Natalie Louise Blair (born 16 April 1984) is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Carmella Cammeniti on the Australian television soap opera drama series ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

''.

Early life

Blair was born to professional AFL player John Blair in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland on 16 April 1984. She attended Lourdes Hill College in Hawthorne.

Career

Back in early 2003, Blair auditioned for ''

'' and impressed

casting director In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenp ...

Jan Russ, but she was not cast. Russ contacted Blair six months later and asked her to audition for the role of Carmella Cammeniti. She was cast on the spot as producers needed to fill the gap left by

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem Order of Australia, AM (born 9 November 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, television personality and actress based in Sydney. Goodrem signed a recording contract with Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut studio album ...

's sudden departure. Blair started filming just after she graduated from school. In 2005, Blair won " Most Popular New Female Talent" at the 47th Annual Logie Awards. Blair was also nominated in 2007 for both the Silver Logie and

Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Log ...

. She was again nominated for both awards in 2008. Blair was crowned "Queen of Teen" at the Dolly Teen Choice Awards at Sydney's

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903), Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Islan ...

in 2007. In December 2007, Blair starred in the Spillers Ltd Production of ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' as

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

at the

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

in Shrewsbury. Blair also sang solo and a cappella the first verse of "

Once in Royal David's City Once in Royal David's City is a Christmas carol originally written as a poem by Cecil Frances Alexander. The carol was first published in 1848 in her hymnbook ''Hymns for Little Children''. A year later, the English organist Henry Gauntlett d ...

" at the annual

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

"Carols in the Square" event in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

on 19 December 2007. Blair left ''

'' after five years in 2008. She then moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, but returned home later that year to play chief villain Connie Burns in the feature film ''Stage Fright''. Upon completion of the film, also starring Clare Bowen and Jason Smith, Natalie left Queensland and returned to Los Angeles, California. Blair returned to ''

'' in March 2011 for two episodes. Also in March 2011, Natalie began shooting the feature film ''The Sleeping Warrior'', portraying the character of Safia. The film was set for release in 2012. It is a story that connects Hindu spirituality and Australian aboriginal spirituality. In 2012, Blair returned to Melbourne, Australia to play the lead in the romantic comedy ''The Groomless Bride''. The film also stars underworld figure Chopper Reid.

Personal life

In 2006, after meeting on the set of ''Voodoo Lagoon'', Hoflin was engaged to actor Beau Brady for a year. They quietly separated in January 2007, with their split being confirmed by a ''

'' spokeswoman. The pair reportedly split due to Brady's decision to move to Los Angeles to pursue his career. Blair began a relationship with her ''

'' co-star David Hoflin in 2008. The pair currently live together in Los Angeles. On 10 March 2012, Fiona Byrne of the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' reported the couple were engaged. They were married on 4 January 2013 in Warburton, Victoria.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards & nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blair, Natalie 1984 births Actresses from Brisbane Australian soap opera actresses Living people Logie Award winners People educated at Lourdes Hill College