Back in March “Keeping News Local” was fortunate to have been invited to a special screening of director and writer Waheed Naddafi’s short film “Sorrowland,” partly filmed around Parramatta and included several local cast and crew.
However, as much as all those involved demonstrated excellence in their role in the production, one young lady stood out, actress Beatrice McBride, whom we discovered was also an exceptionally talented singer/songwriter, a trained journalist and who had battled a brain tumour and won.
We asked Beatrice a little about her fight with her brain tumour in the hopes that her story might inspire others who may be facing their own medical challenges and how she reacted when first told:
“It was very upsetting when I first found out because I didn’t know what this was going to mean for me and my life, which was extremely confronting. However, after the initial shock, I decided to simply get on with it and be as positive about it as possible and basically only accept the best possible outcome from that moment forward. 2017 was when I was first diagnosed with a brain tumour, and it was also when I had my first surgery.
I’m really great now, it’s been a long road to recovery and getting back to a level of normality, but I’m so grateful for the journey, however hard it’s been at times. I’m able to be more focused than ever on accomplishing my goals and I couldn’t be more excited and grateful for what my future career holds.”
At that point we moved on to discussing Beatrice’s career and future.
“I’ve been acting for as long as I can remember and am hoping now to make a professional career out of it. I’m a trained journalist and I’ve been a professional singer-songwriter for the last 5 years but I’m keen to do more writing and producing alongside my acting.”
We also asked Beatrice what was the most interesting project she had been involved in?
“I had a part in House of Hancock which was interesting as it was all meant to be based on the real life of Gina Rhinehart and her father. I know she fought to have it blocked from going on air and then a few years later I actually met the real-life Gina Rhinehart at a charity event…we had a little chat, but I didn’t tell her about my role in the show!”
When we asked Beatrice what advice she would give someone starting out, she passionately said, “I’d say get training to support good technique and don’t wait for the roles, get your own thing going because the more you do something the better you will become.”
Keeping News Local wish only the best for Beatrice McBride and will be looking forward to seeing great things from her in the future.
