Dubbo’s Ngali Shaw to star in Foxtel drama The Twelve

Dubbed a rising star with big potential to go global, Ngali Shaw has landed his first major full-time acting gig with big name stars on a new Aussie drama.

After a stellar 2021 which saw him land a guest role on prime time television series and named a rising star by the Casting Guild of Australia, Ngali Shaw is already on track to build on his success in 2022.

The proud Aboriginal performer, who hails from Dubbo in regional NSW, has been named as part of an all-star cast set to front Foxtel’s flagship new crime drama The Twelve.

Bishanyia Vincent with Ngali Shaw and other members of The Twelve cast Pallavi Sharda, Brendan Cowell, Catherine Van-Davies and Damien Strouthos. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

In what is set to be his first main role on a television series, Shaw will share the screen with performers like Jurassic Park star Sam Neil, Wentworth’s Marta Dusseldorp and Brooke Satchwell of Neighbours and Packed to the Rafters fame.

Taking time out while filming the 10-part series, which centres around members of a jury dealing with the case of a woman accused of murdering her child, Shaw told The Dubbo News he was approaching his role with confidence.

“It’s definitely hard, I’ve been getting good feedback though,” he said.

“I’m just trying to go into it as confident as possible, I don’t want to go into it scared because I know that’s not how it’s going to work out.”

Dubbo's Ngali Shaw was named a rising star by the Casting Guild of Australia.

The 21-year-old landed the hotly sought after role after impressing casting bosses when he appeared in a guest role on Channel 7 medical drama RFDS last year.

“I was in my room making music and my mum came in and showed me an audition that was on maybe Facebook or Instagram with McGregor Casting,” he said when asked about how his acting career started.

“She told me to do a self-tape on it at home and see how it goes, she said she had a good feeling about it. I thought it about for like a good hour and thought I may as well do it.

“After I did that self-tape, McGregor’s contacted me back and said they loved my self-tape and they’d keep in contact with me and send any other auditions of interest.”

After being knocked back for the initial role he auditioned for, Shaw said he was invited to try out for the role of an injured footy player on RFDS.

“About a week later they sent the role for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. I auditioned for that and I got through the first step and had to go to Sydney to do some more auditions for that.

“I kept going back and forth from Dubbo to Sydney and it was costing a lot of money.”

Shaw landed the role and moved to Sydney in December 2020, where it was easier to audition for roles and grow his career.

Ngali Shaw studied at Dubbo College and Buninyong Public Schools. Picture: Dubbo College/Facebook

He now lives with his brother in Marsden Park and credits his family, strong work ethic and the support he received from mentors in Dubbo for helping him to unlock his passion for performing.

“I was doing Aboriginal dancing at Dubbo College’s Delroy Campus with Doug Gordon and we did an opening act for the Dubbo Ballet Studio’s eisteddfod,” he said.

“After that they offered me a scholarship to dance there.”

Shaw was initially hesitant about moving from playing on footy fields as a junior league player, to the dance floor, but he said local dance teacher Angela Canalese persuaded him to stick with it.

“She really liked hip hop as well and I really got along with her, she was the first person at the studio I met,” he said.

“I had trouble staying at the studio, it was a different environment. My first class was ballet and straight after that I thought ‘I don’t want to do this’.

“Angela messaged me and asked if I was coming in but I didn’t go in so she just ended up picking me up and really pushed me to give it a go.”

Shaw spent five years with the studio, developing his skills and performing in multiple productions.

“It built my confidence on stage, I’d usually get main roles because there were only about two or three males there,” Shaw said.

“From going to football and stuff, to being on the frontline with dancers that had been dancing for 15 years, it was a bit daunting but I really enjoyed it.”

Shaw left school at end of Year 11 and secured a job supporting students at a local school where he worked for two years while pursuing a music career.

“There was a lot going on, I had a bad time with some personal stuff, I had school and dance straight after school until 9pm and it was just too much,” he said.

“I dropped school, I dropped dance and I just wanted to restart everything.

“I stayed in Dubbo and I wanted to become a music artist so I started work on that for a long time.”

Shaw said while acting was not something he had his sights set on initially, support and encouragement from his mum Allyson Salt, prompted him to give it a go.

“Whenever she says she’s got a really good feeling about something, it happens to be a really good thing,” he said.

“With the dance, mum told me to stick with it. It was a scholarship and a lot of money, so I stuck with it and turned out really good.

“I got really, really lucky.”

The Twelve premiers on Foxtel in 2022.