Cooktown actor Marley Sharp will play a leading role in popular crime series Mystery Road. Photo: Sarah Martin.
Cooktown’s small screen star will start filming for a new television show this month in Western Australia.
Indigenous actor Marley Sharp is set to play a leading role in popular series Mystery Road, an Australian crime series that begins with an investigation into an outback cattle station disappearance.
Despite several television credits, Sharp said he didn’t intend on working in the acting industry, instead getting his start in radio.
“There was a casting for a series out of the station I was working with at the time, and a producer came up to me and asked why I wasn’t auditioning,” he said.
“I wasn’t really going to do it, but I just did it anyway, and it kind of went from there.”
Although confidentiality considerations meant he couldn’t tell Cape York Weekly much about his new character, the actor credited past directors and producer for encouraging his natural chops for acting, as well as Mystery Road co-star Aaron Pederson.
“One of the first shows I worked on, I worked with Aaron Pederson, so it’s kind of come full circle,” Sharp said.
“It was really encouraging to see an Aboriginal actor in action, and it made me think I could do it too.”
Sharp said now was as good a time as ever for diversity in Australia television, adding that he hoped to be an inspiration for any budding First Nations actors out there.
“They are always looking for different characters, so I think it’s a great time to try it out if that’s what you want,” he said.
“I was really lucky that I saw people like me on screen, and directors and producers were really good to me.
“I just want people to be the very best they can be, and if I can inspire that, that’s really important to me.”
