August 22, 2013
by Marcus Priaulx
Leah Purcell looked in the bedroom mirror of her Perkins Street home in Murgon at age 18 and said “Who are you, what are you doing?”
Her mother Florence had just died and Leah could only worry about putting one step in front of the other and breathing.
“Then a little voice in the back of me said ‘what about your acting?’. It could’ve been my mother talking to me, I don’t know,” she said.
Leah, who had a one-month-old daughter, headed to Brisbane with her child to pursue the dream of earning a living from theatre.
Today she is a star actor, author, playwright, singer, director and producer.
But Leah’s still passionate about her hometown.
She said one of her career highlights was beating Kingaroy State High School in the netball grand final.
“I was the captain, maybe the vice-captain, but I always had the mouth and did all the talking,” she said, talking at the Nurunderi TAFE in Cherbourg.
Leah returned home to open Murgon’s skate park on August 23 and also seized the opportunity to do what she could to inspire young kids.
Within 24 hours of landing at Brisbane Airport she had driven three hours west and visited St Joseph’s primary and Murgon State High schools, caught up with family from around the district and sat for this interview.
She said her visits grounded her, as does talking to students at her former school.
“They were hard, very quiet; a tough audience but I had them laughing toward the end,” Leah said.
She also passed on the message her mum gave to her.
“It’s to have a purpose in life; to look after yourself and do something for yourself,” Leah said.
“When you respect yourself and look after yourself, everything else falls into place.
“Sometimes you don’t have that support network behind you, so you have to do it for yourself.
“It’s lonely, it’s hard, you might feel rejected but when you get to where you want to be it makes it all worth it.
“You can then give back to your community.
“I tell the young here there’s no reason they can’t be the future mayor of Cherbourg, future headmaster of Cherbourg State School, a nurse at the Cherbourg hospital or the head of the Cherbourg police.
“At the end of the day it’s up to you to want to do something; to have a go.
“Boredom will follow you everywhere if you let it. Life’s more than that. It’s what you make of it.”
- Related article: Leah Scoots Back For Some Fun
