I, Portrait is the latest feature from NHProductions and as always a lot of the details we want to know are under lock and key. Even though we won’t get to know that much right at this moment about the film, we do get to meet one of its stars, Natalie Heslop!
Natalie Heslop takes the lead in this new feature with Nathan Hill, and at first glance, she looks very much like she belongs on screen. I of course only have a short screen test to go off, but most casting directors do too and I’m impressed! Let’s learn a bit about this exciting new role!
“A newly married couple receive an unexpected visit from an old friend who has ulterior motives to end their relationship” – I, Portrait IMDb
Natalie is a Melbourne-based actress that is still fairly fresh in the game, but having been creative in one way or another all her life, she is right at home in the film industry! Not only does she have the lead role in I, Portrait, but she’s had the chance to work creatively with Nathan Hill from the film’s conception, especially because the lead character Carmen McKenna, whom Heslop plays, is drawn from a lot of her real life experiences.
Natalie Heslop goes on to share the inspiration for I, Portrait:
“Ever since I was a teenager I had this ability to sketch…to sketch someone, it didn’t mean to be a portrait but a lot of the time people’s faces came through…and then eventually the person I sketched, I ended up meeting them in real life”
If that doesn’t intrigue you like it does me, I don’t know what will.
“I freaked out about it a little so I stopped, but eventually I picked it back up again and one of the sketches happened to be my costar…the latest one was a few years ago on a plane and I was just looking at the T.V. screen and then I started sketching some shapes…it was just shapes and then I could see a face coming through so I went with it…I even had words like hi how are you and the answers back on it…it ended up being the customs officer at the airport”
I don’t know how many of you out there believe in psychic abilities and empathic abilities, but I have to say, even if you don’t this is a pretty fantastic backstory to a movie. I did not expect it and again I’m impressed!
During Natalie Heslop’s early life, she was always creative. She loved painting and art and during her school years she was recognised for her use of colour. She also spent a lot of time learning cultural dances such as Serbian, Israeli and Salsa dancing so there’s definitely a love of performing, and now she’s sharing her talent with us through acting. Since pursuing acting seriously in 2015 she has kept busy with plenty of international and local projects including a featured extra role on Neighbours! Every Aussie actor knows that if you have big goals, Neighbours and Home And Away is where you have to be, and to have already been on for a fair few episodes so soon in her acting career looks very promising!
“I didn’t mean for it to happen as it has, it just has”
Natalie Heslop and Nathan Hill have been friends for a couple of years now and it seems like a friendship that was always meant to be. This is their second feature together, the other being Cult Girls, which along with I, Portrait is still in post-production waiting eagerly to be released. I for one can’t wait to not only see Natalie in this feature, but also for her next move!
