The Leishman legacy:

Molly Leishman stars in a new local series about a teenage girl who moves in with her aunt’s dirt-biking Westie family after a tragic accident. She tells Sarah Nealon what’s in store and how her upbringing gave her a good insight into the world of televis

Molly Leishman enjoys a taste of wheel life in her new drama series.

West Auckland is once again the setting for a local drama but, unlike Outrageous Fortune and Westside, this new offering is aimed at a younger audience. Called Wilde Ride, it stars Molly Leishman as Georgia, a 16-year-old Canterbury show jumper with Olympic ambitions whose life takes a drastic turn when her parents and her horse are killed in an accident. This new six-part family drama was created by Justin Harwood, the brains behind web series High Road. In the opening episode of Wilde Ride, newly orphaned Georgia is taken in by her aunt’s family, the Wildes, a dirt-biking family of four who live in the west Auckland suburb of Henderson.

Danielle Mason (High Road) plays Georgia’s aunt Heather Wilde and Kirk Torrance (Outrageous Fortune, Filthy Rich) is Georgia’s mechanic uncle, Tom Wilde.

Georgia ends up swapping show jumping for dirt biking – all the while grieving for her parents and her horse.

The role puts Leishman front and centre of Wilde Ride.

“It did feel like a huge responsibility to do Georgia justice and the grief she must be going through with losing her parents,” Leishman says.

While she has experience with horses, she wasn’t familiar with dirt biking and spent a day learning the basics of the sport alongside other Wilde Ride actors.

“We were taught by this guy who was a pro in motocross,” says Leishman.

“We went from knowing absolutely nothing about bikes to hooning around on the training course. We got the low-down on how to ride them. We used stunts (stunt people) for most of the show but we rode on and rode off and did little bits here and there. It’s not every day that you learn how to ride a motocross bike.”

Nineteen-year-old Leishman describes

Wilde Ride as, “A good quality show made with a lot of love”.

She says she admires her character’s go-getter attitude and her ability to make the most of a tough situation.

“Georgia has no hesitation in getting on the bike and hanging out with everyone and giving it a real go,” says Leishman. “It was hugely empowering to play a bit of a bad ass role. There was no air of, ‘I can’t do this’.”

Leishman is the middle child of radio and television personality Mark Leishman and his wife Jo Raymond. The couple share a TV production business and have two other children – Paddy, 23, a musician, and Rosie, 14.

Mark Leishman has had a long career in TV, presenting a wide range of shows including Wonder Dogs and Top Town. He now co-presents Golf World with Laura McGoldrick. He took over the role from his brother, Phillip, who died five years ago.

“I come from quite a creative family,” says Molly Leishman. “We’ve done all the plays and whatnot at school.

“I definitely looked up to my parents in terms of their careers. They’ve been really successful with how they’ve done in the industry, and I had such an incredible childhood through it.

“It was always different and fun and exciting. I think that sort of set me up to not be scared of it and not be intimidated by the quite daunting world of television and film.”

Leishman made her TV debut at age 11 when she appeared in a cornflakes advert.

This led to more TV work including roles on The Cul De Sac and Agent Anna, where she played the daughter of Robyn Malcolm’s character.

While acting is her passion, Leishman is also fascinated with design and is two thirds of the way through a Bachelor of Design Innovation at Victoria University. This year she is finishing her degree after she returns from a short stint in the United States.

“I’m going to LA to do a wee workshop over there and do some auditions and things like that,” she says. “It’s very exciting. I think once my degree wraps up, I’ll probably spend the next wee while doing acting and doing more of it and seeing where that goes. And probably just be doing design stuff on the side like normal really.”

“It was hugely empowering to play a bit of a bad ass role. There was no air of, ‘I can’t do this’.” – Molly Leishman