When she was in year 10, Olivia Hargroder's careers teacher told her she could never be an actor.
"But I proved him wrong," the 23-year-old tells Mamamia with a peal of laughter.
Boy, did she. Olivia not only got into one of the most prestigious and well-known acting schools in the country - the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) - but she has just scooped the lead role in a "very big" feature film. She can't reveal what the film is right now because it is currently under wraps, but she does disclose that the audition process took almost a year due to the pandemic.
"They started with 50 [people] and got down to 20," Olivia's mum, Kerry, tells Mamamia. "And then eventually she was lucky number one."
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Olivia is used to people telling her "No" and just as used to proving them wrong. When she was a baby, doctors told her parents that Olivia would never walk or talk because she was born with Down Syndrome that would severely impair her.
Yet, as Kerry attests with a laugh, Olivia "never stops" talking. "She's just very, very determined. And she's not afraid to work hard," the proud mother says of her daughter. "She's a force of nature, this girl."
As a child, Olivia says she was very energetic and happy, but admits there were challenges. "I did have a few problems with my knees. Sorry, I get a bit emotional about this, but my knees… sorry, I’m getting emotional now," she says, tearfully. "Mum can tell you about it."
"Olivia’s always loved to dance, always loved to perform. But her knees were kind of made at the wrong factory," Kerry explains. "And so she spent a lot of her high school in a wheelchair. And she then managed, when she'd stopped growing, she had very radical surgery on both legs.
"We recently sent a video of her dancing and winning a gold medal for her dance to her surgeon, and he said, 'Oh my gosh. I was just hoping to make you walk, I didn’t expect your knees to be able to do that.' So dancing has been a big dream for Olivia. It never seemed that she would actually achieve it.
"But I think Olivia’s success is really that she worked so hard. And she worked so hard at her rehab. And two weeks ago, she was in Sydney dancing at the Opera House with the Australian Ballet."
With her motto "Dream, Believe, Achieve", Olivia has reached heights and goals that many people twice her age have not. In Year 12, she addressed a national education conference about what people with Down Syndrome are capable of. Not long after, she was speaking at World Down Syndrome Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York - the only Australian and the only student invited to speak.
That same year, she was a finalist for the young Australian of the Year for Queensland (where she lives with her family). She has gone on to win gold at the Special Olympics, produce and star in her own short film See Me For Who I Am, and spoken at World Down Syndrome Congress in Glasgow, where she met researchers from the university after her speech.
"It was absolutely incredible," Olivia says. "I loved it so much."
Olivia has also spearheaded a campaign to have athletes with Down Syndrome included in the Paralympics. As Kerry explains, it's a campaign that has been quiet of late, purely because it is "pretty much over the line."
"Five years ago, Olivia was really driving it hard and it was very new," Kerry says. "But we've heard recently that it's just a matter of time now. Down Syndrome now has its own category in school sport, which is so important. When Olivia was a competitive swimmer, because that was the only sport she could do because of her knees, at the time, people with Down syndrome could only compete as intellectually impaired. But of course, she was physically impaired as well. So she was always so close to the times, but just not quite.
"She didn't get to go to different sort of competitions or nationals. Whereas now, it's so lovely to see that kids coming up through school with Down syndrome and other conditions have a new category."
This category is in international sport as well, and so it's a "hop skip" away from the Paralympics.
As a social change activist, representation is a big part of what Olivia stands for. That's why she is very proud and pleased to be one of the ambassadors for the inaugural Festival of FUN, which is Australia's first and only all-inclusive festival. It will be held on Sunday October 9 in the Gold Coast - and, of course, everyone is welcome.
"I would definitely say the reason I wanted to be one of the ambassadors was because I saw how much hard work that has been put into it. I really want to be a part of it. And I just love the community of it. It seems to be such an amazing program," Olivia tells Mamamia. "I'm going to be performing a contemporary solo at the festival of FUN too, which I'm really excited about."
Kerry pipes up. "And you're introducing the talent quest, aren’t you?"
"I am!"
Several young fans and people with Down Syndrome write to Olivia to tell her how much of an inspiration she is to them. When asked how that makes her feel, Olivia chokes up with emotion.
"I really do care. A lot. I'm a voice for people with no voice. I'm also a voice for people with Down Syndrome," she says.
"I think that people who've gotten a new diagnosis, prenatal diagnosis, people with really young kids with Down Syndrome... they actually feel really encouraged by Olivia. They go, 'Well, hang on. What's the big deal? She can do it, my kid can do it'," Kerry adds.
"And that's really what we'd both like to say to people. Don't be limited, like that careers teacher, 'Oh, you can't do that.' Just go for it."
Olivia is in full agreement.
"Just go for your dreams," she says. "You never know what could happen."
Olivia is an ambassador for Festival of FUN, Australia's first all-inclusive festival. You can buy tickets at festivaloffun.com.au.
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