Georges Antoni
Natasha Liu Bordizzo is a trooper. The Australian actress was battling a nasty flu when she arrived at the marie claire fashion shoot on a gloomy autumn morning in Dural, north-west Sydney.
But the icy winds didn’t stop her stripping down into a sheer pink full-length gown by Burberry. “It was probably the most painful look to wear because of the temperature, but it was so stunning,” says Bordizzo, who also found a silver lining to her illness.
“I caught the flu while I was filming in New Zealand. I did a car scene with Daniel Radcliffe where we had to yell at each other for two days straight, so I was joking that it’s the best flu I’ve ever had because I got it from Harry Potter. I was savouring every moment.”
Bordizzo, a diehard Harry Potter fan, plays Radcliffe’s ex-girlfriend in the upcoming action comedy Guns Akimbo. Best known for her roles in Detective Chinatown 2 (which is the third-biggest film of all time at the Chinese box office) and The Greatest Showman (as a member of the circus troupe alongside Hugh Jackman), the former law student has come a long way since the day she was scouted at Central train station in Sydney four years ago. “My life has changed exponentially. I don’t even remember much before that day anymore,” admits Bordizzo, who is now 23.
As well as filming Guns Akimbo in New Zealand, Bordizzo’s career has taken her to India, where she filmed Hotel Mumbai with Dev Patel, and remote Western Australia for the Aussie comedy The Naked Wanderer. Next up,she’s heading back to Beijing, where she has a cult following. “When I go to the airport [in China], I need to be picked up by a security guard. Everyone recognises me there now. I feel very welcomed,which is lovely, aside from the weirdness of it,” says Bordizzo, who splits her time between China, LA and Sydney, where her parents still live. “My parents are the most conservative people; Dad drives a library bus for the local community and Mum is a doctor at a nursing home.They can’t fathom the type of life I lead.”
To cope with the “weirdness”of fame, Bordizzo practises martial arts. “Doing taekwondo has given me a mental strength and taught me perseverance. Every time I get up again after being whacked down in a dojo [martial arts hall] translates to wanting to get up again in life,” explains Bordizzo, who is a black belt in taekwondo. Did we mention she’s a trooper?
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