Actress Natalie Page shot by Andrew Rouse
Since first taking to the stages of Australia in the starring role of Scapin in The Rock Players’ production of “The Scoundrel Scapin” back in 1987 actress Natalie Page has created a marvelous repertoire of work, spanning both the stage and screen, which reveals her as an unstoppable performer capable of taking on any role.
On screen Page has captivated audiences several times over through critical roles in popular crime series such as “Water Rats” and “Australia’s Most Wanted,” where she showcased her ability to play the victim, “Deadly Women” where she took on the starring role of Marie Noe, a villainous murderer, and “White Collar Blue” where she played a key role as a judge.
Aside from being an undeniably gifted actress, one of the aspects of Page’s career that makes her unique is the way she has managed to steadily maintain her success over the course of 30 years. Many may ask how she’s accomplished such a feat in an industry where the competition is exponentially higher than virtually any other, and everyone seems to be looking for the next hot young star to sell their project to viewers. The answer is diversity. Page’s unparalleled ability to embody an astonishingly diverse range of characters, coupled with her magnetic on screen presence, has been key to the sought after actress’ continued success.
Page has accrued an impressive list of film credits including “Hydra,” Donovan Renn’s (“The End”) ‘“They Were the Ones,” “A Sense of Syntex,” David Frtenik’s “Fret Not,” Steve Anthopoulos’ (“The 21 Conspiracy,” “Farid in the West”) “How Long Can You Hold Your Breath” and Caleb Shaffer’s (“One Word”) hard hitting thriller “Finding Polish” where she acts alongside Javed Khan from the BAFTA Award nominated series “Coming Up.” Out of all of her film work though, the one that substantially sticks out and shines a light on her innate talent is undoubtedly the riveting feature film “Nude Study.”
Directed by Stefan Popescu, who won the Best Director Award at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival for his film “Rosebery 7470” and the Monster Jury Award at Monster Fest for the film “Vixen Velvet’s Zombie Massacre III,” “Nude Study” takes place in the wild Canadian arctic and follows a young filmmaker who’s desperate to leave the old version of herself behind– and she gets her chance when she meets Sarah, an alluring local girl who will change her life forever.
In the film Natalie Page takes on the lead role of Sarah’s mother Glynnis, an aging woman whose family’s hostility towards one another is causing them to fall apart. Although her health is clearly failing, we see Page’s character Glynnis put on a ‘happy’ face as she pretends that every is okay; and, while she is painfully close to death, her illness does have one positive impact, and that is that it helps bring a broken family closer together.
Page explains, “She brought a family together that previously shared little to no affection or understanding for each other.”
With a collection of powerful performances already under her belt, it’s not at all surprising that Page managed to deeply immerse herself into such a challenging character and flawlessly portray Glynnis’ slow deterioration, even if the character is the exact opposite of herself.
About the process of getting into her character Page admits, “I needed to remove myself from much of the activity around me… my usual vital energy needed to be contained as I moved closer to filming, as death and energy was definitely waning. It was quite a solo experience, one where I imagined reaching the final stages of life, visiting the local graveyard and getting in touch with grief and the inevitable departure of this earthly existence we call life.”
Behind the scenes of Natalie getting into character for “Nude Study”
In the film Page gives a captivating performance starring alongside Jackie Alixander from the hit Primetime Emmy Award winning series “Xena: Warrior Princess,” the Indie Series Award winning show “Keith Broke His Leg” and “Dark Knight,” and Marty Rhone from the 12-time Logie Award winning series “Neighbours.”
“Nude Study” had its Australian premiere at the popular Revelation Perth International Film Festival and was chosen as an Official Selection of the London Underground Film Festival, Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, the New York International Film Festival and the OutLook Film Festival, as well as screened at the Dawson City International Film Festival.
Film poster for “Nude Study”
From taking on lead roles in hit crime dramas to portraying a deeply burdened dying mother in “Nude Study,” actress Natalie Page is one of Australia’s best talents, one who will undoubtedly continue to captivate us for years to come.
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