Move over Blanchett and Weaving, NIDA class of ’23 is ready for its close-up

They follow some seriously daunting footsteps: Cate Blanchett, Judy Davis, Mel Gibson and Hugo Weaving, but the National Institute of Dramatic Art’s class of 2023 is an act all its own, and one that shows how much the industry has changed since the days of My Brilliant Career and Mad Max.

Class of ’23: NIDA graduates (from left) Jack Patten, Teodora Matović, NIDA head of acting John Bashford, JK Kazzi and Madeline Li.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“Their first year was in lockdown. That was challenging for everyone, but it also meant we saw some incredible creativity through things like Zoom. They met that challenge, learnt to be adaptive and flexible, all things they need for the industry today,” NIDA director of acting John Bashford said as he surveyed the group of hungry young actors being unleashed from the campus.

On Friday, just hours after the Hollywood actors strike came to an end, the NIDA class of ’23 presented their annual industry showcase, a 90-minute smorgasbord of live theatre vignettes, film scenes, comedy skits, drama, singing, dancing, acrobatics, and even a swashbuckling sword fight to put Errol Flynn to shame.

Sitting in the audience were Australia’s top casting directors, directors, writers, producers, agents, film studio bosses and television executives, each of them holding a “form guide” profiling the graduates appearing before them.

Mark Morrissey, who represents the Hemsworth brothers Chris and Liam, was there in the third row, no doubt scouting for the next Hollywood action hero to sign up. So too was television producer Jo Porter, who has been behind everything from Wentworth to All Saints. All the big talent agencies were there too, with bosses from RGM, Shanahan, IMC and United Management.

“The industry has changed so much in the 24 years I’ve been coming to the NIDA showcase … and yes, social media has added another dimension to that, but really these guys are doing the same thing that all NIDA graduates before them have done: lay the foundations for a career that will span 40 years. Those reality TV shows and social media stars may burn a bright flame, but they tend to extinguish a lot sooner,” explained casting director David Newman, who has worked with everyone from Steven Spielberg to Dora the Explorer.

“I’ve seen graduates whose careers take off instantly, and there are others who can wait a decade before things happen for them. This can be an incredibly cruel industry for people, but that is what makes them artists, that passion and drive.”

Bashford said change in the industry could also be seen on the faces of this year’s acting graduates.

“These guys are our future storytellers … their diversity reflects the Australian milieu of today,” Bashford said.

From “out west”, JK Kazzi.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Half-Lebanese 25-year-old actor JK Kazzi agrees, though admitting he was unsure what the initials in his name stand for, adding that’s how he is named on his birth certificate.

Hailing from Glenwood in the western suburbs, Kazzi also spent some of his formative years in Vietnam before returning to Australia, where his family “out west” had little understanding of just how prestigious NIDA was for an aspiring actor.

“I didn’t tell them until I’d signed the papers … my mum had heard of NIDA, but that’s pretty much it. Now my family says everything I do is great, but of course, you have to take that with a grain of salt, especially in this industry,” he laughs, barely concealing his excitement about what his future could hold.

He was one of just 24 students originally selected from nearly a thousand contenders for NIDA’s three-year bachelor of arts (acting) degree. NIDA is consistently ranked among the best acting schools in the world.

According to this year’s top 25 acting schools list by industry bible The Hollywood Reporter, NIDA is just below New York’s The Juilliard School, Connecticut’s Yale, and London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. It is consistently the only Australian acting school to make the list, and the only school to appear from outside the United States and United Kingdom.

In its 65-year history, NIDA’s acting alumni have earned eight Oscars, 12 BAFTAs, three Tony Awards, five Olivier Awards, nine Emmys and 59 Helpmanns.

NIDA graduate Teodora Matović.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“I think the best thing about the past three years at NIDA has been surrounding myself with like-minded people with the same passion for acting,” says 26-year-old Teodora Matović, who grew up in Serbia before coming to Australia and completing a fine arts and sciences degree, majoring in psychology, “across the road” at the University of NSW to appease her family’s concerns about acting.

Madeline Li.Credit: Wolter Peeters

For Madeline Li, a 22-year-old Chinese Australian from Melbourne who went to school in Beijing and also speaks Mandarin, NIDA was her first experience of real-life adulthood.

“You’re constantly being challenged for three years, so we are pretty well-prepared for whatever the industry will throw at us,” she said, citing Frances McDormand and Maggie Cheung among actors she is most inspired by.

A promising AFL career was derailed by injury, which resulted in Blacktown-raised Jack Patten, 26, finding his way to NIDA after being encouraged by a mate to audition.

“Stoked”: Jack Patten.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“I knew Cate Blanchett was a student, but not much other than that,” he said.

“I’ll be really happy to chuck the hat up in the air when I graduate. I’ll be the first person in my family to get a degree, and that it’s from NIDA, well, I’m pretty stoked about that.”

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