This document is part of the Ocean Girl Archive — Last update: 2010-09-11 — source — meta
By her own estimation, Marzena Godecki is a very lucky girl.
The stunning 15-year-old is starring in Channel 10’s children’s series Ocean Girl, shot in Queensland’s Daintree rainforest and on the Great Barrier Reef.
Marzena is watches by millions of children in about 20 countries including Britain, America and various nations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Most actors wait years for that sort of exposure so how did a Year 10 student from Melbourne beat hundreds of other hopefuls for the role of the Ocean Girl, Neri?
“I just went along to the audition and was lucky enough to be chosen,” she said simply.
Marzena took up dancing classes when she was five. Her family had just moved to Melbourne from Puland pursuing a secure future and Marzena begged her mother for classes so she could make friends.
“I met another girl who was going to dance classes so, of course, I wanted to go too so I could meet other girls my age,” she said.
“I asked my mother to let me and she finally relented.”
“I took up singing after that and then developed an interest in acting.”
Even so, Marzena, who stars opposite Kerry Armstrong in the $3.5 million series which airs on Ten at 4.30pm on Mondays, certainly doesn’t have stars in her eyes:
While she loves playing Neri, who communicates telepathically with a humpbacked whale named Charley, the role is not something she wants to play for too long.
“This industry is great but I want to keep my options open,” she said.
"I things don’t work out for me, I don’t want to fall flat on my face. So I’ll definitely finish Year 11 and 12 and possibly go to uni after that.
“It’s pretty important to have something to fall back on. I don’t want to end up waiting on tables for a living so I’m getting my priorities right now.”
