Shareena Clanton facts for kids

Shareena Clanton is an Australian film, television and theatre actress. She is known for her role as Doreen Anderson in the television drama series Wentworth (2013–2017).

Early life and education

Clanton was born in Perth, Western Australia. She is of Wangkatha, Yamatji, Noongar, and Gidja descent through her mother and Cherokee, Blackfoot and African-American descent through her father.

She first studied an Aboriginal Theatre course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), before being accepted into the full-time acting course at WAAPA, from which she graduated in 2010.

Career

In 2009, before graduating from WAAPA, Clanton had her feature film debut playing Leah in the comedy Stone Bros., before being a main cast member in the TV series Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth in 2011.

In theatre, she starred in a main stage performance for the first time in the production of Alan Ayckbourn's My Wonderful Day at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney in 2011. This was followed by playing Adrianna in a season of The Comedy of Errors and Ariel in The Tempest with the Shakespeare WA.

Clanton has starred in multiple television series, including Redfern Now (1 episode, 2012) and Wentworth (2013–2017), where she was the youngest member of the main cast.

In 2021 Clanton was announced to appear as Sheila Canning 2 in the soap opera Neighbours. Prior to her first on-screen appearance on the show, Clanton made public her displeasure about working on the show due to racism. According to Clanton, an unnamed cast member taunted her about her ethnicities twice and was not only defended by another cast member, but Clanton's rebuke of the actor resulted in Clanton being told she made the other cast members "uncomfortable". In the weeks that followed, Fremantle Australia began an investigation into these allegations, and at the same time, former cast members Sharon Johal, Meyne Wyatt, Remy Hii, Menik Gooneratne, and Sachin Joab also came forward with allegations of racism. The investigation into the racism scandal was concluded in late 2021, but the findings were not made public.

She appeared as Valerie in seven episodes of Joe vs. Carole in 2022. Also in 2022, Clanton voiced the character of Deb in the animated series Childish Deano.

In 2023, she plays Ruby, a ranger who becomes the main character's friend, in the award-winning miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Amazon Prime Video.

In 2024, Clanton appeared in the second season of The Twelve on Fox. was named as part of the cast for Stan series Invisible Boys.

Other activities

In February 2018 Clanton appeared on an episode of the ABC Television show Q+A, where she said Indigenous voices deserved a place in parliament.

Recognition and awards

• 2011: Nominated, Sydney Theatre Award for Best Newcomer, for My Wonderful Day
• 2012: Nominated, Australian Film Institute Awards, for her role in Redfern Now

Filmography

Film

Television

Self Appearances / Podcast / Video