Julie Collis has been a working actor for many years, but a chance encounter in Los Angeles recently has opened up the possibility of her working in Hollywood.
Aucklander Collis decided to take a monologue to LA for a competition.
"I had actually won an award for it in 2016 so I took it to Hollywood where we were invited to take part in a competition up there called Short and Sweet and I won best actress and we got best script as well."
Unbeknownst to Collis In the audience was an agent.
Judy Collis Photo: Auckland Actors
"This very lovely lady was in the audience, she was there supporting other actors she has on her books, and she came up to me afterwards and asked if I had any representation in LA at which I chortled and said 'No',"
The agent told Collis she was keen to have her on her books and that she had work for mature actors.
"So I came back to Auckland and talked to my agent here and said 'do you think this is for real?' He said yes absolutely and just by chance he was going up to LA the next week ... he met Michelle they got on really well and since then they've been working together to help me get up there."
It was a quite unexpected turn of events for the actor who has appeared in Shortland Street and Mercy Peak.
"It was a dream I thought it was not going to happen, as an actor you think one day I'll make the Hollywood movies, but when I went up there to do this theatre show it was like this is probably the only time I'm ever going to work in Hollywood so lets go and do it and spend some of the superannuation on a trip."
Collis says she was surprised there was work in LA for an actor of her age.
"When I was approached by Michelle I thought this is a bit crazy, but she assures me that older actors are coming into their own they are producing more shows both for TV and screen where real people and older people are featuring. She reckons she's got work on her books sitting there that she cant slot anyone into."
So Collis set to work freshening up her resume, show reel and head shots and polishing her American accent. Her husband, a successful potter, is coming with her.
"He's going to be my personal manager and my fitness coach and my bag handler and we're going to go and spend a bit of time up there and he's looking forward to having a little bit of a sabbatical I think."
Their friends in Birkenhead are fully behind the idea, Collis says.
"Instead of contemplating which retirement home we're going to fit into, we thought let's go an live in Hollywood."
