Pia Miranda wants you to know she’s so much more than the girl who played Josephine Alibrandi.
While the Melbourne-born actress will be forever grateful for her star-making lead role in Looking for Alibrandi, she’s achieved so much since the film’s release in 2000.
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Not only has Pia continued to act, but she’s competed on numerous reality shows – even winning Survivor in 2019!
Now, she’s penned her first book, Finding My Bella Vita.
Pia says the moving memoir details the “peaks and troughs” of her journey so far.
“I’m excited but I think it’s natural to be nervous,” Pia reveals as we catch up just days before her book hits shelves.
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There are a “few things” in the book that Pia was anxious about including, namely “some of the family stuff.”
But she explans she was “really careful” to check in with those mentioned, to ensure they were happy with the stories she was sharing.
“I sent a lot of people a lot of stuff. I didn’t want anyone to be upset with me afterwards,” says Pia.
Among those who got a heads-up was Greta Scacchi, who played Pia’s mother in Looking for Alibrandi.
“One of the chapters was a big story about Greta. I made sure she was happy with how she and the story were represented,” she says.
“Also some of the Survivor stuff. Some of the things that happened to me after Survivor were hard. I didn’t want to sound ungrateful but I wanted to be truthful.”
Despite her trepidation, Pia happily reports her loved ones were all “really happy” with the final book, especially her dad, Vince.
“He got really emotional when I sent him the first chapter because it was all about his mum and dad,” she shares.
One thing Pia wanted her book to be was honest.
“When you’re observing people and seeing them on red carpets or in films, we think that everyone’s having the most amazing time,” she says.
“I tried to be really honest about the human experience that I had, and about all the rejection and confidence crisis I’ve had at certain points in my life.”
Pia believes that in her youth she “spent way too much time questioning myself.”
Turning 50 in June was a “cathartic experience” in which she says she was able to “look back at things and not be so hard on myself.”
Marrying musician Luke Hanigan in 2001, Pia is mum to Lily and James. She says trying to balance a career and children “can be a struggle” for women.
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“I shot Wentworth when James was only six months old. My body would start to crave him if I had been away from him hours,” she candidly tells us.
“I think the message that ‘we can have it all’ can sometimes be a little bit like toxic positivity.”
These days, when Pia isn’t busy running after her kids or working, she enjoys staying active as it keeps her mind “together” and “keeps me off my phone.”
She is still a big fan of yoga as it makes her “a bit of a nicer person. I’m perimenopausal and grumpy.”
As we say goodbye, Pia has one hope for her next chapter, revealing she still wants to “grow, learn and change.”
Purchase a copy of Finding My Bella Vita by Pia Miranda here.
