Celebrity Magician: Sigrid Thornton

(Photo: Penny Stephens)

Genuinely surprised to see us are you Sigrid. How would we know?

Sometimes being an award winning actress isn't enough. As a serious thespian, you crave more than a fickle industry will offer you. Your pursuit for artistic excellence has left you feeling shortchanged as the roles for women of a certain age are few and far between. But undeterred, Aussie actress Sigrid Thornton has made a brave and surprising move to fight an ageist entertainment industry by reinventing herself as Asian. It seems she loved Memoirs of a Geisha so much that she decided if you enjoy it, why not be it. I do commend her for taking such a bold move but as host of the show What's Good For You, surely she should know that not only is limiting yourself to one facial expression not such a smart move for an actress, but good roles for Asian actors really are unfortunately almost non-existent. The entertainment industry isn't exactly brimming with enthusiasm when it comes to casting Asians in lead roles. Perhaps she's hoping for an Australian version of Grey's Anatomy (she'd be perfect for the Sandra Oh role) or a sitcom re-imagining of Miss Saigon.

Despite the obstacles an Asian actress faces, Siggy Thornt-Chong hasn't let that worry her if her recent appearance at the TV Week Logie Awards is any indication. It seems she is having a wonderful time as a middle-aged Asian actress; you couldn't wipe the smile of her face. At least it seemed that way. Who knows, maybe her family had just been killed in a head on collision with a delivery van but she was unable to express it facially due to the fact that her mouth no longer closes and her eyes are permanently at half mast. Poor darl. Let's hope there is a sea change in the air for Siggy and someone casts her as Margaret Cho in a made for television movie based on her life. Or she could try her luck as a J-Pop singer. Whatever our little Geisha girl does next, I'm sure, like her face, it will be surprising.

Sigrid in 1999: Now she has the face to match the outfit.