Ashleigh's Career Takes Flight

When Hollywood came calling the westside team pitched in

Ellen Mackenzie

She might be rubbing shoulders with Hollywood superstars Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson in her new movie, but Ashleigh Cummings says it couldn’t have happened without the support of her Kiwi castmates from Westside.

The rising star has a key role in the hotly anticipated film The Goldfinch, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. But it was a bittersweet surprise when Ashleigh found out she’d scored the coveted part of Pippa, as it meant leaving her life in New Zealand and her beloved role as Cheryl West in the hit Three drama.

“What the Westside team did for me was amazing,” says the 26-year-old when she catches up with the Weekly.

“I loved being part of the show but they knew about my audition for the film. They said, ‘On the off chance you get the role, what we’ll do is turn your three months of shooting into five weeks to wrap before filming for The Goldfinch starts.’

“That was such a huge task for them and the most touching thing anyone’s ever done for me in my career.”