Tammin Sursok

Early life

Sursok was born to musicians Daryl and Julie Sursok in Johannesburg, South Africa. When she was six, her family immigrated to Australia. Early on, Sursok was involved with the Sydney Youth Musical Theatre where she pursued her interests in acting, music, and dance. She also studied at the Trinity Speech and Drama College. Sursok was educated at Ravenswood School for Girls, in Gordon, Sydney, studying speech and drama in her final years of school.

Career

2000–2004: ''Home and Away''

In 1999, after completing Year 10, Sursok acquired an agent and landed her first audition for a role in the long-running Australian drama series Home and Away. She was cast in the role of Dani Sutherland, the rebellious eldest daughter of the Sutherland family who took over the running of the Caravan Park. The actress considered herself lucky to get the part, calling the experience "incredible". In an interview with TeenHollywood she stated, "It was my first audition, so I thought it always worked like that, and you always get your first audition, but that is not the case." Sursok's performance in the role earned her a win for the Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent beating out Caroline Craig, Madeleine West and Karina Brown. Sursok's performance earned her a nomination for the Logie Award for Most Popular Actress, losing out to McLeod's Daughters star Lisa Chappell.

2004–2006: ''Whatever Will Be''

Sursok left Home and Away in 2004 so that she could pursue a music career, and acting opportunities, in the United States. "I'm 21 and it's time to be more creative. It is scary, but I had to leave before I became stale." In 2004, Sursok acknowledged that she was signed to Sony BMG Music Entertainment, confirming reports that recording for her debut studio album had begun.

Sursok's solo album, Whatever Will Be, was released on 22 May 2005, under Sony Music Entertainment with songwriters Savan Kotecha, David Kreuger, Marion Raven, Steve Booker; and producers John Shanks, Per Mangusson and David Kreuger. Whatever Will Be made its debut on the ARIA Albums Chart at number thirteen. During its second week on the charts, it remained at its peak position of #13; however, during its third week, it had a significant drop by 23 spots, landing the album at No. 36. During its fourth week, it fell further landing at No. 43. It ended its run on 20 June, falling completely off the charts and has not charted since. Upon the song's release, it quickly shot to No. 1 on the Australian Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart, becoming the highest charting debut single in years. "Whatever Will Be" was the 98th best-selling single of 2005 in Australia. The third and final single off Whatever Will Be, "It's a Beautiful Thing", quickly debuted on the ARIA Singles chart at No. 30. The song peaked at No. 6, spending 12 weeks on the charts. "It's a Beautiful Thing" became the second most downloaded song in its debut week, after Rob Thomas's "This Is How a Heart Breaks". It also peaked at No. 49 on the Australian Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart, becoming her lowest charting single.

After the success of her album, Whatever Will Be, plans were made to launch Sursok in the UK, but these unexpectedly fell through due to changes at her record label. The title track, "Whatever Will Be", was covered by Vanessa Hudgens for her RIAA-certified debut album, V.

2006–present: Focus on films and television work

After her UK plans fell through, Sursok relocated from Australia to Los Angeles, California in 2006 in order to concentrate on her acting career.

In 2007, after a successful audition, Sursok became the third actress to portray Colleen Carlton on the American soap opera television series, The Young and the Restless. Her debut was quickly met with criticism from a number of The Young and the Restless viewers. Despite the negativity, she received comparable positive viewer feedback. "The fans have been really great." In preparation for the role, Sursok tried to catch up on Colleen's history. "I watched the last six months of episodes," she said. "My boyfriend used to date a girl who was obsessed with Y&R, so he knew everything about it and brought me up to speed, as well." Sursok earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Colleen the following year. After two years in the role, Sursok departed causing the writers to kill off Colleen. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest in October 2009, Sursok said it was difficult to pursue outside projects and appear on The Young and the Restless as well. Her departure was a mutual decision between Sursok and the showrunners.

In 2009, Sursok starred in the Nickelodeon made-for-television musical film Spectacular! portraying the role of Courtney, the lead singer in a high school choir which is fading in popularity. Sursok recorded over three tracks for the film's soundtrack, which debuted at No. 44 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack, recorded in 2008, was released on 3 February 2009, with Sursok appearing on seven songs on the album, including two solos. The soundtrack peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200. Sursok also appears in the 2009 feature films Crossing Over and Albino Farm.

From July 2010 to January 2011, Sursok had a recurring role on the Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana. She appeared in eight episodes. In 2010, Sursok was cast in ABC Family's adaptation of the Sara Shepard teen mystery book series, Pretty Little Liars. Sursok was cast as Jenna Marshall, a teenage girl who is left blind after a prank gone wrong. The series premiered in June that same year to over 2.47 million viewers. In June 2013, Sursok announced that she would continue her role as Jenna through her pregnancy.

She played Sarah Corso in the indie film Driving By Braille, directed by Kristina Lloyd and written by Richard H. Moon, released on DVD in May 2013. The story tells of a young woman who relives childhood trauma when she senses her boyfriend is about to propose, and who must sort through the crippling fear and doubt that is holding her back before her past destroys the couple's future.

In 2014, after several reports of Sursok indicating she was returning to music, she released a collaboration with singer Joe Brooks, covering "Say Something" made famous by A Great Big World featuring Christina Aguilera.

In January 2022, Sursok joined the cast of Australian soap opera Neighbours as fashion designer and businesswoman Montana Marcel. Her first appearance was on 13 April 2022.

Personal life

On 24 August 2011, Sursok married her boyfriend, actor, producer, and director Sean McEwen, in Florence, Italy. Sursok signed an exclusive deal with the Australian magazine Woman's Day to publish the couple's wedding photos The couple have two daughters, born in October 2013 and January 2019. Sursok also has three dogs.

On 16 March 2016, Sursok posted a photo of herself as an adolescent on Instagram and revealed that she had been bullied because of her weight. The post was part of her #ThisIsBeautiful hashtag campaign which aims to empower people and change the message around beauty standards. The accompanying post read: For all of you being bullied out there. This is me. Growing up I was overweight and spent most of my adolescence being bullied because of it. I definitely wasn't the popular girl, but it didn't define me. You can be ANYTHING you want to be in your life. It's your choice which path you take. Don't let other people's words give you your self-worth. You are beautiful. I was beautiful. It just took me a long time to love myself. #thisisbeautiful

In 2019, Sursok became an American citizen; however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she—along with McEwen and their daughters—returned to Australia after being offered a movie role based in Brisbane in 2021, quarantined, and stated in an interview in March 2022 on The Morning Show that she had "accidentally" moved back to Australia.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Albums

Soundtrack albums

Singles

Other appearances

Music videos

Awards

References

References

1. Eades, Chris. (16 December 2021). "Y&R Alum Tammin Sursok Shares Her Emotional Family Reunion". Soaps in Depth.
2. Radish, Christina. (6 March 2009). "Our Spectacular! interview with Tammin Sursok". TeenHollywood.
3. "The Young and the Restless Actor – Tammin Sursok". AtomicOnline.
4. [[#refmercado. Mercado 2004]], p. 264.
5. "2001 Logie Awards". Australiantelevision.net.
6. "2004 Logie Awards". Australiantelevision.net.
7. Lyons, Beverley. (15 August 2005). "The Razz: Duet harmonies won't be too close". [[Daily Record (Scotland).
8. Lanskey, Sam. (1 July 2010). "Jenna's Past Career as a Pop Star!". Wet Paint.
9. "Australia Albums Top 50 ---- Issue Date: Monday May 30, 2005". acharts.
10. "Australia Albums Top 50 – Issue Date: Monday June 6, 2005". Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA).
11. "Australia Albums Top 50 / Issue Date: Monday June 13, 2005". Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA).
12. "Australia Albums Top 50 / Issue Date: Monday June 20, 2005". Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA).
13. "More Tammin Sursok Bios & Profiles". FilmBug.
14. Cooney Carrillo, Jenny. (1–7 March 2008). "Tammin's LA story".
15. (7 May 2008). "Home and Away's Tammin Sursok hits Hollywood heights". Herald Sun.
16. (11 April 2008). "Home and Away's Tammin Sursok goes all Young and Restless". The Daily Telegraph.
17. (October 2007). "New Girl in Town".
18. (October 2007). "Nice to Meet You: Tammin Sursok".
19. (6 October 2009). "Comings and Goings".
20. (20 October 2009). "Y&R's Sursok on Her Exit: "It was all a Wirlwind"".
21. (9 June 2010). ""Pretty Little Liars" Stands as ABC Family's No. 1 Series Launch on Record Across Target Demos – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers.
22. Tammin Sursok. (June 6, 2013). "Finally! Don't worry! Still shooting #pll. I wouldn't let you down!".
23. "Driving by Braille". Netflix.
24. (29 March 2014). "Say Something – Single – Joe Brooks & Tammin Sursok". iTunes Store.
25. Houghton, Rianne. (17 January 2022). "Neighbours casts Home and Away and Pretty Little Liars actress in guest role". [[Digital Spy]].
26. Koutsounia, Anastasia. (14 March 2022). "Neighbours reveals who former Home and Away star will be playing in soap". [[Digital Spy]].
27. (20 April 2013). "Tammin Sursok: My romantic Italian wedding!". Woman's Day Magazine.
28. "Tammin Sursok and Sean McEwen". Wedding Italy.
29. "Sean McEwen". IMDb.
30. [http://tamminsursok.net/en/category/sean-mcewan/ Tamminsursok.net] {{Webarchive. link. (4 April 2020 . Tamminsursok.net (9 October 2016). Retrieved 28 October 2016.)
31. (8 October 2013). "Tammin Sursok, Pretty Little Liars Actress, Gives Birth to Baby Girl Phoenix Emmanuel Sursok-McEwen". Us Weekly.
32. Back, Grace. (17 January 2019). "Tammin Sursok Welcomes Second Daughter". In Style.
33. (14 September 2009). "Lonely Tammin Sursok ready to wed". The Daily Telegraph.
34. (17 March 2016). "Tammin Sursok Opened Up About Being Bullied For Her Weight As A Child". BuzzFeed, Inc.
35. "Today was a special day for me. I AM AN AMERICAN CITIZEN!!!!".
36. "Last year I became an American Citizen".
37. "This is my first Memorial Day as an American citizen".
38. (16 March 2022). "Former Home and Away star Tammin Sursok shares family update after 'accidental' development".
39. Harvey, Dennis. (21 August 2014). "Film Review: 'Cam2Cam'". Variety.
40. Nemiroff, Perri. (1 July 2020). "Tom Felton and Tammin Sursok on Making 'Braking for Whales' Like "A Band of Pirates"". [[Collider (website).
41. Scheck, Frank. (24 April 2020). "'Braking for Whales': Film Review". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
42. "Spectacular!".
43. {{cite Ryan
44. "Tammin Sursok – Pointless Relationship".
45. "Tammin Sursok – Whatever Will Be".
46. "Tammin Sursok – "It's a Beautiful Thing" (Official Video)".
47. "Joe Brooks – Till My Heart Stops Beating".
48. According to the source, "Sursok played lovable Dani Sutherland on Home And Away for four years, winning the most popular new talent Logie in 2001." See Jonathon Moran, "[http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22228748-5001026,00.html Sursok's US break on Restless]," ''The Daily Telegraph'' (12 August 2007).
49. "Tammin Sursok {Emerald Eyes} " Blog Archive " 2013 New York City International Film Festival". Tammin Sursok {Emerald Eyes}.