US success brewing for Perth actress

Throwing in your nine-to-five office job to pursue a lifelong dream is never an easy feat but rising *Perth * actress *Danielle Brewer *has * *managed to do just that.

Walking away from her corporate career in *WA *to study at NIDA in Sydney, it wasn't long until *Duncraig *-raised Brewer found herself at the hub of New York's thriving film and TV scene.

"I auditioned for the New York Film Academy while I was in Sydney and I got a scholarship, so I moved to the US," Brewer told _AAA _.

"There are a lot more opportunities in New York City. It used to be mainly soaps they did there but now there's so many television shows that they shoot there, like The Blacklist, The Good Wife, Law & Order, Elementary."

With myriad potential roles at her fingertips, the red-haired beauty decided to extend her stay in the Big Apple after completing the acting course.

And the decision paid off, with Brewer landing her first US acting gig in Italian director *Tullia Zanfini *'s short film Cioccolatino, which has since screened at two US film festivals.

"We shot out in the Hamptons for a whole week, that was fabulous," she recalled.

Determined to see what else was out there, Brewer later landed work on the set of *Martin Scorsese *'s critically acclaimed black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street.

"I was working about four times a week for a month doing background work for that film," she explained. "The first day we were in a room with 150 other people sitting there and I had no idea what we were doing.

"Then the next minute, *Leonardo DiCaprio *walks out from behind the curtain and I'm like 'Oh, that's what we're doing today'.

"It was a real gift to sit in the room and watch someone who has been doing this their entire life."

In another stroke of luck for the budding actress, she later went on to secure a part on The Good Wife working directly with the show's leading lady, *Julianna Margulies *.

"Originally, they had another girl picked for that scene but it just didn't work out," Brewer explained. "Then they picked me . . . I did some rehearsing for them and they ended up using me. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"Julianna was so lovely. She was super focused and she was very calm on set."

Now signed with *Perth * talent agency Frog Management, which also represents LA-based *Claremont *-reared actress *Adelaide Kane *, Brewer is back in WA to work on securing her US visa.

But next in store for the 31-year-old is shooting her first feature-film lead in New York for the indie flick Silenus, helmed by LA writer-

director *John Desiderio *.

"It's a real anxiety-driven role," she said. "I really enjoy the challenge of that. It's those kinds of roles that I quite often find and audition for."

VANESSA WILLIAMS

'I auditioned

for the New York Film Academy while I was in Sydney and I got a scholarship, so I moved to

the US.'