If you’re a young girl growing up in Murgon Queensland, you’re not given many options for what you can be when you grow up. As a child, Leah Purcell distinctly remembers her mother telling her, because she was a black woman from the bush, she was destined to work in a meatworks or to become a nurse. 

But like many young girls, she dreamed of being a dancer and from as young as four, Leah knew she wanted to be a performer.

So when Leah cheekily told her mother she was going be a theatre nurse when she grew up her mother didn’t expect it would lead to her daughter winning an AACTA and a Helpmann. She also didn't reallise Leah would become one of Australia’s most popular Indigenous actors.

You probably know Leah Purcell from her role as Constable Tracey Davis in Police Rescue, or the iconic aunty, Grace, on Redfern Now or more recently as Rita Connors in Wentworth. What you might not know is the story of how it all began... 

This discussion includes talk of suicide and depression. If you find any of the content unsettling, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

CREDITS: 

Host: Marlee Silva

With thanks to Leah Purcell.

Producers:  Elissa Ratliff and Amelia Navascues

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