Virginia Gay plays Frances James
The bright lights of show biz beckoned early for
Virginia Gay. "My poor parents had no choice," she says. "They were
surrounded constantly by this screaming, performing little
thing.
"I remember being six and I was doing some show for my family. They
laughed in unison and I went, 'Wow! That feels really good.'"
Virginia, 29, grew up in Sydney's inner west and spent a good part
of her time in England.
Like her character Frances, school was an awkward time for the
vivacious actress. "There were the braces and the glasses and, at
some point for some reason unbeknownst to me, I got a crew
cut.
"I also played the trombone. Now that's a sexy instrument you'd
have to agree."
After graduating from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts,
she went on to study English literature and performance studies at
Sydney University. When she decided to make acting her full-time
pursuit, she enrolled at Perth's esteemed Western Australian
Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
While at WAAPA, Virginia auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of
Ricky on All Saints. However, she impressed producers to such an
extent she was called back to audition as Nursing Unit Manager
Gabrielle Jaeger in 2006.
During her three-and-a-half years in the role, she managed to find
time to take part in Seven's It Takes Two in 2008. She was a huge
hit with audiences and placed third with partner Ian Moss.
After All Saints wrapped, Virginia trod the boards in a string of
productions including Gentlemen Prefer Blokes, for which she won a
DIVA Award. Looking forward she will perform 'Dirty Pretty Songs'
which is about to be part of the 2011 Melbourne International Arts
Festival in the famous Speigletent.
The latter is her own creation where she takes pretty songs and
sings them dirty, and dirty songs and sings them pretty.
"The idea behind the cabaret show is that any pop song you've ever
heard, especially if it's cheerful and upbeat, can sound incredibly
dirty if you slow it down and funk up the base line."
She recently spent six months touring with the Sydney Theatre
Company's Wharf Revue in the production 'Pennies from Kevin'. In
the hit show, she polished her impression of Julia Gillard and
bounded about in a fat suit as Amanda Vanstone. "Performing to a
live crowd is amazing," she says. "There is nothing like the
feeling of having 600 people laugh at something you've set up and
delivered. It's like being a kid again."
Virginia makes a welcome return to Channel Seven in Winners &
Losers. "It's great to be back in the bosom of Channel Seven. I'm
very happy indeed. It's great to see some familiar faces and lots
of new ones."
Virginia, who has relocated to Melbourne from Sydney, says she was
immediately attracted to the show. "I just read it and thought
that's me and everyone I know. It's funny and it's about women. It
walks the line between laugh-out-loud funny and
heartbreaking."
Playing a corporate heavyweight in Frances, Virginia is grateful to
be swapping the hospital garb for more glamorous attire.
"I had one outfit for the first two years on All Saints," she
laughs. "It was the patterned blue shirt and blue slacks. I loved
that outfit, don't get me wrong, but it was one outfit for two
years."
She's a big fan of Madeline Kahn and The West Wing Wing's Alison
Janney, whom she watched in preparation for her current role. "I
did watch a lot of The West Wing as I thought it might be useful to
understand Frances' world. It was also a good excuse to stay
indoors during winter!"
In her spare time, she enjoys seeing theatre and live music and has
just started learning the ukulele.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
I'd follow James Spader around the world and become
his full-time stalker. That's what I'd do.
