Taking on an icon I'M SO REDDY FOR THIS!

IT’S THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME FOR TILDA

- Karyn Henger

She doesn’t scare easily, but Tilda Cobham-Hervey admits meeting her idol, the late singer, author, actress and activist Helen Reddy, was one of the most terrifying times of her life. The young Australian talent plays Helen in the new movie, I Am Woman, but didn’t meet her until after filming was completed.

“It was at the G’Day USA gala where Helen was being honoured, and right before I met her I’d had to go on stage and give a speech about her,” the 26-year-old tells the Weekly.

“I was terrified. I’d fallen in love with her and she was my hero. I just spent the whole time thinking, ‘Oh, you do hold your hand like that’, or, ‘You do put your shoulder like that’, and it was like I was some really crazy stalker that had just spent months learning everything about her. I had to keep remembering that she didn’t know me.”

Until starring in the biopic, Tilda had acted in a handful of films, including Hotel Mumbai and coming-of-age movie 52 Tuesdays – and says playing the role was both daunting and enlightening.