Actress, singer and media personality Natalie Bassingthwaite returned to her hometown on Tuesday to revisit her old stomping ground, the Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts.
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The 41-year-old was visiting as part of the school’s centenary celebrations and inspire some of the current pupils who are keen to follow in her footsteps.
Principal Paul Ryan stood at the front gate, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the celebrity with a group of year 11 students before showing her around the classrooms and on to a Q&A with students.
“It’s weird being back,” Bassingthwaite said. “It’s so different but it’s so the same.”
In the library a familiar face popped in to say hello and give the star a big hug, her former year adviser Paul Quinn.
“That year level was fantastic and so successful in lots and lots of ways,” said Mr Quinn, who’s now head teacher of English.
“It’s always great to see the success of any student you’ve ever worked with and applaud.”
As Bassingthwaite approached the performing arts space to talk show biz, the applause began to build before erupting into cheers by the awaiting group singing “Voodoo Child”, a past hit from Bassingthwaite’s band Rogue Traders.
For the next 45 minutes she spoke frankly about her career, answering the questions from the 100-odd group of dance, drama and music students.
“Initially I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Did I want to sing, did I want to dance or did I want to act or did I want to combine all three,” she said.
The personality spoke of going into auditions “terrified” and not understanding the process in the early days and how it wasn’t until she was offered the role of Mrs Cohen in the musical Rent that her life changed.
“I auditioned with 6000 other people … and we had, like, seven auditions over eight months which was very daunting,” she said.
“But I didn’t just want to be performing in a show, I wanted to perform in that show and I wanted to perform that role so I learnt everything I could about the show.”
Taking knock-backs on the chin, learning to be resilient, being the new kid at school and how anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it was also discussed.
“Never give up, because if you give up it’s done and dusted, you can always inspire yourself through your own actions,” she said.
“I had my first single at 29 which is pretty old, it feels pretty old to start at that age … I got told once when I was 16 or 17 by this really weird guy that if I didn’t make it by the time i was 16 I was never going to make it, and now I think huh.
“Life’s fun, hang in there.”