BACK WHERE I BELONG
BURLEIGH’S ANNABELLE STEPHENSON HAS BEEN AWAY IN LA, BUT SHE’S RELISHING HER TIME AT HOME AS SHE RETURNS TO SCREENS,
Actor Annabelle Stephenson has a gypsy soul. From a young age, the Gold Coast export has been thirsty for adventure and an artistic career.
“I’ve had a very colourful life,” the Revenge, Tidelands and now
Home And Away actor laughs. “I have always been drawn to the creative arts. When I was little, I loved getting involved in school plays, dancing, painting and music.
“When I was 15, I realised that I could make money from doing what you love and acting happened to be it. I am now 32 and still loving every moment.”
After finding an agent, Annabelle’s first job was in a
Courier Mail television ad. In 2005 she landed the role of Miriam Kent in the hit children’s TV show H20: Just Add Water when she was in Year 12 — it was filmed at her high school, Somerset College. Annabelle went on to study at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) in Sydney before jetting to LA for her birthday in 2013 where she scored a job on MTV’s comedy Hot Mess. She called Tinsel Town home for six years, starring in Revenge, Pray for Rain, Escape Room, Rehearsal, Point of Honour, Mates, and the Australian made Netflix original
Tidelands.
“It was incredible but over there people become absorbed in the celebrity name game, which I think is very fickle. Back home I am surrounded by the infectious and hardworking Aussie spirit. Aussie actors are all about the creativity and telling the story, which is the icing on the cake when you are in a difficult industry,” she says.
In need of a break, the wanderluster switched her acting career for a magical Italian experience last year.
Annabelle studied in an
Italian school and lived like Sophia Loren for more than six months. But not long after arriving back on the Gold Coast, an opportunity on Channel 7 drama Home And Away came knocking. “The show is a box tick,” she says. “It’s kind of an institution and if you don’t go through it have you really done the ropes?”
Annabelle is set to make her debut on August 26 as Taylor Rosetta. She says her time on set has been a dream, especially working alongside her childhood friend and fellow Gold Coaster Tim Franklin.
“He is a really close friend of mine and we are really stoked to work together,” she says.
“Since he has been three, we have celebrated Christmas together. I went to Somerset College and he went to All Saints Anglican College.”
While travel has opened Annabelle’s heart, broadened her mind and filled her life with stories to tell, spending time at her childhood home in Burleigh, running along the headland and whale watching, dinner at Labart and sunset cocktails at Rick Shores will always be at the top of her highlight reel.
“I have travelled all over the world and I have lived away from home since I have been 18, so the Gold Coast has always been my base when I have run the end of a course somewhere. It’s always been my calling to come back to — it’s magnetic.
“I am always blown away by how beautiful and welcoming it is. It’s a growing city but it has a small-town family vibe and I think that it is irreplaceable.
“I grew up in Mudgeeraba and became a Burleigh resident along with my mum, dad and brother when I was 10. I am a very lucky girl to call that little space home when I come back.”