Saskia Burmeister has scored the main role of Erica Yurkon in the hottest film of the year — Hating Alison Ashley. DOLLY grabbed Saskia for a quick chat about what it's like to star in a film and dance with Orlando Bloom!

Interview by Christine Knight

Did you read DOLLY when you were growing up?
I actually sort of started in DOLLY magazine. It was my magazine when I was a teenager. I used to enter all the competitions and I was a finalist in the Clean & Clear face of the year. I also did a promotional thing for DOLLY called A Day in the Life of a DOLLY Reader which involved a few days of filming and hanging out with pretend "friends" — it was really fun!

How did you go on to score parts in movies?
My first role in a feature was in The Pact, an Australian film with Sigrid Thornton. I then got a role in Ned Kelly, followed by an American TV movie called The Junction Boys, after which I flew down to Melbourne to shoot the TV series Wicked Science. Finally, I scored my first feature role, in Hating Alison Ashley.

How did you cope with being on TV while you were at school?
I got to the stage where I kept very quiet about acting. I didn't want to seem like I was boasting, so I'd just tell my close friends and that would be it. Occasionally someone would recognise me off TV and I didn't want to talk about it because I didn't want to seem full of myself. I was two months from finishing my HSC when I got the role in Ned Kelly. Unfortunately I had to leave school to do the role, but it was a role I couldn't pass up, with Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom. I was prepared to go back to school straight away and finish, but I've kept working.

Okay, tell us about Orlando and Heath …
They're adorable! I really liked working with Orlando and Heath. Heath is very giving as an actor. He was very open, very available to talk about the scene and to discuss whether I wanted to try something else. And I found him very down to earth. It was a very wonderful surprise to find that he was so humble for someone who's such a celebrity. He had a very Aussie spirit.

And Orlando was very fun! We had to do a lot of Irish dancing together for the film and dance lessons, and Orlando's actually a very good dancer! So we were prancing around the room, doing spins and turns, having a right old laugh, and in one of the rehearsals he spun me around and bent me backwards and because I was wearing a corset, I couldn't move, I couldn't bend, and he was like, "Can you bend a little bit further Saskia?" and I was like, "Kinda not really!" so we tried it again and he bent me backwards and I gently fell to the ground! Orlando was like, "I'm so sorry, are you alright!" I couldn't believe I fell on the floor in front of all those people — and Orlando Bloom! He cracked me up, and he was such a gentleman.

How did Hating Alison Ashley come about?
I read the script and loved it. I thought Erica was a fantastic character and one that I really wanted to play. I'm probably the one person in the world who didn't read the book when I was a teenager. Somehow I happened to miss it! I read the script first, and loved it, so I went out and got the book and read it too.

Did you relate to Erica?
One of the reasons I was really attracted to playing Erica was because to me she represents every teenager and the journey that she goes through is so relatable, for young girls in particular. They need to be accepted and feel like they want to be just like the popular beautiful girls, and certainly during my teens, at certain times, I could relate to this. But we also have differences — such as I obviously dress differently to Erica — she's very grungy. After the film, I think I overloaded on wearing pink to get back to my girliness!

How did you and Delta get along?
Delta and I got along great. I really enjoyed working with Delta. She was great, particularly in the rehearsals. We spent three weeks rehearsing, discussing the scrip, getting to know each other and developing the friendship that needs to resonate throughout the script, even though Erica, for a large part of it, hates Alison, she really does want to be friends with her. Delta and I would sit in our trailors and read magazines in our down periods, and giggle and tell jokes. I think we bonded over the long hours we spent on set. We'd start at some ungodly hour in the morning, like 4am, and finish at nine at night. The time goes so much quicker when you’ve got someone there you can laugh away the time with.

Did you find it hard to hate "Alison"
I actually found it really difficult to act like I didn't like Delta when I was being Erica and she was being Alison, because Delta is so likable, so sweet and caring, and I would be about to do a scene where I knew I had to be mean to her and I would appologise to her before hand and say, "Look, this is a really awful scene and Erica has to be so mean to Alison", and that was my struggle during the film! I'd have to say awful things, then when they yelled, "Cut", I'd run back over and say, "I'm so sorry! Let's hug and make up."

What was your favourite scene to film?
Erica is very grungy, and I was living in these clothes and mannerisms for a couple of months, so my favourite scene was one towards the end that was a dream sequence, where Erica is walking down the red carpet, and she's got all these screaming fans around her, and she's got this fabulous Dior-inspired tangerine puffy dress. I had my hair all done and make-up and heels — and normally I like feminine clothes, but for Erica, it was fantasy to dress like that, so that was my favourite scene, to dress up and to have my make-up done!

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