Seven years ago Nikki Webster captured Australian hearts at the Sydney Olympics. Now a 20-year-old woman, Nikki is branching out by taking on some very challenging and confronting roles. She’s currently appearing on stage in the hit musical Rent, and recently performed at Sydney’s Sleaze Ball alongside Human Nature’s Toby Allen. When she’s not in her homeland, Nikki’s been busy carving out a singing and songwriting career in Los Angeles. We caught up with her in the US to see how Tinseltown is treating her.

The singing sensation shows us around her second home.

Q: So what made you decide to head to LA?
A: I’m here for songwriting. I’ve been working with and meeting producers, trying to figure out the direction I’d like to go with my music. I work with the producers who work with Kelly Clarkson, and the management companies that work with them. I also wanted to enjoy the US summer before heading home to start the musical Rent.

Q: You’ve been coming back and forth for how long?
A: I first came to LA by myself when I turned 18, after Dancing With The Stars. I spent time discovering myself and finding out what direction I wanted to go in with my music. I spent six months focusing on songwriting, then last year I was there for five months. I went to Nashville and met some writers.

Q: Did you meet Keith Urban while you were there?
A: [Laughs] No, I didn’t. But I saw Nicole Kidman at the supermarket Wild Oats; she always shops there, apparently. Nashville is the home of songwriting, and learning the art and craft of it. I’m not a country-music singer, but country songs are so descriptive in how they tell a story. It’s great to learn that way. Pop songs are all about having a hook and a catchy phrase, whereas country songs are all about telling a story. Instead of paying to go to a university, I’m learning from some of the best producers and songwriters in Nashville and LA.

Q: Have you had any funny or surreal LA moments in your time here?
A: I met Jamie Foxx and the rapper called Young Buck at a Hollywood service station once. Young Buck started talking to me and I had no idea who he was. I thought he was just some guy trying to pick me up. The next thing he asked me over to talk to his friend this car and it was Jamie Foxx. He asked me what I did and I told him I was a singer. They wanted me to hang out with them, but I didn’t.

Q: So who are your mates here in LA?
A: Because I’m back and forth a lot, and I come here to work, a lot of my friends are acquaintances. I see Justin Melvey, Kym Johnson and an Australian make-up artist Glenn Nutley. Everyone keeps to themselves because they’re mainly here to focus on work. It’s great to have your Aussie friends because it reminds you of home. But you’re here to get immersed into the American life, so you really have to get to know Americans, their families and their friends. Otherwise you get stuck in the whole “I’m an Australian living in LA with Australians” thing, and that’s all you know.

Q: Do you want to make it in the US?
A: Maybe. I mean, over here I’m not known and there’s 20,000 20-year-old blonde chicks like me doing the same thing as me. I guess my only thing is that I have the stuff I’ve done back in Australia, which is a little bit of credibility. But it doesn’t really count over here.

Q: What’s it like trying to make it in the US?
A: It’s all about who you know, networking and sticking with it. It’s definitely a dream to make it over here, but I’m going to take it as it comes. Once I get my songs happening I can start shopping around and see the effect they’re having on people. It’s kind of an exciting time and it’s indecisive too. There’s no plan; it’s seeing where the next couple of years go.

Q: How is your relationship with your partner from Dancing With The Stars, Sasha Farber? Are you still dating?
A: I don’t really know what he’s up to. I’m focusing on my career at the moment. He’s travelling as well. We’re still good friends, but we both live pretty hectic lives.

Q: Are you dating anyone special at the moment?
A: [Laughs] A few. So no, I’m not dating anyone special. I’m liking the single life and having fun, and not being in a relationship is great.

Q: Are you going to do the LA dating thing then?
A: I’ll definitely take up offers, for sure. Why not? Life’s too short. They’re very forward here and I always get picked up at the supermarket, even though no-one knows me. They ask me if I want to come and have dinner with them and I’m like, “You’re the same age as my dad”.

Q: So you’re 20 now. How was it growing up as a teenager in the spotlight?
A: I don’t really think about it. I just think about how lucky I am to still be doing what I’m doing and not to have faded out or ended up in rehab. Performing was something I was always going to do; it just happened at 13, which fast-tracked a lot of things and made things a lot harder, like growing up quickly and dealing with people. I was an easy target for people who thought, “Child star, we can take her for all she’s got.” But I feel blessed to still have that support, and that people still remember me from the Olympics. I never want to discard that or say I don’t want to be known as that little girl, because that was the beginning for me and a lot of people. Some lady came up to me at the airport and said, “You look like someone I know.” I laughed and she said, “Oh, I’ve got it completely wrong, you’re Nikki Webster, I know that laugh.” I didn’t even know I had this laugh. It was hilarious.

Q: Tell us about your latest role, in Rent…
A: I’m doing the show with Anthony Callea, Courtney Act and Tim Campbell. I play Maureen, a lesbian protester, which will be interesting and lots of fun. She has a great monologue called Over The Moon, which is such an incredible piece. I can’t wait to do it. I just want to have fun and be someone different. It starts in November in WA.

Q: Do you feel pressure? It’s such a huge musical.
A: Yeah, there is pressure, especially when your name is up on the poster. There’s pressure to deliver a quality that the audience expects and is paying for. I hope they go away and love it or, if they know nothing about the musical, I hope they walk away understanding it.

Q: So with all these high-energy performances night after night, do you have a fitness regimen?
A: Not really. My body’s changing, and I’m trying to get a grasp on it and figure out what’s happening. But I don’t do anything other than just try to eat healthily and go to the gym. I still like to have fun and eat whatever I want to, but I try to stop myself some of the time.

Q: So you’re not obsessed with health and fitness like most people in LA?
A: Not at all. Hopefully that will rub off on me!

Source: Woman’s Day
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