Alin Sumarwata is an Iranian-born Australian actress, whose roles include May Stone in 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 ...

'', Sophia Angleton in ''

East West 101 ''East West 101'' was a drama series airing on the SBS network. The series was produced and created by Steven Knapman and Kris Wyld, the team behind other drama series such as '' Wildside'' and ''White Collar Blue''. It ran from 2007–2011, ...

'' and

Vanessa Villante Vanessa Villante is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Alin Sumarwata. The actress's casting was announced on 5 December 2011, though she began filming the week before. Sumarwata and her family relocate ...

in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'', a role she played from 2012 to 2013, 2015 and 2019. She has also starred in '' Strike Back: Retribution'', '' Strike Back: Revolution'' and '' Strike Back: Vendetta'' as Gracie Novin.

Early life

Sumarwata was born in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. She moved to Australia with her family at the age of seven. Sumarwata gained a scholarship to 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 ...

and later attended the

Newtown High School of the Performing Arts The Newtown High School of the Performing Arts is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive and specialist secondary day school in the suburb of Newtown in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is among a small number of performing a ...

. She worked part time in a law firm and an accounting firm, while she graduated from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Career

One of Sumarwata's early acting jobs was a role on Indonesian television soap opera ''Kenapa Ada Cinta''. In 2009, Sumarwata starred as Yasmin Van Koors in the mini-series, ''

False Witness ''False Witness'', also known as ''The Diplomat'' internationally, is a two-part Australian television mini-series, produced by Screentime Australia, and broadcast simultaneously on the Australian subscription television channel UKTV (Australia ...

''. She joined the cast of ''

'' in the recurring role of May Stone, before moving onto roles in ''

Rescue Special Ops ''Rescue: Special Ops'' is an Australian television drama series that first screened on the Nine Network in 2009. Filmed in and around Sydney, the program is produced by Southern Star Group with the assistance of Screen Australia and the New ...

'' and ''

''. Sumarwata stars as Isabella Fortino in short film, ''Dark Horse''. For her portrayal of Isabella, Sumarwata won the "Best Female Actor in a Short Film" award at the

Melbourne Underground Film Festival The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF) is an Austalian independent film festival featuring mostly genre, controversial, transgressive and avant garde material. History The Melbourne Underground Film Festival was formed out of disagreeme ...

. The following year, Sumarwata appeared in ''

Sea Patrol ''Sea Patrol'' is an Australian television drama that ran from 2007 to 2011, set on board HMAS ''Hammersley'', a fictional patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The series focused on the ship and the lives of its crew members. Despi ...

'' and ''

Tangle Tangle may refer to: Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics *''The Tangle'' is the name of the ledger, a directed acyclic graph, used for the cryptocurrency IOTA *Tangle (mathematics), a topological object Natural sciences & medicine ...

''. On 5 December 2011, it was announced Sumarwata had joined the cast of ''

'' in the regular role of

. Sumarwata and her family relocated from Sydney to Melbourne, so she could film her scenes. Sumarwata's character was written out in 2013. She made three guest appearances in 2015, and she reprised the role again in 2019. In 2016, Sumarwata joined the cast of '' Strike Back'' as Gracie Novin for the show's sixth series, which began airing in 2017. She reprised the role for the seventh series '' Strike Back: Revolution'', which aired in 2019. Sumarwata reprised the role for the final season, '' Strike Back: Vendetta'' which started airing on February 14, 2020.

Personal life

Sumarwata is married to actor

Don Hany Don Hany (born 18 September 1975) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role in the series ''White Collar Blue'', Dr. Chris Havel in ''Offspring'', and the leading role of Zane Malik in the SBS series '' East West 101''. He is also ...

. They have two daughters.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sumarwata, Alin Living people Iranian emigrants to Australia Australian accountants Australian women lawyers Australian people of Indonesian descent Macquarie Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Australian soap opera actresses 20th-century Australian lawyers