Actor, author, writer, advocate — Hannah Diviney is your ultimate creative slashie. After going viral in 2020 with her petition to call for Disney to create a disabled Disney Princess, she’s carved out a space for herself in the media scene, fighting for disability representation in media and the creative arts. Her debut book, I’ll Let Myself In, came out last year, featuring a series of essays about what it means to come of age in a world not built for you. She’s led global campaigns that prompted both Beyoncé and Lizzo to change ablelist lyrics in their songs, and in 2022 made her acting debut in the critically acclaimed Latecomers, which also made her the first disabled Australian to film a sex scene. Her debut film, Audrey, a black comedy about a woman who takes her daughter’s identity when the latter falls into a coma, comes out this month.
For this instalment of Insider Trading, Hannah talks about leaving the business she founded, the unexpected way she landed her second ever acting gig), and the importance of visibility.
Hint: if you’re looking to break into the creative industry, check out Pedestrian JOBS and craft your next move.
Insider Trading: Hannah Diviney
Hi Hannah! Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Hey guys (: Thanks for having me. I’m a big fan of Pedestrian. Honestly I’m a bit of a career chameleon because I wear so many different hats! I’m an author, a writer, an actor, and an advocate. For me, these all come under the banner of being a storyteller who is also as a result of these things a small media personality and burgeoning public figure.
How long have you been in your current role?
It varies. In terms of being a writer, I’ve been doing it professionally on and off since I was 15 when I first worked at Mamamia but I only officially became an author last year with the release of my first book I’ll Let Myself In. More to come…
Advocacy feels like something of a lifetime job because it was modelled to me so well from a young age by my parents and grandparents. They had a pretty firm philosophy about giving back so that’s just always been part of my life. But I would say I started to identify with that title and think of it as work in September 2020, kind of at the height of the pandemic because it was the pandemic that gave me the push I needed to really understand why roles like that are important and what value I could bring to it in terms of making people pay attention and to my community. For acting, I made my acting debut in a SBS digital original show called Latecomers in December 2022 and I kind of been steadily working ever since which is a huge privilege — it doesn’t always happen for actors.
Describe your typical day.
As you can imagine, because of all these roles I don’t really have a typical day. Part of what I love about doing all the things I do is that no two days are the same — I think I’d get really bored if I was just sitting in an office churning out the same work day after day hour after hour week after week. At the moment I’m spending a lot of time travelling for work and doing press for my upcoming film Audrey. I’m developing a lot of projects in the pipeline that I can’t really talk about yet but can’t wait to share with you all when that time comes. It’s a really creative exciting time that looks like me taking some risks and branching out in ways I haven’t done before and trusting my gut. Kind of feels like a power level up. All you need to know is I’m working really hard to tell powerful stories in all sorts of ways.
What’s your favourite part about what you do?
Oh gosh, I can’t choose! Part of why I do so much is because I refuse to be boxed in, to stay in a singular lane. I follow my interests and have built a career out of all my favourite things. I just love telling stories and trying new things and getting to really swing for the fences all the time and challenge myself to grow.
What was the biggest learning curve so far?
The biggest learning curve has been a lot of things.
- Realising what it means to have people pay attention to what you say and do in a way where your words and actions have legitimate power and impact. That also comes with expectations and responsibilities.
- Learning how to run a business as co-founder/former Editor In Chief of Missing Perspectives.
- Getting my education as an actor on the job because I don’t have any formal training.
When you were starting out in your career, what was your dream job? How did you end up in your current role?
It sounds silly but I’ve wanted to be an author since I was four and I also really wanted to be an actor as a kid so my childhood dreams have become my actual career and for that I feel very grateful and lucky. It’s unfolded in unexpected ways and now that I’ve achieved what I thought was out of reach or would take my whole life to succeed in, I have to dream up new ambitions and keep moving the goalposts. My friends and I joke that my sights are now set on world domination but honestly I think a part of it is true. That’s how hungry I am to see transformation and how driven I am.
What’s your advice for people who want to work in your industry / type of role?
Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. The worst thing that can happen is someone saying ‘no’ which leaves you in exactly the same position you were when you started. You have to take risks, put yourself out there. No one’s going to hand anything to you or know, unless you tell them/are visible with what you’re capable of. A job might land in your lap once if you’re lucky, but a career? That takes work and a lot of it — you have to build a you-shaped hole wherever you go no matter how important or high profile the people around you are. But also, don’t be afraid to start in the bottom. Get your body through that door.
If you weren’t doing your current job, what would you be doing?
I’d be an English teacher or run a bookshop like Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail.
As a disability advocate, what is something you want everyone to understand about disability and the workplace?
That disabled people have ambition and that we don’t just want, nor is it good enough for us just to be represented at the ‘mindless’ entry level. We deserve to be in the rooms where money changes hands, where decisions get made and where power is brokered. Building a workforce that excludes 20 per cent of the population is not sustainable or a smart business decision whether you’re listed on the ASX 200 or a small community business. People with disabilities who have the capability, scope and support to work are brilliant employees. We’re highly skilled at time management and organisation, fluent in the language of problem-solving and built to work hard.
You recently stepped back from Missing Perspectives, the media brand you helped found. What have you learnt about saying no to a dream job?
Wow, this is such an interesting question! Stepping back from Missing Perspectives was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make and has painted 2024 for all its wonder with shades of emotional brutality I hadn’t expected or planned for. Leaving behind something you built with blood, sweat and tears can feel like losing a part of you but honestly, I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t. Trusting my gut and prioritising my mental health are always going to be top of mind for me now, as so much has already grown to fill the space the company held in my brain, energy and heart. I’ll always be proud of the work I did there but this next chapter is shaping up to be incredible.
After critical acclaim in your debut series Latecomers, you’re about to star in your first film, Audrey. How did you come to be involved with the project? What’s your process for bringing a character like Nora to life?
I came to be involved with Audrey because of Latecomers, honestly… I was doing press for Latecomers and the producers of Audrey saw me talking on live breakfast TV about being the first person in Australia as far as we know to do a sex scene on television and something about the way I told that story and an early look at one of the episodes convinced the Audrey team that I had the humour they needed! I didn’t have to audition for Norah which is very rare that kind of thing normally only happens to actors who are already successful names and have built up reputations where the name is going to be as much of the thing that sells the movie as anything else so that’s pretty cool. Norah is such a vivid character for me and that’s always what I’m looking for in a story — am I able to be drawn in? Do I care about what happens to them?
She was really accessible through her snark, her sarcasm and her kind of sassy dry humour (all traits that we share). I loved the way that she deals with being the forgotten child in her family dynamic which is a really hilarious subversion of what so many people expect and can end up with if they have disabled kids. Putting on a school uniform and playing 15 again meant a few war flashbacks to my high school days but I honestly relished the chance to build range and flex my acting muscles. I only hope it leads to more (:
Do you have a work uniform?
Not really, it’s generally just comfy stuff like jeans and soft loose clothing.
What’s the most unhinged thing you’ve seen at work we can legally publish?
Probably the 12 hours I spent on set in an adult store – there were A LOT of unhinged things I can’t unsee in there, including unfortunately being at the perfect eye level for certain objects to potentially cause me grievous bodily harm!
Who do you admire in your industry?
Gosh, there are so many people but narrowing it down right now… I think the answer would have to be Taylor Swift, Viola Davis & Chloé Hayden but the list is truly endless.
Describe your inbox in three words.
Chaotic. Intriguing. Endless.
How do you sign off your emails?
Honestly, I’m really boring, I just sign off with “Thanks, Hannah” — you’re making me think I need to get more inventive with this! Hmm…
Find your dream job with Pedestrian JOBS here.
Audrey lands in select cinemas on November 7.
The post Hannah Diviney On Insider Trading: ‘No One Will Hand You Anything Unless You’re Visible’ appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
