Rising star Naarah on being cast in Amazon Prime’s new Tasmanian-set TV series Deadloch
A Hobart actor says she was in disbelief after finding out she’d been cast in an Amazon Prime show. HER RISE TO SUCCESS>>>
Tasmania
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At the eleventh hour, Naarah got the news.
The 24-year-old Tasmanian actor and singer, whose star is now on the rise, had been preparing to apply for a job as an extra in Amazon Prime’s new Tasmania-set TV series Deadloch, despite having auditioned for a more significant role in the show.
Then she got a call from her agent.
“I was like, ‘I’m sorry! I’m going to apply for the Deadloch extras gig tonight. I’ll get it done’,” Naarah recalls.
“(My agent) was like, ‘Naarah, shoosh - you’ve got the role’. And I was like, ‘What!? No way’.
“It was a really interesting turn of events because extras (applications) were due that day.”
For Naarah (full name Naarah Barnes) it’s her first on-screen part.
Written by acclaimed comedy duo Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney and produced by Guesswork Television, OK Great Productions and Amazon Studios, Deadloch is set in the fictional Tasmanian town of the same name, which is turned upside down after a local man is found dead on the beach.
Detectives Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami), described as “uptight” and “rough as guts”, respectively, join forces to attempt to solve the case.
McLennan has said the characters in Deadloch are “complex, intriguing and deeply flawed”.
“Naturally, we have had the best time bringing them to life and can’t wait for audiences around the world to get to know them,” she said.
Deadloch, which has been filmed in southern Tasmania and will stream on Amazon Prime in 2023, remains shrouded in mystery, with Naarah staying tight-lipped on the plot of the show and the character she portrays.
“I’ve been on set quite a bit, which has been amazing, learning from some huge names on this show,” she told TasWeekend. “It’s been amazing learning from them and how the processes between stage and screen are so different.”
“So I’ve definitely changed a lot about my process, about how I do everything, which is super great.”
Among the cast members Naarah has taken notes from are Kris McQuade (Rosehaven, The Kettering Incident) and Box (Rake, Wentworth).
“Kris McQuade … was with me from my first day and she was just the best,” Naarah says. “She was like, ‘Naarah, just chill - everyone here’s about their job and all you need to do is be about your job’.
“I’ve learnt so much from Kate Box, as well, who’s huge in Wentworth, she’s on Offspring. She’s had some amazing roles.
“I watched her on my first day. And my mind was blown watching how she created her character and how she gets into character.
“I just copied and basically learned from them.”
A Gija woman, Naarah grew up in Glenorchy and went to Montrose Bay High School and Claremont College before graduating from the University of Tasmania’s Conservatorium of Music in 2019, specialising in contemporary voice.
She was the first person in her family to go to university, let alone get a degree.
Naarah has since starred in productions of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Sapphires.
Her parents come from WA’s Kimberley region but moved to Hobart before she was born.
Exposed to an eclectic mix of country, gospel, rock n’ roll and classical music growing up, Naarah said she knew she wanted to be a performer from a young age.
“I have a huge music family, who are just super into everything musical,” she says. “I’ve been really lucky, I guess, to grow up with a really big musical influence in my life.”
“Music becomes a part of how you express yourself.”
When she was a child, Naarah’s dad, a tradesman, was asked to build an extension to a piano teacher’s shack at Opossum Bay. As payment, the woman agreed to give young Naarah piano lessons for two years.
And so her passion for music and performing grew, as did her skill.
“That’s my main instrument now (piano), aside from singing,” Naarah says.
Today, Naarah works full-time in the arts, as a performer, teacher, and administrator.
However, the performing side of things is quickly taking precedence, with her talents bringing her to the attention of some of the country’s finest directors.
People like Wesley Enoch, who has just cast Naarah as Pearl Doyle in Queensland Theatre’s new production of his classic 1999 musical The Sunshine Club.
Naarah says it’s the biggest role of her career.
“(Enoch) flew down (to Tasmania) to meet me for my lunch break just to see me as a person and offer me the role, which is so special and so how mob work - seeing someone as a person and exchanging that energy,” she said.
“We basically follow three or four main characters and I’m one of those four, which is really cool.”
The Sunshine Club tells the story of Aboriginal soldier Frank Doyle, who returns to Australia after fighting in World War II to set up the titular mixed-race dancing club.
Naarah will move to Brisbane on Sunday, where she will spend all of June rehearsing for the show, before it opens at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre on July 9.
Despite being immensely proud of her heritage, Naarah says she dreams of one day being cast in a role for which her Aboriginality isn’t a prerequisite.
“That’s kind of where I’m at right now,” she says.
“I’m primarily an actor and artist and creative and I want to work within both spaces - both culturally and as an actor.”
Naarah’s life is currently one continuous series of audition tapes (she tried out for 29 roles last year, and Deadloch was her lone success).
But the up-and-comer, riding a wave of momentum, says she wouldn’t have it any other way.
When asked what her goals were for the future, Naarah said she would “just love to keep being in shows, working with new people”.
“For me, it’s all about community and learning to work with new people and different environments,” she says. “That’s stage, that’s screen, it’s theatre. My job is so ever-changing and I love that about this industry.”
“I’m stoked just doing that.
“If I’m still doing it in five years’ time, I’ll be over the moon, to be honest with you.”
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