Each year, the members of the CGA come together to identify a group of up to 10 extraordinary actors we believe have the potential to break out on the world stage; The CGA Rising Stars.
The Awards have a strong track-record of picking Australian talent who are truly on the cusp of greatness – previous recipients include Milly Alcock (House of Dragon), Eliza Scanlan (Little Women), Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), Ayesha Madden (Heartbreak High), Zoe Terakes (Talk To Me) Olivia De-Jonge (Elvis), James Majoos (Heartbreak High), Nathalie Morris (Bump) and Alexander England (Little Monsters).
In 2024, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga star Alyla Browne (who plays the young version of the film’s titular character) was named one of the Rising Stars! And before the CGA ceremony on November 15th, Nick L’Barrow spoke with Alyla about the moment she fell in love with acting, and why she called Sigourney Weaver for advice for a horror film she worked on.
Nick: First and foremost, congratulations on being named one of CGA’s Rising Stars! What was your reaction when you first heard the news?
Alyla Browne: I was so excited! I celebrated with my cat [laughs]!
Nick: There’s no one better to celebrate that news with, right? But it’s a well deserved recognition! I’d love to start with your beginnings in this career. Do you remember the moment you fell in love with acting?
Alyla Browne: Yeah, I did my first audition for an ad, and I got it. Like, it’s my first ever audition! It’s very rare for a starting out actor, but I did and it felt like I won the lottery. And so, I was having so much fun on sets, and I just kept auditioning, and kept chugging along.
Then I got some more roles, and I just loved it so much on set that I just wanted to keep going. And here am I now, in the flesh! But yeah, I think from the very beginning, I loved doing this.
Nick: What was it about sets that made you fall in love with acting?
Alyla Browne: I reckon it’s all the people on set who kind of make it like a community. But it’s also really hard because on my wrap days on most shows, everyone is like, “Oh my god, congratulations. It’s a wrap!” And I’m like, “I’m really sad!”
It’s always hard leaving everyone behind. But then when you see someone from a previous show, it makes you really happy. It’s very fulfilling. Community is all it feels like. It feels like everyone really cares on set for each other, and I think that is really special.
Nick: Has there been a moment or person on these sets that have been in some way an inspiration for the type of actor you want to be? Whether it’s performance wise or even just how they acted professionally on a set?
Alyla Browne: Yeah, I think that so many actors that I’ve encountered on set, almost every single one, kind of shows you a different aspect of how they work on set, or how they like to talk to the director, or even take direction. And I think that’s really interesting to try to take on everything that everyone’s told you, and kind of bring it with you.
And it’s sometimes hard, but it’s always really, really cool for more people to teach you. I’m young, and I think a lot of people try to give me little tips and stuff, and I always want them to do it forever because it’s very, very, very valuable.
Nick: Is there one bit of advice or a certain person that has stuck out the most to you throughout your time on these sets?
Alyla Browne: It was really beautiful being on set with Sigourney [Weaver] because she’s so like, strong, and she holds herself so well. She’s got this beautiful aura filling the air. She’s like… I don’t know, you just have to be there. But she’s really incredible. She’s beautiful.
Nick: She’s an icon for a reason! What was the experience like making Alice Hart with her? And how much of her work were you aware of before working with her?
Alyla Browne: I’ve always loved Alien. And I love watching them because they’re so gritty and raw in that genre, which I loved. And I loved working with her, and being able to get to know her personally was really, really incredible.
She actually gave me some tips for Sting! You might remember the scene where the spider was right in front of my face, just like Alien. And I remember my director, Kiah [Roache-Turner] saying I should call Sigourney up as a joke. But I actually ended up calling her, and she was on another set, but she left me a voicemail back.
And she was telling me that I really need to act to what’s in front of me, and study it like a scientist. That’s how you build a fear against it. And it was very lucky that in Sting, we were using a puppet instead of CGI, because that’s also what Sigourney got to experience was the puppet. So, I was very lucky.
Nick: That’s amazing! Have you also had those sort of learning experiences from directors like Kiah? And I mean, you’ve also worked with the incredible George Miller too! Have you learnt a lot developing characters with directors like that?
Alyla Browne: I really think I do. I remember so many occasions where George has this bus on set where he’s watching a TV screen which has a scene getting edited as we go, like roughly. It’s crazy in the back of that bus there because they’re just quickly cutting it together with other scenes around that shot!
But, he has this mic and he was like, “Uh, hey, Alyla, can you please come to the bus?” So, I walked onto the bus, and we’d watch the screen and he’d always explain something that maybe I could do a little differently. And it was really interesting because whenever he had a little thing that didn’t work, he always took the time to show me and we’d go back and do a different take.
Also on that bus, I made this random observation that it’s not always about what the character knows. Sometimes it’s about what the audience knows before the characters do. And George was like, “Yes! You’ve got it!” And he was trying to teach me and expand on that. It was just a really interesting conversation we had.
Nick: I’ll close out on this, and we’ve spoken about your inspirations when it comes to acting. But I’m certain that one day, a young actor out there will see one of your performances and be inspired by you to also pursue this dream. So, I’d love to know, how would you like to be an inspiration for that person who sees Alyla Browne on the big screen?
Alyla Browne: I don’t know, man! That’s a hard question! I think that the best experience is to be with other people on set and learn from them. That’s basically my acting school. Some people have asked what acting school I went to, and I tell them I learnt everything on set. The best thing you can do for your own mind and your own career, and to grow in everything is to be on sets as much as you can.
Thank you so much to Alyla for her time, and to NixCo PR for organising the interview. The CGA Rising Stars were announced in early November, and they will be presented with their award at the 2024 Casting Guild of Australia awards on November 15.
