AN exodus of actors to Hollywood for the TV pilot season has resulted in the most Australians ever cast in lead roles across a US TV schedule.
Leading the charge is an unknown Theatre Nepean graduate from Maroubra, Yvonne Strzechowski. She has been cast as the lead in the action series Chuck, which will debut on the US NBC network in September and possibly be seen here on Nine.
Although Hugh Jackman, Miranda Otto, Frances O'Connor, Rose Byrne and Alex O'Loughlin are more recognisable faces in the new US TV season, Strzechowski is gathering much attention as the latest young talent to join "Aussiewood".
"How did I get here? It's happened very fast and I've surprised myself really," she laughed from the Utah set of her next film, The Canyon.
"But I'm taking it all on board with a smile on my face."
After three years working in Sydney, having graduated with a BA in Performance from the University of Western Sydney's Theatre Nepean, her major screen credits were a role in axed Seven drama Headland, the coming film Gone, and upcoming Nine series Sea Patrol. Friends suggested she take a punt in the US.
The 24-year-old auditioned for the series during her third day in Los Angeles. Strzechowski admitted she was still unsure how she nabbed the lead TV role, although she was given a hint.
"I know that one of the distinguishing things was I looked like I could hold a gun, even though I'd never held one before," she said. "And I'm physically able to do the martial arts and all that stuff. I've got muscles; I'm not really a girly girl."
Being Australian still helped in Hollywood, she added. "They respond a lot to the Australian thing. They love the training; a lot of us come through drama school, whereas many people come to Hollywood thinking they'll be an actor without any knowledge of what is required. We come with the whole tool kit."
Strzechowski's agent, Sue Barnett, said the speculative trip to Los Angeles for the pilot season, the annual period when about 100 new programs are filmed to jostle for positions in the new US network TV schedule, was the only option for actors living through a dire slump in Australian drama production.
"Television just dried up, and the few dramas that were still on air had all their regulars, so they could only offer two days' work for anyone else," Ms Barnett said.
Another to try his luck in the US is Oyster Farmer star Alex O'Loughlin, who has been cast as the lead in the US vampire crime drama series Moonlight.
"The way has been paved by our Mels, and Russells and Nicoles and Hughs, and they've made the world market accessible for the rest of us," O'Loughlin said.
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