I was told 'they don't hire anyone like you': Michelle Lim Davidson

Back in 2010, when Michelle Lim Davidson was about to graduate from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), she was given advice that aspiring actors didn’t want to hear. “Agents and industry people came straight to me and said, ‘I just wanted to let you know, you’re so kind. You have talent. But you’ll never work,’” he recalls. “They’re like, ‘You’re never going to work on television, and it’s going to be really hard for you to get a job in main stage theater. They don’t hire anyone who looks like you.’ ”

Michelle, who was born in Korea but raised in Australia, is left shaken and filled with self-doubt. “I asked myself, ‘What am I going to do? Why am I here?’ I just didn’t realize it would be such a problem.”

But just days after his WAAPA graduation performance, he proved his doubts wrong. Among the audience of the show was British comedian Ben Elton, who chose Michelle to be part of his 2011 TV sketch comedy show, Ben Elton Straight from Planet Earth.

The show would only last three episodes but it was enough to launch Michelle’s career. Since then she has starred in television shows like Utopia, Doctor Doctor, rake, Get Crack! n, China Lake Peak Girl, The Secret He Keeps and News anchorfor which she was nominated for AACTA for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Drama.

Bianca Spender “Manhattan” jacket, $845. Tory Burch dress, $1730. Senso “Glory” boots, $460. Dinosaur Designs ring, $395, and Louise Olsen ring, $250, from Dinosaur Designs. Both rings are worn throughout.Credit:Jed Cooney

Michelle’s film credits include Ivan Sen’s gold stone and he has a huge list of theatrical productions to his name. But for anyone with a preschooler at home, Michelle is probably best known as a regular presenter on school playrole he has held for the past 10 years.

In real life, Michelle looks much younger than 34 years old, and she admits that she is still being asked to be identified at her local bottle shop. As someone who spends his time in front of the camera, he was pleasantly surprised by today’s shoot.

“The first thing I said to everyone this morning was, ‘I’m so nervous. When I say I’m nervous, I’m actually scared,’” she said laughing and hiding her face with her hands.

This is his newest role, in Channel 9’s upcoming drama After the Judgmentwhich brought him to Sunday Life Photo studio. The series is a murder mystery with a comedic twist about four people who meet on jury duty – Clara (Michelle), Daniel (Sullivan Stapleton), Margie (Magda Szubanski) and Ollie (Lincoln Younes). When the case is over, the four jurors begin to think twice about the woman they declared “innocent” and begin to investigate the murder she is accused of.

Lincoln Younes, Michelle Lim Davidson, and Magda Szubanski star in the upcoming drama Nine, After the Verdict.Credit:Nine

“One of the things I love about this show is that we’re all so different: Magda, Lincoln and Sullivan and me,” Michelle said. “So the relationship the characters form is a very unlikely bond.”

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Michelle described her character, Clara, as “weird”. “He simply lacks the life skills that go hand in hand with being like a private detective, but he is on this mission to get justice for the victims. So they ended up on this extreme journey. Clara might look a little like me; he can’t back down.”

There are other things that make Clara’s role very significant. This is the first time a Korean-Australian character is leading an Australian television show. “I could not have anticipated that my journey would bring me here. Everyone said it wasn’t going to happen,” Michelle said.

But the road to this point was not without obstacles along the way. Michelle recalls being asked to fill out her details on a form at a casting agency and under the Asian ethnic category there were specific options like Chinese and Japanese, but no boxes to tick for Koreans. “I remember saying, ‘I’m Korean,’” Michelle said. “The agent just looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you can pass as one of them.’ ”

“I remember saying, ‘I’m Korean.’ The agent just looked at me and said, ‘Oh, you can pass as one of them.’ ”

Michelle doubts that many other actors have been asked to end their audition scenes with unscripted karate kicks, or asked if they speak Chinese. “I said, ‘I don’t speak Chinese.’ And they said, ‘What about Cantonese?’ ”

It was Michelle’s role as Noelene Kim in News anchor where she first played a Korean woman on Australian television. Even then, the role was adapted for him. “I auditioned and I said, ‘You know, I’m Korean… I wasn’t sure if it would fit in the show.’ But they are very open to it. So I never even auditioned for a Korean woman.”

Bottega Veneta sweater, Dinosaur Designs “Wishbone” bracelet $1290, $260.Credit:Jed Cooney

Michelle was four and a half months old when she was adopted by her Australian parents, who live in Newcastle. He talked about feeling like an outsider growing up in a port city.

“I was the only Asian in my school until the 4th year,” he said. “I never felt like I fit into the beach culture. I’m not good at sports.”

Michelle said her parents joked that she didn’t see the sun for the first 12 years of her life because she was so shy. But she finds her personal expression through art and starts dancing, where her shyness evaporates once she’s on stage.

Michelle’s parents also enrolled her in drama lessons in an attempt to get her out of her shell. He said a switch was turned on when he started 7th grade at performing arts high school. Soon she was performing in high school musicals and community theater, and slowly transitioned from dancing to acting.

After finishing school, Michelle worked as a “sandwich artist” at Subway, applying year after year to get into WAAPA. It took three tries. Moving to Perth would prove to be life changing.

But there is another important journey Michelle is about to take. It took years before he felt ready to return to the country of his birth, but he finally reconnected with his family in Korea. “This is a real experience. I never really felt like I fit in here. I don’t really fit in there either.

“This is the best and worst thing I have ever done in my life. It’s not what you think. Not everything is Disney. This is a very unique and special relationship; I feel it spiritually. I relate to my father’s hometown and just feel connected to a place, to the land, that I can’t explain. But there’s been so much to lose on both sides, and I’ve lost so much time. So I just feel like I’m chasing.”

Bianca Spender “Allure” shirt, $495, and “Moro” skirt, $425. Senso “Gala” boots, $320.Credit:Jed Cooney

Michelle beautifully expresses the feeling of being caught between two worlds and not completely owning both. “I was flying home at the time and saw the flight map on the screen in front of me. The plane was in the middle of the ocean, the midpoint, and I thought maybe that’s where I was.”

“The plane was in the middle of the ocean, the midpoint, and I thought maybe that’s where I was.”

His experience inspired him to write a play entitled, Where We Love
What is Home?. “It’s ultimately about finding the home within you. I feel like I brought my home. I have made that world for myself. This is very liberating for me. I’m no longer trying to fit in. I just feel like I can be myself.”

Michelle has been a regular presenter at Play School for the past 10 years: “You realize how important it is for the little ones to see you.”Credit:A B C

In addition to the upcoming release of After the Judgmentand developing projects for theater and television, Michelle is busy preparing to shoot the second season News anchor. She also recently completed a 90th anniversary special for ABC, and it was her role in school play which gave him a special kind of joy.

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“When you go out and meet the kids watching, it’s really fun,” he said. “Going back to that diversity, you realize how important it is for the little ones to see you.

“I remember one mother telling this story about how her daughter screamed from the living room. The mother rushed over thinking something was wrong. The girl pointed at the television saying, ‘This girl looks like me. He has the same eyes.’ The girl asked her mother, ‘One day, can I be like Michelle?’ And I had to say to the mother, ‘Yeah, yeah, she really can.’ ”

Fashion editor: Penny McCarthy, Hair: Graeme Cumming using Australian Eleven, Makeup: Aimie Fiebig using Sisley Paris, Assistant stylist: Emmerson Conrad.

After the Judgment will launch on Wednesday, August 10 at 8:45 p.m. on Channel 9 and 9Now.

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