Leeanna Walsman reflects on her earlier roles

When Leeanna Walsman was cast in Human Error, it became her largest Free to Air role so far.

Helming the series for Nine as Detective Holly O’Rourke, she has hopes for a further season, given Nine’s legacy of Underbelly and Halifax FP dramas.

“That’s what I thought when I got the role. I was like, ‘This is that show.’ It’s a procedural drama in line with all the classics…. but the formula is the same,” she recently told TV Tonight.

“I’ve never played the lead of a series, especially one like this, on a Free to Air network like Channel Nine. So it was really exciting to do that.”

It was not before time. Walsman has been a familiar face on screen, harking back to Police Rescue in 1996.

There was a miniseries lead  in 2004’s period drama Jessica, an outback melodrama based on Bryce Courtney’s novel, with cast including Sam Neill, John Howard and Lisa Harrow as the villainous mother, Hester.

“Oh, she was awful but a fantastic actor… and the beautiful Tony Martin as the father,” she recalled.

“There were a lot of great people on that, and an incredible Indigenous community working on that too. Since then, I’ve worked on a few productions with community, and they all have this similar quality. The experience is different but there’s care taken before certain scenes. It’s a different energy.

“It was like the finest Sunday special…but everything was more melodramatic back then.”

Walsman also played Jet in Heartbreak High in 1999 over two, decades before the hit Netflix reboot.

“It’s interesting talking about that with people who are in their 20s. They have no idea that there was a first one,” she laughs.

“But I love the new Heartbreak. I think it’s fantastic, but it’s weirdly similar. I thought it would be completely different. And obviously it is, it’s more to the time and all that sort of stuff and the casting is more inclusive. But when you actually watch the scenes … it’s very similar to the original Heartbreak High in the audacity of the kids.”

She played Governor Erica Davidson  on Season 1 of Wentworth. The series would go on for 8 more seasons.

“I didn’t realise it was going to be as big as it was. So that was really exciting for everyone.”

Other credits include Big Sky, Spellbinder, Thunderstone, Wildside, Beastmaster, Farscape, Shark Net, The Pacific, The Informant, Janet King, Cleverman, Seven Types of Ambiguity, Safe Harbour. She also has a small role in Nautilus currently screening on Stan.

Whilst grateful for the series lead in Human Error, Walsman has come to appreciate the value all roles bring to the screen.

“I literally worked with everyone, even all the guest parts. There was something really wonderful about that, and a huge learning curve for me, because I watched everyone come in with their nervous energy and I recognised all those. It’s really interesting to watch an actor come on set and be able to observe it more, as opposed to being that person constantly,” she explains.

“All those smaller roles are really important because they feed my character’s journey. The better that person is, the better I am. That’s just the way acting is for me. It’s all about reaction and feeding from somebody else.”