But the 16-year-old budding actress with flame red hair doesn't intend to play dead for long. With another part as an extra in the television series H2O already out of the water, she has her mind set on the dazzle of the movie set.

Tessa, of Thorneside, said it all started when her step-father suggested she audition for a Bollywood film. She didn't gain a role, but she did gain an agent and V Management has already scored her two extras roles ? roles which she says she gained easily because red hair was popular.

"I've been told that redheads are in and open a lot of doors," she said.

In The Triangle, due for release around May, Tessa plays one of five body doubles and is required to sit in the corner of a ship, a scene which took 15 hours and required elaborate makeup.

Not so in her role in season three of H2O Just Add Water (Saturday morning television) in which she walks across the set, drawing the camera to three of the main actresses in the drama.

"You can see me really clearly. The next thing would be to have a speaking role," Tessa said.

Tessa said she enjoyed the excitement of a production and has already met new people who she chats on line to.

"It's awesome - heaps of fun. You see how it works behind the scenes and the bloopers as they happen," she said.

A student at Wellington Point High School, Tessa said she would study certificate subjects in theatre production, drama and music production as well as studying singing, dancing and acting at Chandler.

Previously, she has played a role in Mates at Birkdale and acted as a dancing fruitcake in a Harvest Rain production.

"I want my acting career to take off. I don't see myself doing anything else," she said.

"She hasn't allowed room for not succeeding. We support her and her dream," Tessa's mother Kim said.