'Crazy, wild, beautiful': Former Kinross student in Bell Shakespeare lights

Still pinching herself after a decade in the professional theatre industry, the 28-year-old former Kinross Wolaroi student once envisioned herself in prestigious productions on unrivalled stages.

Fast-forward to landing roles across five Bell Shakespeare productions - Australia's national theatre company - it's taken sheer persistence and a drove of believers in Miss Cassimatis' corner to be cast in what's no longer a dream.

"The people who were and still are around me, relatives and dear friends, I couldn't have done this without them saying 'yeah, of course you can do this' at every turn," she said.

"Especially to my youngest sister who was subjected to being in plays that I'd put on in the backyard and invite our neighbours over to come and watch.

"Even if it was in some of the smallest independent films, I'd come back home to Orange and mum's cafe regulars on Summer Street would stop me and say 'well done' and 'keep going'.

"I'm eternally grateful for it all."

Now based in Sydney, Miss Cassimatis' acting career was initially ignited after a gap year took her abroad to Europe some 10 years ago.

Inspired after seeing a jaw-dropping Wicked production in London, she wanted to learn from the big Hollywood masters - flying there in a "bold move" to hit the ground running.

She eventually enrolled in a full-time drama program, graduating in 2018 from the Actors Centre Australia (ACA) in Sydney.

"I knew early on that if I was going to do this, to really do this, that there was no doing it halfway and I made that promise to myself back in LA," Miss Cassimatis said.

"I learned how hard you have to work and to understand that quite young, I think it was a really great realisation for me to have from the start.

"If I did it at 50 per cent, I'd get nowhere and get nothing; it was true back then and it's still true today."

She remembers loving the feeling of performing for as long as she can think back, making up stories to deliver them creatively or laughing at television bloopers until her stomach was in knots.

Thinking "that looks really fun" to be a part of, it's still a fun industry to her - but with a lot more depth when it comes to understanding and appreciating the layers it includes.

"I've learned so much more about the actual craft of acting itself, the power we have in storytelling and studying the human condition," she said.

"You're working out what makes people tick and completely throwing yourself into other worlds, and so I think the more inspired I felt during the years, the more I fell more deeply in love with the whole process as opposed to just seeing it as a fun career to have.

"Don't get me wrong, it's still super exciting and it feels like I get to play dress-ups as an adult, but on a deeper level, I've discovered more about the world and myself.

"My mind is constantly expanding in this absolutely crazy, wild and beautiful industry."

Feeling like she'll need "about five lifetimes" to tick everything off her bucket list, plans for the future include featuring in productions with London's Royal Shakespeare Company.

Other big ideas involve a move to the United States to launch a film career and also, to head over to Greece for work one day - a place where she has many relatives.

Some of the best bites of advice to conquer any goal in her life, though, Miss Cassimatis stands by two philosophies.

"I'm a huge believer in what's for you will not go by you, and what goes by was never for you in the first place," she said.

"It means that things that aren't for you won't stick, and if it is for you, it can't miss you.

"The other is being true to yourself and trusting your gut, whether that's around people or with jobs, anything in life; the only choices we tend to kick ourselves over are the ones we didn't take when our guts said 'go for it'."