Earl reveals bully scars
She might be one of the most beautiful actresses currently on Australian TV but Abby Earl has opened up on being horrifically bullied about her looks in high school.
Earl, who was recently nominated for her first Logie for her role in Seven's A Place to Call Home, described those high-school years as a time when she was "desperately unhappy".
"I was the girl with acne who did ballet on the weekend - I had no friends at high school and I was out of place and knew it," she told OK! Australia magazine.
"You can't underestimate what bullying can do to someone - you never forget the names you were called. It took me a really long time to accept people saying 'You're beautiful', or 'You've got really nice skin'."
After finishing high school in NSW, Earl moved to Perth where she spent three years at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), and her career has since skyrocketed.
Earl heads to America at the weekend to attend the Heath Ledger Scholarship finalists' dinner in Los Angeles next Thursday.
The 25-year-old is one of 20 finalists for the sixth annual scholarship in honour of the late Perth actor.
The timing of the award could not be more beneficial for Earl, who late last year signed with Beverly Hills-based company Management 360.
She will spend two weeks in Hollywood, where she will meet her management team for the first time and where casting for HBO shows is on her agenda.
Earl said she was "shocked" when contacted by Management 360 at the end of last year, considering she was not actively seeking any US representation.
"I didn't even have to go over and I don't know why but I got offers in my living room," she said.
Even if nothing immediately comes out of Earl's trip to the US, she already has a career- turning role in the Australian horror movie 8086, which is due to start production in the middle of next month.
Earl will play a drug- addicted prostitute killer in the horror flick - far removed from her character as well-to-do Anna Bligh in A Place to Call Home.
"They wanted me as a damsel in distress (in 8086) but I wanted to play the killer and they just couldn't see it," Earl explained.
"I had to convince him that I could play a prostitute addicted to meth.
"My representation in the States thought it was a good decision and a good departure from Anna, to play this character.
