Shareena Clanton

Shareena Clanton
Born
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Alma materWestern Australian Academy of Performing Arts
OccupationActress
Years active2009-present
Known for

Shareena Clanton is an Australian film, television and theatre actress. She is known for her role as Doreen Anderson in the television drama series Wentworth (2013–2017).

Early life and education

Clanton was born in Perth, Western Australia.[1] She is of Wangkatha, Yamatji, Noongar, and Gidja descent through her mother and Cherokee, Blackfoot and African-American descent through her father.[2]

She first studied an Aboriginal Theatre course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), before being accepted into the full-time acting course at WAAPA, from which she graduated in 2010.[1]

Career

In 2009, before graduating from WAAPA, Clanton had her feature film debut playing Leah in the comedy Stone Bros., before being a main cast member in the TV series Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth in 2011.[1]

In theatre, she starred in a main stage performance for the first time in the production of Alan Ayckbourn's My Wonderful Day at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in 2011. This was followed by playing Adrianna in a season of The Comedy of Errors and Ariel in The Tempest with the Shakespeare WA.[1]

Clanton has starred in multiple television series, including Redfern Now (1 episode, 2012) and Wentworth (2013–2017), where she was the youngest member of the main cast.[1]

In 2021 Clanton was announced to appear as Sheila Canning 2 in the soap opera Neighbours.[3] Prior to her first on-screen appearance on the show, Clanton made public her displeasure about working on the show due to racism. According to Clanton, an unnamed cast member taunted her about her ethnicities twice and was not only defended by another cast member, but Clanton's rebuke of the actor resulted in Clanton being told she made the other cast members "uncomfortable".[4] In the weeks that followed, Fremantle Australia began an investigation into these allegations,[5] and at the same time, former cast members Sharon Johal, Meyne Wyatt, Remy Hii, Menik Gooneratne, and Sachin Joab also came forward with allegations of racism.[6] The investigation into the racism scandal was concluded in late 2021, but the findings were not made public.[7]

She appeared as Valerie in seven episodes of Joe vs. Carole in 2022.[8] Also in 2022, Clanton voiced the character of Deb in the animated series Childish Deano.[9]

In 2023, she plays Ruby, a ranger who becomes the main character's friend, in the award-winning miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Amazon Prime Video.[10]

In 2024, Clanton appeared in the second season of The Twelve on Fox.[11] was named as part of the cast for Stan series Invisible Boys.[12]

Other activities

In February 2018 Clanton appeared on an episode of the ABC Television show Q+A, where she said Indigenous voices deserved a place in parliament.[13]

Recognition and awards

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2009 Stone Bros. Leah Feature film
2010 On a Break Donna Short film
2015 Last Cab to Darwin Sally Feature film
2017 Mrs McCutcheon Ange Short film
2018 30 Minutes of Danger Police Detective Short film

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref
2011 Rescue: Special Ops Prisoner 1 TV series, season 3, episode 12: "Break Out"
2012 Redfern Now Lilly TV series, season 1, episode 1: "Family"
2013 Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Lena TV series, season 2, episode 1: "Murder Most Scandalous"
2013–2017 Wentworth Doreen Anderson TV series, 53 episodes (main role)
2016 Ash vs Evil Dead Deputy Polly TV series, season 2, episode 5: "Confinement"
2016–2018 Nowhere Boys: Two Moons Rising Sonia Jarra TV series, 14 episodes (supporting role)
2017 Aussie Rangers Regina Miniseries
2017; 2018 True Story with Hamish & Andy Officer Miles / Nurse Alex TV series, 2 episodes
2018 The Cry Detective Lorna Jones Miniseries, 4 episodes (main role) [14]
2019 Rosehaven Suzanne TV series, season 3, 2 episodes
Glitch Elena Triggs TV series, season 3, episode 3: "First Times"
2021 Neighbours Sheila Canning 2 TV series, 18 episodes (guest role)
Fires Aunt Rose TV series, 2 episodes
2022 Joe vs. Carole Valerie Miniseries, 7 episodes
Childish Deano Deb (voice) Animated TV series, 2 episodes [15]
2023 The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Ruby Miniseries, 3 episodes
2024 The Twelve Kora Gardner Miniseries, season 2, 6 episodes [11]
Last Days of the Space Age Djinda TV series, 2 episodes
2025 Invisible Boys TBA TBA

Self Appearances / Podcast / Video

Year Title Role Notes Ref
2011 Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth Self TV series, 3 episodes
2016 An Audience with the cast of Wentworth Self TV special [16]
2018 The Good Thief Self Podcast, 1 episode [17]
2018 Q+A Panelist TV series, 1 episode
2019 Smart Arts Self Podcast, 1 episode [18]
2020 MTC Audio Lab: The Age of Ignorance is Over Self Podcast, 1 episode [19]
2021 AWAYE! Self Podcast, 1 episode [20]
Moorditj Mag Podcast Self Podcast, 1 episode [21]
7:30 Self TV series, 1 episode [22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Shareena Clanton". Wentworth. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015.
  2. ^ Quinn, Karl (6 April 2021). "Neighbours racism claim: Indigenous actor Shareena Clanton says set was 'unsafe'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. ^ Lee, Jess (29 March 2021). "Neighbours to introduce a second Sheila Canning as Wentworth star appears on Ramsay Street". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  4. ^ Burke, Kelly (7 April 2021). "Neighbours actor allegedly removed from set after complaints of racism by Indigenous actor Shareena Clanton". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Neighbours: Independent review launched over racism claims". BBC News. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  6. ^ Om, Jason (19 April 2021). "More allegations of racism from former Neighbours actors". ABC News. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Neighbours concludes racism investigation ahead of final episodes". Digital Spy. 14 March 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  8. ^ Slatter, Sean (8 September 2021). "Strong Australian presence in NBCUniversal's 'Joe Exotic' series". IF Magazine. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  9. ^ Boland, Bray (7 November 2022). "Nova 100's Deano Thomas releases Childish Deano animated series". Radio Today. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  10. ^ Warrier, Vishnu (30 July 2023). "The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart cast list: Who stars in Prime Video's new miniseries?". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  11. ^ a b Slatter, Sean (31 August 2023). "Frances O'Connor to join Sam Neill in second season of 'The Twelve' as new cast unveiled". IF Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  12. ^ Rigden, Clare (12 March 2024). "FIRST LOOK: What to expect from series filming in WA". PerthNow. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Q&A: Shareena Clanton tears into government over Indigenous record". The Guardian. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Australian Television: The Cry: cast". www.australiantelevision.net. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  15. ^ Sullivan, Josie (12 December 2022). "Childish Deano's Sugar Hits". FilmInk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Airdate: An Audience with the cast of Wentworth | TV Tonight". 27 April 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Episode 5 - Shareena Clanton - The Good Thief (podcast)". Listen Notes. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  18. ^ "SmartArts - 24 October 2019 - SmartArts (podcast)". Listen Notes. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Great Australian Speeches: Shareena Clanton's The Age of Ignorance is Over". Listen Notes. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Yhonnie Scarce's Missile Park and Shareena Clanton on experiencing racism on set". Listen Notes. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  21. ^ "The Moorditj Mag Podcast: Ep #43 - Moorditj Mag Podcast". Listen Notes. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  22. ^ More allegations of racism from former Neighbours actors | 7.30, 19 April 2021, retrieved 1 December 2023