Nicholas Coombe will be among hundreds if not thousands of actors who converge in Los Angeles in January to try out for the US pilot season.
The Peth-based Coombe, who turns 19 on December 17, has signed with Daniel Siyoum of LA- based Elevation Talent Management.
He’s been working in film and TV projects since 2005 when he was an extra in The Sleepover Club. In the past few months he appeared in two features shot in WA, You Can't Play the Game If You Don't Know the Rules and Infected Paradise.
Nick doesn’t lack self-confidence, telling IF, “I am not going over ‘half-hearted’ or just to see how things go. I am going to LA with 100% belief that I am going to succeed in my acting. I believe in myself and I think that is one of the most important things as an actor.
“If you don't believe that you are good enough or that you are the character then how are other people going to believe that you are? Nothing is going to stop me and if I get knocked down I am going to get right back up, learn from my mistakes and go back bigger and better to the next challenge that I face.”
Coombe is among the Aussie actors being mentored by Coppelia Tingley, whose daughter Freya (a friend of Nick’s) has a recurring role as Peter Pan’s Wendy in the US ABC network’s Once Upon a Time and recently played Frankie Vallie’s daughter in Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys.
“Whilst I was in LA networking and seeking managers for my clients one of the managers spotted Nick and was interested,” says Coppelia. “Nick and his parents have Skyped Daniel from Elevation Talent Management. Nick was going to LA for a few weeks to do some acting but Danny wants him in LA for the whole pilot season before he heads to Vancouver for acting work.”
You Can't Play the Game If You Don't Know the Rules is a romantic comedy directed by Burleigh Smith, based on a book by Irene Alexander, starring Zoe Ventoura, John Waters and Tiriel Mora.
In Rodman Pictures’ horror movie Infected Paradise, directed by Malaysian-based Julian Cheah, he plays Carl, a typical 14- year-old who loves video games and annoying his older sister Sarah (Melissa Munoz Escobar). Carl, Sarah and their parents go to a tropical island for a family holiday where the story unfolds.
He also appears in Doctor Who: Resistance, a 50-minute film directed by Perth-based Aaron Vanderkley, based on an audio book by British author Steve Lyons. It’s set in the South of France during the German Occupation in World War II and involves the exploits of the French Resistance along the 'evasion line'.
Coombe says Vanderkley received permission from BBC Worldwide to make a film adaptation of the audio book. He plays Jamie, a piper from Scotland who is a companion of the Doctor (Stephen Platt). “I had to get my Scottish accent on to play this role which was great fun. I also had the opportunity to wear a kilt,” he says.