Leah Purcell

Acting

Leah Purcell

Born 1970-08-14 · Murgon, Queensland, Australia

Acting credits

The Proposition poster
7.0

In 1880s Australia, a lawman offers renegade Charlie Burns a difficult choice. In order to save his younger brother from the gallows, Charlie must hunt down and kill his older brother, who is wanted for rape and murder. Venturing into one of the Outback's most inhospitable regions, Charlie faces a terrible moral dilemma that can end only in violence.

The Proposition

2005

My Mistress poster
5.1

After the death of his father, a 16-year-old boy struggles with anger and instability, distancing himself from his mother. His search for escape leads him to a lonely dominatrix living nearby, a woman accustomed to giving and controlling pain. Drawn to her world, he seeks both solace and love, while she finds herself pulled into a bond that neither expected but both need.

My Mistress

2014

Jindabyne poster
5.4

Outside the Australian town of Jindabyne, local man Stuart Kane is on a fishing trip with friends when they discover the body of a murdered girl.

Jindabyne

2006

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson poster
5.9

In 1893, heavily pregnant Molly Johnson and her children struggle in isolation to survive the harsh Australian landscape after her husband left to go droving sheep in the high country. One day, she finds a shackled Aboriginal fugitive named Yakada wounded on her property. As an unlikely bond begins to form between them he reveals secrets about her true identity. Realizing Molly’s husband is actually missing, new town lawman Nate Clintoff starts being suspicious and sends his constable to investigate.

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson

2022

Lantana poster
6.7

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

Lantana

2001

Zac Power poster
NR

Zac Power’s position as the top teenage spy is compromised after a brilliant new agent arrives. When his recklessness allows an ostentatious supervillain to steal a high-tech weapon, Zac is forced to confront his own flaws and team up with his rival.

Zac Power

2027

David Stratton: A Cinematic Life poster
4.6

A compelling personal journey with David Stratton, as he relates the fascinating development of our cinema history. David guides us from his boyhood cinema experience of Australia in England, where he saw the first images of this strange and exotic landscape via the medium of film, to his migration to Australia as a ‘ten pound pom’ in 1963 and onto his present day reflections on the iconic themes that run through our cinematic legacy. All of this reflects a passionate engagement in a uniquely Australian medium. Parallel and at the heart of the series is the story of an industry whose growing pains David has witnessed over a lifetime. Alongside David, the protagonists of this history are the giants of Australian cinema – both behind the camera and in front of it.

David Stratton: A Cinematic Life

2017

Shayda poster
6.8

Shayda, a young Iranian woman living in Australia, finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz, she tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their life, stoking Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran.

Shayda

2023

Somersault poster
6.3

Australian teenager Heidi is left with little choice but to leave home after she's caught red-handed with her mother's boyfriend. With few options, Heidi ends up in Jindabyne, a tourist community. Upon meeting Joe at a bar, she pursues a relationship with him and tries to find something resembling a normal home life. Heidi makes small strides by getting a job and finding a place to stay, but her relationship with Joe must overcome more than its share of hurdles.

Somersault

2004

Last Cab to Darwin poster
6.8

Rex is a loner, and when he's told he doesn't have long to live, he embarks on an epic drive through the Australian outback from Broken Hill to Darwin to die on his own terms; but his journey reveals to him that before you can end your life, you have to live it, and to live it, you've got to share it.

Last Cab to Darwin

2015

No artwork available
NR

Narrated by Pamela Rabe, go behind the bars of the emotional goodbye and how Wentworth effected the cast in their careers and life with stories from the celebrated Wentworth cast.

Wentworth: Unlocked

2021

Mary: The Making of a Princess poster
4.3

This is the story of a fateful encounter and the life-changing choices that led to one of Australia's and the world's most recognisable and romantic love stories.

Mary: The Making of a Princess

2015

No artwork available
NR

The official inside story from the cast and exclusive untold secrets from one of the most beloved Australian series in television history.

Wentworth Behind the Bars 3: A Look at the Final Season

2020

Wentworth: Behind the Bars poster
NR

Before the launch of Wentworth's highly anticipated eighth season on Fox Showcase, let's take a journey back through seven seasons of gripping, unstoppable drama.

Wentworth: Behind the Bars

2020

Tomorrow poster
5.0

Kirsten is a 14 year old girl who lives in an isolated Australian country town. Laura is a businesswoman on her way to Brisbane. When their journeys coincide Kirsten and Laura make a connection that runs deeper than their differences.

Tomorrow

2009

Somewhere in the Darkness poster
9.3

In this Australian drama, a department store collapses, trapping an old man (Barry Jenkins) and a young boy (Rowan Whitt) underneath. In hopes of keeping the child calm, the man tells him a series of folk tales which teach a moral lesson while they entertain. Somewhere In The Darkness received its world premier at the 1999 Slamdance Film Festival in the United States; it was later screened at Australia's Sydney Film Festival the same year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Somewhere in the Darkness

1999

No artwork available
9.0

An unsolved crime, a retiring cop and a dying crim determined not to take his regrets to the grave.

Lennie Cahill Shoots Through

2003

Looking Black poster
NR

Looking Black explores the impact of Indigenous storytelling at the ABC, and how it has created deep and honest conversations about the experience of First Nations journalists, storytellers, and presenters.

Looking Black

2022

No artwork available
7.0

Performer and writer Leah Purcell talks with five dynamic Indigenous women - Rosanna Angus, Kathryn Hay, Deborah Mailman, Cilla Malone and Tammy Williams - about what it means to be Aboriginal in Australia today. In a series of individual interviews and at one lively dinner party, the women share their experiences and opinions with extraordinary candour. The result is a passionate and challenging exploration of black identity and a celebration of five very different lives.

Black Chicks Talking

2002

Behind the camera

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson poster
5.9

In 1893, heavily pregnant Molly Johnson and her children struggle in isolation to survive the harsh Australian landscape after her husband left to go droving sheep in the high country. One day, she finds a shackled Aboriginal fugitive named Yakada wounded on her property. As an unlikely bond begins to form between them he reveals secrets about her true identity. Realizing Molly’s husband is actually missing, new town lawman Nate Clintoff starts being suspicious and sends his constable to investigate.

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson

2022

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson poster
5.9

In 1893, heavily pregnant Molly Johnson and her children struggle in isolation to survive the harsh Australian landscape after her husband left to go droving sheep in the high country. One day, she finds a shackled Aboriginal fugitive named Yakada wounded on her property. As an unlikely bond begins to form between them he reveals secrets about her true identity. Realizing Molly’s husband is actually missing, new town lawman Nate Clintoff starts being suspicious and sends his constable to investigate.

The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson

2022

Here Out West poster
4.7

A baby is kidnapped from hospital by a desperate grandmother. Her flight sets off a chain of events that bring together complete strangers over the course of one day.

Here Out West

2022

No artwork available
7.0

Performer and writer Leah Purcell talks with five dynamic Indigenous women - Rosanna Angus, Kathryn Hay, Deborah Mailman, Cilla Malone and Tammy Williams - about what it means to be Aboriginal in Australia today. In a series of individual interviews and at one lively dinner party, the women share their experiences and opinions with extraordinary candour. The result is a passionate and challenging exploration of black identity and a celebration of five very different lives.

Black Chicks Talking

2002