Widely acknowledged as one of Australia's most accomplished young actors, Gia Carides has has a career that skyrocketed following her turn as the loud and pushy Liz in Baz Luhrmann's hit movie "Strictly Ballroom" (1992). Though blonde for "Ballroom," this attractive, smokey-voiced brunette began as an ingenue in the genre pic "Midnight Spares" (1982) and appeared in the chronicle of the champion Australian racehorse "Phar Lap" (1983), credited as Georgia Carr. She performed sex acts on her coke-dealer brother in exchange for drugs in "Bliss" (1985) and was convincing as a rookie cop in "Backlash" (1986). For the latter, she and co-star Trevor Darling turned to improvisation to fully realize their parts, contributing so much in the process that they both earned screenwriting credits.