Every actor who appeared in the first episode will be invited, and I hope, subject to commitments, attend along with a number of those who played special characters from later episodes. Further details can be gained from the bulletin board on my website
When the show first screened it was an instant hit - how did that change the lives of the actors working on the show?
I guess in the way regular employment in any high profile profession will change lives, being recognised everywhere one goes is one part of it, a regular decent salary goes a long way toward improving living standards, the ability to purchase and own our own home was a boon, of which many of us took advantage. Not to mention the elevated demand for our work in the industry.
I believe your agent originally sent you for the role of Vera Bennett?
She seemed to think of all the characters outlined, the Gestapo style prison officer would suit me best, but the casting director had that earmarked for someone else and thought the earth mother Bea was more my style. In my agent’s defence Bea was originally written 10 years older than I was, and they dropped her age by 5 years so I could play her, which is the major reason I shunned all makeup other than mascara.
Was Bea Smith someone who you understood straight away in terms of her personality and motivation?
I understood a lot about her especially that she had committed a crime of passion, and had not been an institutionalised young offender as were many of the other inmates. She was intelligent, a champion of the underdog who used her power to protect the more vulnerable prisoners in her cell block! The finer points, like her personal vulnerabilities were developed, explored and had life breathed into them as we went along, by some the script writers and yours truly. These little character traits I think served to make Bea more multi facetted, more interesting, and more credible.
The entrance of The Freak bought a whole new dimension to the show and gave Bea a real nemesis to spark off. How did you feel about that conflict/those storylines?
I found the conflict between the Freak and Bea a breath of fresh air, something to get my teeth stuck into at a time when I think the storylines were really beginning to flag. The Freak was I believe the brain child of Ian Bradley, the best producer who ever worked on the show, he knew the show could support that sort of strength coming from more than one character and the improvement in the show was instant. It certainly gave me much more to work off.
Can you tell us the reasons behind your decision to leave the show when you did?
The conflicts being offered my character were so repetitive I felt it was getting stale. Bea had stopped growing, there seemed nothing left for me to discover in her,I felt I was no longer growing as an actor, I had stopped enjoying myself, had run foul of one of the producers and some of the drama gurus from the network who wanted to clean the show up and glamorise it (this I’m glad to say failed). So I walked away from the highest paid TV role in the country, and was told I could be replaced overnight. Imagine my smile when they asked me to return! This I also refused, several times.
Could you share any memories/thoughts on Sandra Wilson, the real-life former inmate who advised the show?
I didn’t know the woman, having only met her briefly on set. However I was aware her personality and experiences had been carved and moulded into three different characters, Bea, Frankie and Judy, and discussion with her had been very productive for the writers.
When you were first invited to come to the UK did you have any idea of the hysteria that would greet you, or that you would end up staying here as long as you did?
Australian actors are not used to being treated like stars, unlike our sportsmen we suffer from what actually seems to be an anti star system, somewhat hypocritical it is too, as the fans and the media here go absolutely crazy over visiting stars manufactured by a Hollywood or pop music publicity vehicle. So I was somewhat taken aback by the magnitude of reaction from UK fans, and I was the first Prisoner actor to venture to the UK fortunate enough to experience the bulk of the initial force alone. It was amazing, but it was not the reason I decided to stay on, that was the opportunity of working on the British stage, and whilst I did enjoy some worthwhile work, I was not prepared for something, of which I was unaware in the British industry, and that was the demarcation. I was branded a TV celebrity and had to work very hard to gain credibility as an actor. Sadly I didn’t even get my toe in the door of the places I really wanted to work. The closest I got was a British critic saying I should have been playing Chekov at the National.
You have spent a lot of time with fans over the years, what is it about Prisoner and the actors in it, do you think, that makes the fans so loyal?
Well for a start I think we Australian actors are perhaps more approachable,. Maybe it’s the time some of us give them and our thanks for their support?
Of your many other roles which stand out for you as the most enjoyable or that you are most proud of?
I think I am most proud of playing: Mary Facey in the Australian miniseries, ‘A Fortunate Life’, Annie Wilkes In ‘Misery’, Daisy in ‘Driving Miss Daisy’, and the grandmother Valentina Dubrovik in a most wonderfully perfect Theatre In Education production called once ‘Upon A Place’.
There seems to have been a renaissance in locally produced drama on Australian TV lately, which new shows, if any, are you watching? And which younger Australian actors do you rate?
Well as most of them are crime/detective/cop shows, I tend to give them a miss, and as I am living on an island and cannot afford to go to the theatre anyway, I guess I’m missing the development of our young Australian actors. I watch documentaries, there was recently a very good one about a national hero, General Sir John Monash. The ABC use to have most of their drama produced in their Melbourne studios and some wonderful show were made there. The ABC has now become Sydney centric, and things are dim, especially work for Melbourne based actors.
What are you plans for 2009 (apart from the Prisoner celebrations, of course) and is there a role you haven't played yet that you would like to?
There are a great many roles I would like to play and with which I have never been trusted. Sadly I am getting a little old for some of them, especially in this very youth oriented country, where there is very little work for an actor of my age and gender. However there are a few irons in the fire so I just have to keep my fingers crossed. |
