???Coupland missed out - and the movie went on to be nominated for 11 Academy Awards.

"I was very sad," she remembers of the sliding-doors moment in her career, six years ago. "But I learnt to grow a thick skin. You have to move up and move onwards with roles."

Testament to her lack of bitterness about the Hugo disappointment, Coupland, now 19, cites Moretz as one of her screen idols (the other is Anne Hathaway).

"I really look up to Chlo?? Moretz - she's my age. I've followed her journey quite closely." Moretz has gone on to work with directors Tim Burton, Steven Soderbergh and Seth Rogen, as well as model for Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire - and date Brooklyn Beckham.

Meanwhile, Coupland has been steadily building up her own acting career. She first came to attention starring in the 2014 ABC children's series Worst Year of My Life, Again!, and has since appeared in TV series Neighbours and Love Child, and in indie film-festival hit Killing Ground, which premiered in Sydney this month.

Directors obviously see the same spark in Coupland that total strangers did when she was a little girl. People kept stopping her mum in the streets of Sydney's inner west, where she grew up, asking if the then eight-year-old acted.

After the third person in two weeks posed the question, Coupland's mother decided to get her daughter involved in performing, and television commercials quickly followed.

"As I grew up, I began to really enjoy it, creating new characters, going into different people's lives, and starting to do bigger roles," Coupland says. "Each show or set I'm on I learn from and bring [that knowledge] to the next one. It broadens my mind."

Worst Year of My Life, Again! delivered her international exposure as it screened in the UK, Europe and South America, while she learnt how to connect more deeply with her emotions filming Love Child, and was mentored by stars Jessica Marais and Ella Scott Lynch. Now Killing Ground has taken her into thriller territory.

"I had to have more of a survivor instinct, very much scared and vulnerable to what's going on.

"They are very exhausting scenes after a while ??? at one point I thought 'I can't do it anymore', but you just have to push through."

With her hazel eyes, brown hair and perfect rosebud pout, there is something of a baby-faced Emily Ratajkowski about Coupland. She can look both sultry and girl-next-door, but is regularly cast as the wild child - whether throwing punches at Olympia Valance in Neighbours or playing a teenage mother in Love Child. Coupland says she's very different in real life.

"I'm kind of like the funny one and I'm kind of shy when I meet someone. Once you get to know me, all my quirks come out," she says, smiling.

"I seem to get cast as the tough girl who has a wild-child character, which is not me at all! I'm very much to the rules. I get to do all these crazy things I would never do in real life in a safe space - I'm living out my rebellious side on set."

Like many budding Australian actors, Coupland's goal is to make it in Hollywood. She had two stints in LA last year, going to castings for pilot season, but again lost out at the final hurdle for a role. But she's refreshingly pragmatic about the setback - conscious the competition is bigger in the US - and is prepared to play the long game.

"I've definitely made a little mark in LA with casting directors," she explains. They're starting to know my name, who I am. They're a bit intrigued. Everything is slowly building up and falling into place."

Coupland isn't entirely sure where her unusual name (pronounced "Tee-arnie") comes from, but says it was her mum's idea. "We think it might come from New Zealand or an island."

This pilot season she'll be in Melbourne, to which her family moved a year ago, sending audition tapes of herself to LA.

Her parents support her career choice: her ex-Australian Defence Force father helps her with her audition recordings, while her mother advises on what to wear. When she does head to LA again, she can crash with her older sister Stephanie, who works there as a computer scientist.

In between filming auditions, Coupland is doing short courses at NIDA and learning photography editing, while also modelling. She relaxes by running or walking her dog. There seems to be a special someone in her life, but she doesn't want to talk about it - and there is definitely no sign of a love interest on her social media accounts.

Quietly confident of her ability to achieve her acting goals, Coupland always remembers what fellow Love Child cast member Gracie Gilbert said at the series' wrap party.

"She said, 'Just let your heart be open to everything with acting.' That really stuck with me, to let those emotions out. I just go [to auditions] and give it my all - and always have my fingers crossed! Hopefully, one day it will come through and I'll get my big role." That seems to be only a matter of time.