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Interviews > Marisa Warrington

Marisa Warrington burst onto our screens last year as the deliciously devious, yet quirky, Sindi Watts. She had appeared on the show twice before in guest slots in the late 1990s before first starring as Sindi, and is now set to reprise the role next year. We caught up with Marisa for a chat about her part in the Ramsay Street saga...

Can you give us a little background on your acting career?
I come from a theatrical family so I guess the idea of acting came as a natural progression. My father was an actor, then later on a director and scenery maker and mum was an opera singer. She still teaches students in the front room at home!! My brother's the black sheep, he works in a bank! I've been on stage since I was 7 and I haven't stopped. At 20, I went to the National Theatre Drama School, then concentrated on stage work. Most of the theatre work has been Shakespearean works, playing the likes of Juliet, Viola, Hermia etc. I went and studied with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford in 2000, travelled around the UK and Europe. I worked as a temp in London while I took classes at the Actors Centre, and since then have worked with the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Australian Shakespeare Company to name a few. Apart from commercials, and until about 2 months ago, Neighbours was my only real TV experience. (I recently finished filming a guest on a cop show where I got to play a murderer... fun!!)

Prior to playing Sindi Watts on Neighbours, you also appeared on the show twice before. Can you tell us about those roles?
The only one I can remember is playing the character of Robyn Dawson (left).

Robyn was a character that had gone to school with Libby and they were supposed to be really geeky but since then Robyn had blossomed into the type of person Libby wanted to be. It was for one day of shooting but all I remember was being so incredibly nervous!

What are your memories of those earlier stints on the series? Who did you enjoy working with?
I got to work with Dan Paris (Drew) and Kym Valentine (Libby). They were sweet to me but I don't think they have ever had to work with someone so frightened in all their careers. The director David Myles smiled and said "you're doing well dear, but could you speak up". All I could hear was ringing in my ears. I remember sitting in Lou's Pub and being amazed thinking "Cool, I'm in Lou's Pub". I always remember the cast being lovely, but I know I must have been absolutely appalling!