WARNING: This article discusses mental health, suicide, and sexual assault. Please do not continue reading if you find these subjects triggering.
Mental health isn’t an easy discussion, quite often seen as “taboo,” but Home and Away actress Jacqui Purvis tells TV WEEK she is hoping to start the conversation with her short film.
It was no coincidence that the premiere of her short film, Voicemails Last Forever, fell on September 14—R U OK day.
“It all began when my friend Bradley confided in me about his mental state and thoughts of suicide. I asked him what I could do since I genuinely wanted to help in some way, and he said, “Oh, I just wish people knew that it wasn’t just the people that you suspect,” the woman told TV WEEK.
“Mental health is still not where it needs to be and is such a taboo subject. Everyone should be at ease discussing their mental health.
“With that in mind, I went home and just started writing. But then it kind of just kept snowballing… before I knew it, I was filming it.”
Jacqui – who wrote, starred and produced the short film – plays the role of a grieving girlfriend following her partner’s suicide alongside fellow Home and Away star Adam Rowland. Its purpose is to portray how friends deal and “come to terms” with such grief.
This isn’t this first time Jacqui has portrayed an emotionally torn persona after her Home and Away character Felicity Newman attempts to overcome a recent drugging and rape.
As an actress, Jacqui admits putting herself in this mindset took “a toll” as the “body doesn’t know you’re lying.”
WATCH: Is someone you love suffering in silence? Here’s what to do | Gus Worland. Article continues after the video.
