Ahead of the hotly-anticipated return of The Great season 3, the Australian actor sat down with marie claire to talk about the women (real and fictional) who shaped her.
Yvonne Bromilow
Mum was in her 40s when she made the decision to study social work. She had left school when she was 15 and no-one in her family had ever been to university before. She was pretty courageous. Her decision to do something for herself and make a drastic change to her life was really inspiring for me. Mum went on to work with refugees and help with the homelessness and housing issues.
Growing up in suburban Perth, there was always someone my mum was helping out. I remember once we took in refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was during the crisis [in the early ’90s], so mum brought them into our house and we’d prepare meals and she would get furniture for them. Mum was always looking out for other people and made that her life’s mission.
I’ve always admired my mum for her enormous resilience. My youngest sister is autistic, which was a challenge at times, especially back then when much less was known about it. Despite juggling three kids and all the community projects she took on, Mum was always patient, compassionate and very nurturing.
Being a mum now myself, I understand the value of patience a lot more. Motherhood is incredibly challenging for anyone, so if you can get through those years and your kids are relatively unscathed, you’re doing a pretty great job.
Genevieve Hegney
I remember the first day I went over to Gen’s house to play. It was very different from my home life. If I was hungry, my mum would say, “Have a carrot.” At Gen’s house she had chips and ice cream. Her place was an amazing contrast to my own house; it felt a lot more free. We first met in high school, where we were both really into theatre. We did photoshoots and made up plays and read teenage angst poetry.
When we left school, I went to WAAPA [the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts] and Gen went to NIDA [the National Institute of Dramatic Art]. At the end of drama school … I moved to Sydney and we moved in together. We had kids around the same time,got married around the same time –our lives are very intertwined.
Gen’s incredibly loyal. She’s one of those friends who will do anything for you. When I got cancer, Gen immediately gathered all of our friends together and set up a roster to have food delivered. She’s got a massive heart. Gen and I are both [turning 48 this year] and we still talk all the time. We’ll probably end up moving into some commune together.
Barbara Good
Barbara Good is a character played by [English actor] Felicity Kendal in The Good Life, which is a British comedy series from the ’70s. Barbara was the first character I encountered that had a profound effect on me. I was six years old and I remember being drawn to the lifestyle. In the show they grew
their own vegies and had pigs, it was a self-sustainable mini commune.
I liked that Felicity’s character was the capable one … leading the way. She was hands-on and always in overalls with dirt on them. When I was a child, I had a Barbie who had a pink sports car and these crazy outfits but I also had these handmade dresses that were brown corduroy and I could never decide what Barbie should wear.
I’m a Gemini and even though I’m not sure how much I believe in that stuff, I do find that I have two sides to me. One part wants to see amazing films, travel the world, go to glamorous events and work with incredible talents. The other side of me wants to grow vegetables, be off-grid, use herbal remedies, treat myself to rest and read poetry.
Season 3 of The Great is on Stan now.
