TV Week
21st May 1988
It’s goodbye anonymity and hello to lots of fans for the pretty Richmond Hill star
ACTRESS Felicity Soper doesn’t like drawing attention to herself. She would rather pursue her career and keep her private life quiet.
But suddenly everything has blown up in this diminutive brunette’s face — landing a top role in Network Ten’s Richmond Hill has signed away her anonymity.
Even before the series went to air Felicity encountered some of television’s hype and speed at a promotional day.
“I went to the loo and about 15 kids, who didn’t even know who I was, came rushing in after me asking for my autograph. It was all very bizarre,’’ she says.
“I suppose I found it all a bit of a shock really because it was my first taste of what was to come.”
Felicity, 24, was introduced to acting at school and performed in the end-of-year plays.
“At that time it was all a bit of fun,” she says. “Acting wasn’t an option at school and so I wound up going to university to study teaching, which I loathed.”
After a year of tertiary education, Felicity had had enough. “I told my parents I was going to the Ensemble to study acting and they thought it was another one of my ‘stages’,” she says.
“It wasn’t until quite a few years later they realised I was serious and now they think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Until her inclusion in the Richmond Hill cast, Felicity mainly performed in the theatre, although she had guest roles in A Country Practice, Neighbours and a cameo in Poor Man’s Orange.
In Richmond Hill she plays Constable Susan Miller, and says: “Everyone laughs like a drain when I tell them I’m a cop. They all say I’m too skinny and, to be truthful, I can’t imagine myself as a cop either.
“I like the part and I also like getting dressed up as a policewoman because it makes me feel like I’m efficient.
“I don’t think I’d stay in a soap for years on end although it would be tempting because of the secure work in this insecure business.
“I’d like to do some more theatre and another mini-series.”
Drawn to acting because of the story-telling and role-playing aspect, Felicity is fascinated she can be anyone she wants to be when she is acting.
“When I saw To Sir With Love I wanted to be a teacher and when I saw All The President’s Men I wanted to be a journalist. I decided to become an actress so I could be all those things,” she says.
Leigh Reinhold
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