new TV series, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.
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Actor Geraldine Hakewill still remembers the disappointment at missing out on a guest role in one of her favourite shows, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, when she was a student at the Western Australian Academy Of Performing Arts.
So imagine her excitement when, years later, she was called back after auditioning for the lead role in the follow-on series, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries.
Hakewill, who was finishing up the third season of Wanted with Rebecca Gibney when she auditioned, landed the role of Peregrine Fisher, the long-lost niece of the heroine in the original series.
“I wanted so much to be a part of that (Miss Fisher) universe, when I got the role it was a little like I’d been working toward it all my life,” she tells BW Magazine.
“I loved the 1920s era the original series was set in and I’ve always enjoyed a good murder mystery. Ultimately, I wanted to be a part of something that I enjoy watching.”
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The original series was based on the best-selling Phryne Fisher mystery books by Kerry Greenwood, of which Hakewill says she was a fan. The new spin-off series is set in the mid-1960s.
Hakewill says she was also attracted to the glamorous 1960s costuming she wears on the series.
“The costume designer went to LA to source a lot of original vintage pieces from the period and made many of the outfits I wore,” Hakewill says.
“I went from Wanted, where I pretty much just wore the one outfit that had to appear to have been stolen, to having about 10 incredible costume changes each episode. It was really fun.”
The 31-year-old may best be known for her TV roles but the Sydney actor is a regular star of the stage as well, where she has mixed in singing as well as creating and producing credits.
She has starred as Lady Macbeth for the Melbourne Theatre Company and as Wendy in The Belvoir Company’s Peter Pan.
She is currently starring in the Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, a remake of the popular 1998 film, Little Voice, starring Jane Horrocks. And last year she released an EP and her first single, Fire.
“I have always sung and acted, since I was young,” Hakewill says of her childhood on Sydney’s North Shore.
“When I graduated from WAPA, though, I mostly fell into acting but I love opportunities where I can do both.”
Hakewill says she works hard to make sure her career is full and varied, mixing in her TV work with film, stage, singing and producing wherever the opportunities appear.
“I really love being able to do lots of different things,” she says.
“The way I see it is, life is too short to just focus on the one thing.”
* Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, Seven, Thursday, 8.30pm
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