Tessa de Josselin (born 13 April 1989) is an Australian actress and voiceover artist. She left her job as an environmental planner to pursue a career in acting. Shortly after joining an acting agency, de Josselin appeared in an episode of '' Tricky Business'' and was cast as Samantha "Sam" Hazelton in children's drama '' In Your Dreams''. In 2015, de Josselin appeared as Macy in ''

Ready for This ''Ready for This'' is an Australian teen-oriented television drama series that premiered on ABC3 on 5 October 2015. It follows five Indigenous teenagers who venture across the country to Sydney to pursue their dreams. Cast *Majeda Beatty as Ava ...

'' and Anna Conigrave in the feature film ''

Holding the Man ''Holding the Man'' is a 1995 memoir by Australian writer, actor, and activist Timothy Conigrave. It tells of his 15-year love affair with John Caleo, which started when they met in the mid-1970s at Xavier College, an all-boys Jesuit Catholi ...

''. From April 2015, de Josselin began starring in the long-running soap opera ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...

'' as

Billie Ashford Belinda "Billie" Ashford is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera ''Home and Away'', played by Tessa de Josselin. The actress was first pictured on set in November 2014, before it was announced the following year that she had joine ...

. She departed the cast in 2016 and her last scenes aired in February 2017.

Early life

Tessa de Josselin was born in Narrabeen and attended

Manly High School , motto_translation = What We Receive, We Pass On , location = 138 Abbott Road, North Curl Curl, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Austra ...

. At 14 she joined the

Australian Theatre for Young People Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP) is a not-for-profit national youth theatre company located in Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia. It was founded in 1964 by Eleanor Witcombe. History The first committee was formed in 1964 and co ...

, where she received her first acting role in a production of

Debra Oswald Debra Oswald (born 1959) is an Australian writer for film, television, stage, radio and children's fiction. In 2008 her ''Stories in the Dark'' won Best Play in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. She created and was head writer of the Channel 10 ...

's ''Skate''. She later enrolled at

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...

, where she studied a combined arts and environmental sciences degree. She went on to work for the

New South Wales Government The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

and two

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

organisations based in the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the entra ...

. De Josselin has been surfing since she was six years old. She is a member of the North Narrabeen Boardriders team, who compete in the Australian women's Surf Tag Championships. She also has a black belt in

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

Career

While working as an environmental planner, de Josselin joined an acting agency. After a guest appearance in '' Tricky Business'', de Josselin was cast in the lead role of Samantha "Sam" Hazelton in the children's drama '' In Your Dreams''. The series is shot in both Australia and Germany, and the second season aired in 2014. De Josselin also appeared in two short films, ''Drift'' and ''Nerds in Love''. In late 2014, de Josselin joined the cast of soap opera ''

'' as

, the younger sister of established character Martin Ashford. She made her first screen appearance on 27 April 2015. De Josselin admitted to a ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

'' writer that she had found some of Billie's storylines "challenging", particularity an arc where Billie falsely accused another character of sexual assault. The actress departed the show in 2016 and Billie's exit storyline aired in February 2017. 2015 saw de Josselin make recurring appearances in the teen drama ''

'' as "roller-derby enthusiast" Macy. Macy is also a lesbian, and de Josselin was pleased with the development, commenting that "there aren't many gay roles being written for young adults on commercial tv." De Josselin also appeared as Anna Conigrave in the

Neil Armfield Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. Biography Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armf ...

directed film ''

'', alongside

Ryan Corr Ryan Corr (born 15 January 1989) is an Australian actor. Corr is known for his roles in the Australian drama series ''Packed to the Rafters'' and '' Love Child'' along with film roles in ''Wolf Creek 2'' (2013), ''The Water Diviner'' (2014) and ' ...

and

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young (Neighbours), Mike Young in ...

. Following her departure from ''Home and Away'', De Josselin joined the cast of SBS crime thriller ''

Dead Lucky ''Dead Lucky'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Vincent Ball, Betty McDowall, John Le Mesurier, Alfred Burke and Michael Ripper. A crime reporter teams up with a fashion journalist to investigate illegal go ...

'', alongside

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born in 1968) is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series ''Secrets'' before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy ''Muriel's Wedding'' ...

. In early 2019, de Josselin was cast in romantic comedy film ''Paper Champions'', directed by Jo-Anne Brechin. De Josselin plays "confident and determined nurse" Holly.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Josselin, Tessa Living people 1989 births Australian surfers Actresses from New South Wales Australian soap opera actresses Australian film actresses 21st-century Australian actresses