The Lowe Down

Actress Sophie Lowe has made a name for herself revelling in controversial roles, and now she’s hit her stride

She may have spent the past few years cutting her teeth in LA like any young Australian actress with talent, but Sophie Lowe isn’t blithely drinking the La-La Land Kool Aid. “I feel like Australians aren’t really afraid to offend people, so I get roles that I can really express myself in and test my abilities,” she says. Her latest role is no exception, in the TV remake of the seminal 1992 film Romper Stomper, which kickstarted Russell Crowe’s career (and its warranted share of controversy in the process). While fictional, the original mirrored racial tensions at the time, with writer and director Geoffrey Wright depicting a group of Anglo-Australian skinheads violently targeting those in Melbourne’s Vietnamese population. This time around, inspired by more recent news headlines, a far-right paramilitary group called Patriot Blue direct their vitriol and violence at the Muslim community. Lowe’s character in the series, Zoe, is married to the organisation’s leader.