SERAH HENESEY
by Sherif Awad
Born and raised in Australia, actress,
anchorwoman and model Serah Henesey comes from a Turkish descent. With her
Turkish alias Didem Erol, she has risen to fame across Turkey since she became
the Miss Turkey in 1999. Serah then became a TV star after co-starring in the biggest
sitcoms in Turkey like Avrupa Yakasi and Yine de asigim.“These
series were bigger than Friends in Turkey”, remembered Serah who was awarded
Best Actress for her TV works before travelling to work in the UK, Germany and
the Netherlands until she settled down in Los Angeles. “Turkey had a whole
different culture and environment but I needed to expand my career. I always
wanted to make international films although I was one of the biggest stars of
my generation. I was on the front cover of the newspaper every day along with
many TV appearances. And so, I wanted to divert my career into an international
and American one although it is very hard and competitive”
In the US, Serah not only
co-starred in leading TV series like Entourage and Ray Donovan, she
shared the silver screen with great and renowned actors like Jackie Chan in The
Accidental Spy, Val Kilmer in Fake Identity and John
Cusack/Morgan Freeman in The Contract.
Serah also presented The
Hollywood File, an entertaining and informative guide for film lovers
produced by Blue Mask Productions. The show comprises interviews with A-list
actors, directors and producers with red carpet and premieres within the film
industry in Los Angeles. “All of these top actors very friendly on set.
However, working with Freeman was very intimidating since he is the voice of God”,
laughs Serah who used to have an early crush on Val Kilmer like many young
women of her generation who saw him in Top Gun and The Doors. “I
had one scene with Val in Fake Identity where I play a spy who takes his
character to a safe house where I must make him getting showered and dressed. Once
the camera rolled, and Val entered the set, I jokingly told him that I took
this role to see him naked. And Val replied in British accent. Sweetie,
darling, I accepted that role because I thought I was going to get you naked. Everybody
was laughing on set…”.
In Europe and Turkey where Serah
used to get several offers given her filmography where she did action, comedy,
kickboxing and period dramas with different accents. But in Hollywood, in most
cases, actors and actresses must go to casting calls for new films.
Look for Serah in The Trouble
(2020) along with William McNamara, Tom
Sizemore and Alison Eastwood.
