MISSION POSSIBLE

With a hit series under her belt, Chloe Parker is proof that big dreams can start anywhere.

WORDS KARL PUSCHMANN

Chloe Parker always loved the movies. As a young girl, she was captivated by Julie Andrews’ performance in the beloved Disney classic The Sound of Music.

“I've watched that over a hundred times,” she says, from her home in the coastal town of Athenree, which lies in the stretch between Waihi Beach and Katikati.

But it was watching the movies of screen icon Meryl Streep that really gave her the acting bug.

“I remember Meryl Streep in Julie and Julia. There was so much joy in that performance,” she says. “And then when she played Margaret Thatcher, she completely

transformed. I was like, ‘How is that even possible?’. There was something so magical about what she was doing.”

She wanted to get close to that magic. But, in her quiet town, there weren’t many options for a 12-year-old to study acting, so she decided to study it herself.

“I just started Googling, out of desperation,” she laughs. “I wanted to know how these incredible actors that I idolised were doing what they were doing.”

Through her research, she discovered the famous Stanislavski Method of acting, which in turn led her to other methods, such as Meisner and Strasberg. She also compiled a list of recommended books and began dutifully checking them out from the library.

“I was in a small town and isolated from big communities of actors and places where I could challenge myself,” she says. “It was my way to get closer to it and to have that

sense of, ‘I'm doing it, I'm doing it’.

“I was so curious because when you don't know anything about acting, it seems impossible, and I had no clue how to approach it. By reading those books on technique and building characters, it was my way of learning how to do it.”

Acting felt like a distant dream. But reality began to seep in when she heard about the Bay of Plenty Actors Studio, known affectionately as BOPAS, which is run by actor, coach and agent Tanya Horu.

“She created this hub of actors and creatives,” Chloe says. “I started going to classes there, so she was my way in. It was a beacon of hope.”

Tanya had links to the national acting scene, and with BOPAS’ focus on acting for the screen, Chloe began driving to Auckland regularly for auditions.

“Tanya and the actors at BOPAS helped nurture that hope that it could really happen,” she smiles. “The people I was surrounded by made me feel like acting was possible.”

Her first role was on a short film called Earthlings, but her big break was more recently on the popular mystery drama The Ridge, a British and New Zealand television series set in Scotland and New Zealand starring Outlander’s Lauren Lyle and local actor Jay Ryan (Go Girls, IT: Chapter Two).

“It was such an insane role to get. I feel so lucky that I got it,” Chloe grins. “Those first few days on set when I was surrounded by all these incredible actors, that was when I was like, ‘Okay, it’s actually happening’.”

Her first days on set were a cocktail of awe and outright terror.

“Honestly, it was terrifying,” she says. “The director’s a big deal. All the actors are phenomenal. Sixty people are standing around... I felt like I was kind of going to explode. It was the most excited I’ve ever felt.”

For years, she’d been dreaming of having a character that she could dive into and develop, the way her acting heroes did. And with her character, Sadie, that dream was realised.

“Exploring human nature and trying to figure out the way that people are and why they are the way they are, is what I love about acting,” she explains. “Sadie’s a small-town kid, quite lonely. So I instantly had a connection to that. I knew straight away where she was coming from and why she was acting the way she was.”

With The Ridge in the can, and another yet-to-be-announced project almost complete, she’s readying herself for a move to the UK, where she plans to continue chasing her dream.

“It felt like the right time to try,” she says. “I haven’t got anything lined up over there.” Then she grins and adds, “I’ll just land and hope.”

The 20-year-old actor refused to let geography get in the way of her passion. Now, with a major role in a hit series behind her, she’s about to leave Aotearoa to take on the world. She hopes other young people in the Bay also chase their dreams. She’s proof that you don’t need to be based in a main centre to make it.

“If you put the work in and just keep trying, you can make something impossible happen,” she says. “You just have to keep going. If you have something you know you’re meant to do, then keep going. Don’t give up.”

The Ridge is streaming now on Neon.