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Down load Zoe’s signed Fan card.

Zoe Ventoura’s star is definitely on the rise following her breakthrough performance in the SBS series Kick.

Her role as Miki Mavros, an energetic tearaway who aspires to be a performer, won her rave reviews in 2007 and two Logie nominations this year for Most Outstanding New Talent and Most Popular New Talent. Packed to the Rafters is her second major role and she’s thrilled to be part of the series. “When I got the script, I thought it was so well written,” she says. “It has all the elements I look for in a television show. It’s real, funny and human.”

Originally from Perth, the 29-year-old comes from a family of performers. Her mother is a dancer and choreographer, while her father is a musician.

Zoe’s older brother Adam meanwhile is a bass player who’s toured with the likes of Jon Stevens, Guy Sebastian and Kate Ceberano. Not only a gifted actress, Zoe has inherited her parents’ musical prowess and is also a talented singer and dancer.

After completing high school, she moved to Melbourne to study at the Victorian College of the Arts’ School of Dance. She danced with Opera Australia before venturing into musical theatre. Roles in Oh, What a Night, Footloose, We Will Rock You, Eurobeat, Grease and Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical followed.

It was during this period she began yearning for bigger roles. “I was sitting on stage in the ensemble of We Will Rock You and I got this massive burning frustration that I wasn’t doing or saying anything,” she remembers. “I felt like jumping out of my skin and screaming! Afters years of doing ensemble musicals, it just wasn’t inspiring anymore. I wanted to do more.”

It was then she made a conscious decision to pursue acting full-time. “I found an amazing acting teacher from New York who comes to Sydney every year. “So I trained with her, got voice and dialect coaching. I did everything to improve my chances of making it.

“It was a big investment. The money was going to be a deposit on a house, so it almost made me broke.” But it was worth every penny. She went on to appear in two episodes of Last Man Standing as Adele and in the American horror film See No Evil before scoring her big break on Kick. “The experience gave me the confidence to feel like I do deserve to work as an actor on screen,” she says.

In her spare time, Zoe enjoys running, swimming and surfing.