Elena Carapetis

Elena Carapetis is an Australian actress and writer based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is best known for her role as Jackie Kassis in Heartbreak High, as well as numerous other television series and theatre roles. As a writer, her plays and screenplays often feature the experience of Greek migrants to Australia, as well as Greek mythology and feminist themes.

Early life and education Elena Carapatis was born in Whyalla, South Australia. She spent some years in Port Pirie as a child, before the family moved to Adelaide. Her maternal grandparents were Greek Cypriot migrants to Australia, with her mother arriving at the age of 11. Her father is of Greek Australian descent, with his forebears having migrated around the 1910s, having origins in Ikaria, Kastellorizo, and Levissi. She grew up with a large extended family, and worked in her family's restaurant when she was 12.

She started ballet lessons when she was around four years old on the recommendation of a doctor, to help her flat feet. She went on stage for the first time as a ballerina in a "chorus of baby chicks", in a performance of Peter and the Wolf in Port Pirie Town Hall.

Acting career Returning to Adelaide after graduation, Carapetis was employed by the State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA) and also by both the Adelaide College of the Arts and Flinders University as a lecturer. and Hot Fudge with the State Theatre Company of South Australia.

In March 2005, Carapetis first performed in It's A Mother! at the Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville, She would return to this show in 2006 as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and in 2007 as part of Melbourne's Arts House program.

In 2006, Carapetis again performed in Translations, this time at the Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne and the Beckett Theatre, Southbank. In the same year, she appeared in 4:48 Psychosis at The Queens Theatre Stables, Adelaide.

In 2008, she appeared in Helly's Magic Cup at The Space, Adelaide. at the Dunstan Playhouse.

In 2010, Carapetis performed in Ruby Bruise at the Waterside Theatre, Port Adelaide.

She played one of the lead roles in Theatre Republic's The Bleeding Tree, The Hunting won the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Mini-Series/Telemovie in the 10th annual Equity Ensemble Awards in 2020. She also appeared in the first series of Aftertaste (ep.4, February 2021), as Vassiliki.

Writing Carapetis cites American playwright Arthur Miller as the writer who has influenced her most in her writing. at the 2012 Adelaide Festival Awards and was performed in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Her play The Good Son had its world premiere at the Bakehouse Theatre in April 2015. Presented by The Other Ones, it was directed by Corey McMahon, and featured Eugenia Fragos, Renato Musolino, Adriana Bonaccurso, and Demitrios Sirilas.

The Gods of Strangers, set in Port Pirie, is based on the oral histories of Greek, Cypriot and Italian people who migrated to regional South Australia after World War II. It was staged by the State Theatre Company South Australia in 2018, playing at the Dunstan Playhouse in Adelaide as well as in Port Pirie. It was also filmed by local production company KOJO and intended to be shown by Country Arts SA in regional cinemas in 2020, but it was later shown online owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Australia.

Carapetis' rewritten version of Antigone, described as a response to the original written by Sophocles, portrays a feminist theme. The play consists of a series of monologues and vignettes, which together rail against the silencing and devaluing of women in society. The play was produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia, directed by Anthony Nicola, at the Odeon Theatre in Norwood in June 2022.

Film and TV In 2007, a script written by Carapetis was selected out of 1,700 submissions as an episode of the 25x5min series Marx and Venus on the SBS.

Carapetis wrote and directed the short film Blame the Rabbit, which was shown at the 2023 Adelaide Film Festival. Based on the Greek myth of the Gorgon and described as a cautionary tale, it is intended as "the first of a trilogy based on a Greek myth or tragedy that looks at the objectification of women". Blame the Rabbit recently won the Grand Jury Prize at the South Australian Screen Awards in 2024.

In 2025, Carapetis appeared in the third season of Channel 7 drama RFDS. On 20 November 2025, Carapetis was named in the cast for ABC series Treasure & Dirt.

Current occupation , Carapetis is working as a story consultant at producer Lisa Scott's film production company Highview Productions, based at the South Australian Film Corporation. She has been commissioned to write a major work for STCSA's 2024 season.

Carapetis recently won SA Life Magazine's South Australian Artist of the Year for 2024. 2011 Burning Man Jane 2009 Offside Isabella 2008 Dusk 2005 Look Both Ways Maria 2004 Frames Eva Television

Stage Carapetis has written plays in conjunction with the State Theatre Co in South Australia.