Star on the rise: Jessica De Gouw

Jessica De Gow stars alongside Sam Worthington in Foxtel's upcoming, Deadline Gallipoli. Photo: Getty

When Jessica De Gouw landed in Los Angeles in 2012 she’d barely left the tarmac before winning the role of The Huntress in Arrow, the TV series based on DC Comics’ Green Arrow, shot in Vancouver. Next she filmed thriller These Final Hours in her hometown Perth, before spending seven months in Budapest on NBC’s Dracula. As she readies for a six-month move to Louisiana (for pre Civil War drama Underground), the 27-year-old talks to Alison Boleyn about Foxtel’s Deadline Gallipoli, growing up barefoot, and the strange, new allure of creature comforts.

After so much moving, where’s home?
London. I finally unpacked the suitcases I’ve had for four years. I’ve always considered myself a bit of a gypsy and enjoyed the fact I could fit my whole life into two suitcases. Then suddenly I was like, ‘Actually I’d like to have some nice towels and cushions.’

Why not Los Angeles?
London is quieter. I don’t ever feel settled in LA. There’s always a bunch of Australians there and they’re always a good laugh but people come and go. It’s a transient city.

What was it like growing up in Kalamunda?
Very Australian. I grew up on 16 acres and we had horses and I was always covered in dirt and running around barefoot. If I ever have kids, that’s what I would want for them, that running around and being called in for dinner when the sun goes down.

Can you explain the long line of WA actors doing well internationally?
Australian actors are trained—they go to university or drama school—whereas a lot of American actors skip that. I know actors in LA, who are from LA, who just want to be celebrities. Australian actors want to be actors, and they choose projects because of the project. That has longevity.

But why so many Western Australian actors?
WA is so far away from everything, you just have to push so much harder to get anywhere. The industry in Perth unfortunately is so small. You just have to go.

Arrow’s been an enormous success. Does correspondence with the fans ever get odd?
Sometimes. They are the most vocal and supportive fans I have ever encountered. They live and breathe the show, which is very sweet. With the familiarity and access that social media gives, people will tweet me and call me ‘my darling’ or ‘my princess.’ To a few you’re part of their lives.

What drew you back to Deadline Gallipoli?
With the centenary there are a lot of stories about Gallipoli but Deadline Gallipoli is from the perspective of the journalists and their struggle to bring a truth home to the Australian public. The war was so glorified and romanticized, and the reality of war is obviously never that; it’s gruesome and horrific and devastating. Look at how we participate in war now, how the media gives us access or doesn’t. That is still a very important conversation to have.

Deadline Gallipoli airs Sun., April 19 and Mon., April 20, 8.30PM on Showcase.