Biography

Michaela is a South African-Portuguese actress based in Australia. She began her screen journey after a semi-professional volleyball career, transitioning into stunt performance before moving into acting.

In 2019, she was crowned Miss Scuba International, representing Australia on an international stage - an experience that marked a defining step in her path toward screen performance.

Her screen credits include the international television series Harrow and Reef Break, the feature film Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler, and Balls Up!, directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser. She has also worked across international commercial and voice-over productions.

Alongside her acting work, Michaela coaches performers through Creating Artists and continues to develop original screen projects.
- IMDb mini biography by: Michaela Da Costa

First encountered her current acting coach during a cold reading workshop, which she initially believed was a table read. Realising quickly what a cold read involved, she chose to remain in training, an experience that marked a turning point in her screen acting development. She now works with the same company as an acting coach.

During intensive pageant training in Malaysia for Miss Scuba International 2019, she often spent downtime playing beach volleyball with locals, using sport as a grounding connection in an unfamiliar environment.

Her first supporting role in Bliss of Evil (Amazon Prime) came after responding to a general audition request from producers that led to a two-and-a-half-hour conversation rather than a traditional screen test. She was cast in the role without performing a scene.

Originally turned down the opportunity to compete in the Miss Scuba Australia pageant, having no prior pageantry experience, before later accepting after being approached at her stunt graduation. She went on to win the national competition, which led her to represent Australia at Miss Scuba International 2019, where she was crowned the international titleholder.