# Tasma Walton

Tasma Walton (born 19 August 1973) is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actress.

## Early life and education

Tasma Walton was born on 19 August 1973 in Geraldton, Western Australia. She is of Boonwurrung descent through her mother.

## Acting career

Walton joined local radio station 6GE and trained as a production assistant and copy writer in her home town. She was accepted into the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) but dropped out after two years. She joined a small Sydney theatre, and landed a role as the love interest of Ian Moss in the music video for Tucker's Daughter off his 1989 debut album Matchbook. In 1995, Walton played the recurring role of Rachel Watson in Home and Away.
In 1996, Walton was cast as Dash McKinley in the police drama series Blue Heelers. Her character was introduced halfway through Season 3. She also played another character, Kim Trelor, in the same series. To win the role of Dash, Walton auditioned three times. Her second one with William McInnes (Nick Schultz) gained her the role. In the audition Schultz yelled at Dash and while some of the other actresses burst into tears, Walton reacted by laughing. In the same year she made her film debut in Fistful of Flies. Her last episode of Blue Heelers ("The Full Circle") screened in mid-1999.
In 2009, Walton joined the cast of City Homicide in the semi-regular role of criminal profiler, Claudia Leigh. On 27 July 2013, it was announced that Walton had rejoined the cast of Home and Away in the recurring role of Jade Montgomery. She was on the show for two seasons.
In 2016, Walton appeared on three episodes of Rake. She also had a regular role on Cleverman (in 2016 and 2017). In 2018, she joined the cast of Mystery Road, reprising her role from the 2013 film of the same name. She returned to season two in 2020.
In 2023 Walton appeared in Channel Seven series The Claremont Murders and Walton joined the second season of Foxtel series The Twelve.
Other film and TV appearances include Water Rats, Sea Patrol, The Postcard Bandit, and Perdition. She also won recurring roles in White Collar Blue and BeastMaster.

## Personal life

Walton was in a relationship with Danny Roberts for seven and a half years until 2004. She began dating Rove McManus in October 2007. They married in a private ceremony in Broome, Western Australia on 16 June 2009. Walton and McManus announced have a daughter.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Fistful of Flies | Maria "Mars" Lupi | Feature film |
| 1998 | Cody: The Wrong Stuff | | TV film |
| 1999 | Airtight | Virg | TV film |
| 2000 | Virtual Nightmare | Wendy | TV film |
| 2003 | Subterano | Stone | Feature film |
| 2003 | The Postcard Bandit | Frankie | TV film |
| 2004 | Roll | Emma | TV film |
| 2005 | Perdition | Jo | Short film |
| 2005 | Little Oberon | Georgie Green | TV film |
| 2006 | Safety in Numbers | Caroline | |
| 2006 | BlackJack: At the Gates | Sylvia | TV film |
| 2009 | Dreamland | April Freeman | |
| 2009 | Blessed | Gail | Feature film |
| 2009 | Together Alone | Trish | Short film |
| 2013 | Mystery Road | Mary Swan | Feature film |
| 2015 | Looking for Grace | Sandra | Feature film |
| 2017 | The Half Dead | Julie Masden | Post-production |
| 2021 | How to Please a Woman | Monique | Feature film |
| 2022 | Sweet As | Mitch | Feature film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1995 | Home and Away | Rachel Watson | TV series, season 8 (recurring role) |
| 1995 | Echo Point | Gina | TV series |
| 1995 | Blue Heelers | Kim Treloar | TV series, episode: "Salutary Lessons" |
| 1996–99 | Blue Heelers | Const. Deirdre E. "Dash" McKinley | TV series, 129 episodes |
| 2000 | Water Rats | Belinda Harvey | TV series, episode: "Able to Leap Tall Buildings" |
| 2000–02 | BeastMaster | Caro | TV series (recurring role) |
| 2001 | The Secret Life of Us | Leah | TV series (recurring role) |
| 2003 | White Collar Blue | Gemma Mancuzzo | TV series, episodes: 2.10, 2.11 |
| 2004 | McLeod's Daughters | Tracey Morrison | TV series, season 4, episode 8: "Show of Love" |
| 2006 | Stupid, Stupid Man | Janine Russell | TV series, episode: "A Very, Very Private Function" |
| 2009 | Sea Patrol | Jila | TV series, season 3, episode: "Secret Cargo" |
| 2009–10 | City Homicide | Claudia Leigh | TV series (regular role) |
| 2013–14 | Home and Away | Jade Montgomery | TV series, seasons 26-27 (recurring role) |
| 2014 | It's a Date | Paulina | TV series, episode: "Should You Date Outside Your Comfort Zone?" |
| 2016 | Rake | Jack | TV series, episodes: 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 |
| 2016–17 | Cleverman | Araluen | TV series (regular role) |
| 2018–2020 | Mystery Road | Mary Swan | TV series, episodes: 2, 3 & 4 |
| 2023 | The Claremont Murders | Karin Margolius | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 2024 | The Twelve | Thelma Connell | TV series: 8 episodes |
| 2025 | Scrublands: Silver | Josie Jones | TV series |
| 2025 | Deadloch | Detective Greene | TV series |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 1989 | Tucker's Daughter | Ian Moss |

### Self appearances

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2023 | Great Australian Walks | Self | 1 episode |
| 2020 | Whovians | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 2019 | Show Me the Movie! | Herself | TV series, 1 episode |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Summer of the Aliens | Mrs Irvin / Japanese Woman | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1993 | The Skin of Our Teeth | | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1993 | The Grace of Mary Traverse | Mary Traverse / Hangman | NIDA Theatre |
| 1993 | All's Well That Ends Well | | NIDA Theatre |
| 1993 | A House is Built | Katie | UNSW Parade Theatre |
| 1994 | Jigsaws | | New Theatre, Sydney |
| 2001 | The Vagina Monologues | | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2001 | Men of Honour | | Ensemble Theatre |
| 2004 | Live Acts on Stage | | Playhouse Theatre, Perth |
| 2015 | Dinner | | Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth |
| 2019 | Winyanboga Yurringa | | Belvoir Street Theatre |

## Books

* Heartless (Fiction) (Pub Date 28 September 2009)

## Awards

* At the 39th Annual TV Week Logie Awards held in 1997, Walton won the Logie for the "Most Popular New Talent" for her role as "Constable Dash McKinley" on Blue Heelers.
* Walton was nominated for Best Actress at the 3rd AACTA Awards for her role in Mystery Road, but lost against Rose Byrne for The Turning.