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Hello and welcome to the popcorn panel podcast.
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My guest is today, Kate Jenkinson.
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She's an acclaimed actress who graduated from the Western Australian Academy performing acts in 2004.
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Her career began in Perth, which is where I'm based, with the Black Swan Theatre Company, and she then transitioned to television as a regular on the wedge alongside Rebel Wilson.
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She's worked overseas in the US sitcom Super Fun Night and starred as Allie Novak in the hit series Wentworth, plus played roles in Offspring, Hiding, Doctor Doctor, and Five Bedrooms, just to name a few.
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Pivoting during COVID, Kate gained a large social media following for her online cooking series, My Shit Kitchen.
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Welcome to the Popcorn Panel podcast, actress, celebrity chef, fellow dog lover Kate Jenkinson, who I I'm so sorry, I just know you as Jenko.
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Is that something that just you make me?
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That's what most people, that's what most people know me as now.
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That's a nickname that I was actually given at drama school, the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, because in my class there were two Kates.
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And of course, we couldn't both be Kate because we were artists and we needed our own names.
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So I was Genko and she became Greg's because her last name was Gregory.
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And uh I've been a Genko ever since, and and people now call me Jenko who has an absolutely no connection to me and my drama school time.
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So I think it's just a name that has has kind of followed me forever.
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And I'm I'm I don't know, it suits me.
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I I think I'm quite happy with that.
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It does, because I think you're quite down to earth, and it's quite a down-to-earth.
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Like Kate's probably your told-off name, like Kate, you know, when you're in trouble.
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Yes.
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And Jenko is like, yeah, you're you're absolutely Jenko, I'm your mate.
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Kate, I'm in trouble.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Definitely not in trouble.
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You started at WAPA at 19.
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Is that when that's when you first applied?
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What were you planning on doing before then?
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And what made you decide you wanted to do acting and apply to WAPA?
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Oh, I I think I was always destined to be an actor, I think.
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Even even before I realized I wanted to be an actor, I think it was always on the cards.
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I I was always putting on plays and shows for my parents.
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You know, I was that insufferable child that would gather the whole family into the living room and just subject them to me running around like a fairy or singing, you know, making up songs or little plays.
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And and I was I always kind of craved being on stage.
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I loved, I loved the rush of being on stage as a dancer as a young kid.
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And I don't know, I think I've just always there's been something in me that has always liked entertaining people.
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And it it just I guess my career has has migrated and and transformed somewhat in the last couple of years, but it's always been about providing entertainment for people, I think.
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Yeah.
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And from when you left school then to when you joined WAPA, was it that seemed like a a transition for you that you were destined for that?
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But was there anything else you wanted to do?
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Like I wanted to be an astronomer, which wasn't really a viable option when I was 10.
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But was there anything else that you ever thought you'd do?
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And then you just know this is just where it where you led, everything led to not really.
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And I was also never good at anything else, really.
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I mean, I was I was a I was a pretty good student, but I knew that I I knew that academia wasn't for me.
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I I didn't have this desire to go and study biology or anything like that.
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I I knew that I wanted to be a performer.
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I didn't think that it was really feasible that I could be a performer.
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And so when I graduated high school, I I knew that I wanted to be an actor, but I was just kind of wandering around aimlessly, like hoping that Robert De Niro would just turn up at my doorstep and go, You've got it, kid, but I'm gonna put you in my next movie.
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And but of course, you know, that's not how it happens.
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And so I um I eventually realized that I, you know, if I wanted to do this, I'm gonna have to take the baby steps and then the bigger steps to make this happen.
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And it was actually a friend of mine who suggested that I try out for Whopper, which is the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
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She knew about that institution because she was interested in musical theatre.
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And I can't sing to save my life, but I I did want to be an actor, and she said, Well, look,
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there's an acting course too.
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You could maybe audition to be an actor.
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And I think me being completely naive and you know, the confidence of youth, I just thought, sure, I'll audition with absolutely no, absolutely no training or experience whatsoever.
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And maybe it was that naivety or the arrogance of my youth.
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I'm not sure, but I somehow somehow managed to fool them that I was a worthy candidate.
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And so I was accepted the first time that I auditioned.
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And glad that I got in because I really don't know how I would have made my career work otherwise.
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I don't know how I would have gotten started.
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So it was the right thing for me because I'd never really acted before.
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So I needed that training to help me understand what it was all about and where I would fit in in the industry.
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And it yeah, it just sort of sets you up on the right path if that's what you wanted to do.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I think even the endorsement of being accepted into Whopper, it's so competitive and there's such a high standard.
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The fact that you got in after your first attempt and you know, it's been on that path.
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You mentioned the theatre.
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Even now, how does how does the live rush you mentioned of the theatre compare to a stopstart kind of set of a TV show?
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Which one gives you the most instant gratification or you know?
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I think theatre was my first love.
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I think being being on stage and having a connection, an instant connection with an audience, whether you're dancing as I was as a kid, and I do now, I I do dance performances now too as a grown adult.
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There's something about that immediate rapport that you have instant in the moment with an audience that is irreplaceable.
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You can't you can't recreate that on a film set.
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Um, and I and I think that that was my where I first fell in love with the the art of acting.
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And I I I always have said that if theatre paid anywhere near what TV pays, then I would be in the theatre every night if I could.
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But the reality is, unfortunately, in this country, and I think I think most countries is that the arts are just pretty terribly funded and there isn't a lot of there isn't a lot of money to be made in the theatre.
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And I wish it didn't have to be about that, but of course, you know, I've got a kid, I've got a mortgage, I've got dogs,
I've got elderly dogs that need, you know, constant, constant medical attention.
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So you you kind of uh over the years I just I found myself doing film and television more.
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A, I guess because it paid better.
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And B, because it sort of it felt like film and television was the way to really open up and expand your career if if you wanted to quote unquote succeed.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Is it seen as like the next step from theatre almost?
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I think it's somehow more highly regarded, I suppose.
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You I mean, everyone can name uh 10 movie stars, but not everyone could name uh 10 theatre stars.
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Uh uh, you know, 10 the Broadway theatre stars.
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We just don't, I guess we don't place as much performance on theatre performers as we do on film and television, which is a shame because I I I think theatre, when theatre is uh done well, nothing beats it.
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It's the most magical little cocoon of art and storytelling and magic.
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I I love it and I wish I could do more of it.
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And gosh, who knows?
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Hopefully, hopefully in the future.
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But it's again, it's one of those things where it's not very family-friendly.
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The hours are shocking and yeah, it's not very compatible when you've got a needy five-year-old boy and two grumpy old chihuahuas that constantly need your attention.
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Constantly bits are falling off.
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Um you uh you absolutely lit up then when you're talking about that too.
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I loved it.
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When you first uh started auditioning and working in the States, that must have been super exciting to be going to America.
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Was there a culture shock you had from Australia to Hollywood when you got there and you're like, well, this is not like back home?
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Oh, yes.
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I mean, it is, it is such a an industry over there.
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There's you know, the Australian film and television industry, it's phenomenal the stuff that we make.
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I'm always so impressed with Australian film and television, what we can make with such small budgets.
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But you go over to the States and it really is you you feel the reality of being a teeny, teeny, tiny, insignificant cog in an extremely large, well-oiled machine.
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And yeah, it's it's a different ball game all together.
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And I'm certainly glad that I got to dip into that pool, and I'm glad
that I got to tick a big thing off my bucket list and work over there on a sitcom too, one of my favorite mediums.
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But but I I can't imagine wanting to go there again, especially at this stage in my life.
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It's just there, there's also a rooflessness to how everything works over there, too.
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It's everything is about money, as I suppose it is here too, but it just felt it felt more like a very cutthroat business transaction being on a network television show over in the States, as opposed to something over here where I don't know, it still feels a little bit more collegiate and like we're all in it together and we're all just sort of crossing our fingers and hoping that it will work out.
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Yeah, for sure.
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I watch shows like The Logies, which is obviously aired on one network, but all the other network stars are there too, and everyone seems to get along and it's very supportive.
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Is that kind of true of the Australian television industry?
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Yes, certainly been my experience.
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I uh I've been working in the film and television industry now for my God.
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24 years.
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Yeah, yes.
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When you started when you're two.
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Yeah, that's right.
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That's that's a story that we'll tell.
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Yeah, no, 20, 24 years of being working, and uh for the most part, I have had nothing but brilliant experiences with lovely people, creative people, hardworking people, supportive people.
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And I think, yeah, I I think that that's something about the Australian industry too, because we're not none of us are making billions and billions of dollars from our huge big feature films.
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It does it it sort of feels a bit more like we're in something together and we're all trying to achieve the same goal.
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Whereas my small experience working over in the States, it I don't know, it feels yeah, it feels a bit more ruthless.
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Like there's a lot more at stake.
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I certainly felt that way when I was working over there on the sitcom.
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I was, I'd never made so much money in my entire life.
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I couldn't, like, I just couldn't believe that someone could get paid so much for doing something so silly and fun.
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But then with that, the stakes get higher and higher and higher because you want that to continue, and everyone wants this gravy train to continue and you sort of start planning the future.
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It's like, oh my god, this time next year I could be buying a house, and then this time in five years I could retire.
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So the stakes exactly retire on my yacht.
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So the stakes are so much higher, and I think that that kind of it it can yeah, I don't know.
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I think I I just it I've never felt more anxious about losing work as I did when I was over there.
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I've never really felt that same level of anxiety in the industry in Australia.
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Yeah.
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Uh it's it's interesting because I had a book come out in us in the States and I was so excited I flew there for the book launch and I ran to a Barnes and Noble to see it on the shelf and it wasn't there.
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All the books that are on the shelves here in Australia, next to my book by American authors, were there.
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And they're like, oh no, yours is just online.
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Like it, there was just no place for it, you know, like it just got swept away.
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So I've never published in the States since.
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Now my publishers in in on the East Coast.
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But uh just the same sort of thing.
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I was I thought it was going to be this big beyond end-or thing, and in actual fact, I it just swallowed me up, you know.
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And it's probably one of my books.
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We won't mention the title because it did the least best.
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Only five people.
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I'm sure I would have loved it.
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I think if if you haven't got a copy, I'll send you one because there's an old one, old out-of-stock one lying around somewhere for you.
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Uh because I missed your birthday last year.
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In Super Fun Night, you played uh Kendall Quinn, who was not a very nice character, which was must have been fun to play.
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But how do you what do you lean into to play someone who has no moral compass?
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And is that kind of the sort of role you really like?
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That extreme compared to your personality, like yes.
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Oh, yeah.
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I mean, playing a baddie, I suppose she was the villain in that story.
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There's something super delicious about playing a baddie, I think.
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But of course, no bad character thinks that they're bad.
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And I I don't think she was bad.
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I just think that she was she was a woman in a man's world, and I think that she was highly intelligent, highly cutthroat, and she was a take no prisoners kind of person, and she would
bulldoze anyone to get what she wants out of life, and you know, that's kind of just like the average man in business.
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So I like she wasn't really a villain in my eyes, she was just trying to be the man, and yeah.
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Yeah, and certainly in comedies, I feel like the the bitches get the best character, the the best lines anyway.
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I loved playing that character because I suppose you could have seen her as villain, like a villain or like a bitchy character, but really she was just she was funny and she was smart and she was so self-assured.
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And I love playing characters like that because when you play someone with confidence, I feel confident.
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And when I play someone who's extremely low status and not confident, I do find that it kind of seeps into my personal life, and I hate it, I hate that feeling of being kind of weak and impotent.
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So I always like playing the slightly, the slightly crazy, nutty, headstrong people.
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Uh-huh.
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And she she was kind of like get them before they get her.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And you know, I I can relate to that now.
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You know, I'm 10 years older and been through some things, and it's like, yeah, it's a it's a dog eat dog world, and you've just got to be the biggest dog.
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Yeah, that's so true.
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That's absolutely true.
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Your son Fletcher, when he was a baby, he played your daughter in five bedrooms, and you've said you've said in interviews that he stole every scene.
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How was it acting on set and then also being a mum on set at the same time and juggling both things?
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Oh, it it would it was actually anxiety-inducing, as if being kind of a fairly freshly postpartum mum wasn't difficult enough.
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I yeah, I volunteered my son to play my daughter in the show, mainly for the gag, to be honest.
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I just wanted to be able to one day show him a picture of him in a little frilly pink dress and a headband and say, hee hee hee, you were my daughter.
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A thousand people.
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Because of course I've That's right, because I've I haven't got a daughter and I never will have a daughter.
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So at least for that small moment in time, I had a daughter.
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And and also I think you know, it'll give him a kick to be able to say, Hey, I was I was on TV when I was one.
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And but yes, stressful, absolutely stressful, because you you not only do you have to take care of yourself, but you've got to take care
of your kid.
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And also I I became quite the stage mother too.
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I really wanted to like I found myself coaching him as a I think it was 13 months at the time.
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I'm like, now there's gonna be like and he didn't speak at this time either, but I'm trying to make make sure that he does a good job too.
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So I wasn't very chill about it.
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I I wanted to make sure that he uh that he earned his money that day.
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And can I just say he did?
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He was a natural, he charmed everyone on set.
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He was delightful.
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How do you direct a baby?
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Do they just get to do what they want and you work around it?
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Because that's how I felt about dogs, right?
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It's a complete mess.
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Or is someone off camera like waving something at them to get them to look or exactly, exactly what you would do for a dog.
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In fact, I remember, I remember the photo shoot that you did with my firstborn son, Bowie.
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My my first doggie.
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And you had all the treats, and it was all kind of smoke and mirrors, and everything like it's actually so joyful when you have a baby on set because everybody in the crew becomes a clown, and these, you know, big, stinky, manly men who like hold the booms and things like that.
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Everyone's just like, hey, hey, hey, hey, look at me, look at me, look at me.
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And it's just so cute.
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Everyone puts on their best behavior for the baby because yeah, you you just have to trick the the kid into doing what you want, and um it's pretty sweet and pretty funny.
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I love that so much.
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You've mentioned before too that actors can fake chemistry, but you've you've said in particular in relation to Wentworth, which was has a huge cult following and then still got reruns and it's uh coming out.
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There's a new version coming out soon, which I'll talk about in a sec.
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You've mentioned with Danielle McCormack, who was in Wentworth with you, that you guys had natural, genuine chemistry.
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And that is something that you know you can't kind of it, it's it I guess it translates on screen even better than pretending you have chemistry.
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What if you do, what have you done when you've been paired up with a colleague and there's just nothing, but you have to be the love interest or the and you're just like, no, how do you push through that?
00:18:51.759 --> 00:19:04.559
Oh man, it is it's the hardest thing, and it it makes it makes those instances when you do have an easy rapport and a really genuine connection, like I did have with Dan.
00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:20.160
It just makes me look back on those opportunities and and moments very fondly because you can really soar when you have great chemistry and you can trust your acting partner, especially if you if you have to do intimate scenes and things like that.
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:27.200
But yeah, I have I've certainly had to do my best faking on occasion.
00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:38.079
And it's really, really difficult because no, I I've never I've never had to fake chemistry with someone that I disliked or I felt afraid of or anything like that.
00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:51.759
Uh, but I have on a few different occasions I've had to fake, you know, lustful, lustful energy towards someone who clearly was not in the moment.
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.480
In fact, I remember, oh poor guy.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:00.319
I was about to shoot a kissing scene, and I'll look I'll the person and the show shall remain nameless, but for sure.
00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:11.359
I was I was about to shoot a kissing scene with this guy, and um just just before we were about to roll up, he was looking a little bit nervous, which I thought was normal.
00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:14.640
And he's he said, I've never done a kissing scene before.
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:22.319
And I was like, Oh, okay, well, you know, you know, well, if you've got just let me know if there's anything that I can do to make you feel more comfortable.
00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.599
And I think it was the character's first kiss too.
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:33.039
So I just said, look, just so you know, I'm I'm really gonna go for it because I think my character really likes you, so I'm just gonna really go for it.
00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:33.359
Okay.
00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:39.519
And he's like, Yeah, I just I just really love my girlfriend.
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:49.039
Oh and my heart broke for the guy because I'm like, oh man, I'm I'm so sorry that I'm forcing you to kiss me right now.
00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:56.880
But also, come on, man, come on, you're an actor, like we've you gotta fake it.
00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:03.200
I I know it's you're gonna be asked to do things that are less than comfortable, but that's the gig.
00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:18.000
And so yeah, I've had a few moments like that where you really have to do your best, and it's it is particularly difficult if you've got a scene partner who you can tell is not that into it.
00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:18.480
Yeah.
00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:29.599
I've also like I had to do a scene once with a guy who we we had to film quite an intense, like we were into each other, but it was like a yeah, it was like a really intense, passionate scene.
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:40.079
And the guy that I was doing it with, different guy, different situation, different show, but he's the
world's biggest gentleman, and he really, really respects women.
00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:46.880
And I think he was, you know, post me too and all the rest of it, he really wanted to be respectful.
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:59.680
And it was lovely that he wanted to be respectful, but it just made the scene so incredibly awkward to film because I was attacking him and he was just trying to like very gently like you know, dunt and weave.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.960
didn't want to he didn't want to do anything that he'd get me to'd for.
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:04.480
So cross a boundary.
00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:04.960
Yeah.
00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:06.319
Yes, I know.
00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:15.039
So when you when you have actors like Dan Cormac, who I had the pleasure of working with on Wentworth, and she's fearless.
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:16.960
And she, I mean, she is all of the things.
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.240
She's, you know, she's respectful and she makes sure that you're in a safe space and she respects boundaries and all the rest of it.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:28.799
But she's also really fearless and she's willing to kind of meet you at the level that the scene needs to be at.
00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:36.400
And then the result is on-screen chemistry that I think people can really they can sense it.
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:48.799
And I think that's why characters like B and Allie became so well, that relationship became iconic on the show because people could really they could feel the love because it was there, it really was there.
00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.599
Yeah, the Bally, uh, the combination of the Brangelina, uh, the Bally character.
00:22:53.920 --> 00:23:00.160
Um, in relation to Ali Novak, she her the character of Ali had some very traumatic scenes in Wentworth.
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:05.039
And you said earlier that sometimes you do take on the general mood and vibe of the character.
00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:08.240
What do you do for your own emotional well-being after a hard done set?
00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:09.920
And then I had here, is it cooking?
00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.079
What do you do to kind of shake it off?
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.240
Like you know, the vibe.
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:45.839
Yeah, it's uh Ali was actually a really good example of a character that I found difficult to play because she was she was such a low status character and she was such a lost soul, and she didn't really she struggled to find her own sense of self and her own personality, and I think that she tended to rely on other people's other people's character and strength to to buoy herself.
00:23:46.160 --> 00:24:07.039
And I I did struggle playing her for so many years because I found myself taking on a little bit of her unsuredness or weakness is the wrong word, but she was meek and she wasn't headstrong and she kind of faded into the shadows a little bit.
00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:46.640
That was that was the character, and I did find that that seeped into my own life and character at the time, and it's it is a struggle, and most of the time I'm pretty good at just being able to leave everything at the door when they call cut, but yeah, it can it actually kind of can affect you, and especially I will say in the very last season when we were shooting through COVID, and it was winter in Melbourne, and we everyone was isolated and miserable, and there was just a lot going on in my life.
00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:48.319
I felt the weight.
00:24:48.400 --> 00:25:02.400
I I think I just I really did feel the weight, and it wasn't just what Ali was going through, like my alter ego, it was life in general, but it it yeah, it did feel like where she was at was informing where I was at.
00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:11.039
But I think you have to you just have to get really good at leaving it all behind.
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:24.000
Because acting actually can be very cathartic, because you get to you get to live the lives of people that you will you would never you would never get to experience a life like that.
00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:36.880
So you do get to kind of exercise certain emotions or certain I guess personality traits that you wouldn't want to employ in real life.
00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:40.000
It's like you playing someone like Kendall Quinn, for example.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.839
It's fun to play a really bulshy, bitchy character.
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.200
It's great because I would never speak to people like that in real life.
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.000
It's kind of fun to do it on screen.
00:25:50.240 --> 00:26:03.680
And likewise, it's it's I wouldn't say fun, but it's exciting and challenging to play a character like Ali, who, you know, she's in an extreme situation.
00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.200
She's in prison.
00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:21.440
She's at one point she had lost her ability to walk, she was using a wheelchair to get around, going through some really intensely hardcore emotions dealing with the loss of her love and the loss of her friends.
00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:32.960
And so we're talking extreme levels of grief, and that's the the juicy stuff that you dream about doing as a kid who wants to be an actor.
00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:37.920
So I'm grateful that I got to lean into all of that messiness.
00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:46.559
But yeah, you and and I guess maybe pre-baby, I was a lot better at just brushing it all off.
00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:57.440
But I think now maybe it's you know, post-menopause, post childbirth, and at a just a very, very different stage in my life.
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:03.359
I feel differently about playing characters like that, and I I think I'm a bit more selective.
00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:09.759
I don't I don't want to voluntarily be sad anymore, even if I'm being paid for it.
00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:33.440
And so I do think twice now if I if I get an audition come through and the characters got some kind of tragic storyline, death in the
family, or you know, whatever it is, I I do now think twice about whether I want to subject my body to that because you're, you know, your mind doesn't know that what your body is doing isn't real.
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:34.079
Yeah.
00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:38.720
And I think I think that that trauma can actually have a bit of an effect on you.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:43.440
Wow, that was a really long answer to your question, which I kind of can't even remember now.
00:27:43.599 --> 00:28:07.839
But I think to answer the original question is I I don't know that I have a routine necessarily, but I think what I've always tried to do in my entire career as an actor is just make sure that my life outside of acting is as exciting and wholesome and fulfilling as my career.
00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:18.319
And then that way you can just leave the character at the door and re-enter your real life and hopefully be fulfilled and loved.
00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:20.400
Yeah, because everything's energy, right?
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:24.559
So even if you're doing an emotional scene and you're screaming and crying, it's still energy.
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:33.359
And then I imagine when you get home, you like there's a depletion, you know, of I don't know, the dopamine's kind of gone, or you know, so I can see how it could greatly impact you afterwards.
00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:38.079
I bel I do believe that I'm actually getting a little bit more woo-woo in my old age.
00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:45.440
And I I do I do believe that that kind of energy can can affect you on a an internal level.
00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:50.960
I think that's maybe why I'm a bit more selective about the acting jobs that I'll do now.
00:28:51.119 --> 00:29:12.240
And that's been one of the biggest joys about kind of slightly modulating my career over into the the social media world is that I now, for the first time in my career as an actor, I have the opportunity to be able to say, no, maybe I'm not, maybe I'm not gonna audition for that, or actually I don't, I don't want to play that role.
00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:16.000
And I can, and this year has been a perfect example of that.
00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:39.039
I can just take certain jobs that really excite me and characters that I really want to play, and then it can be fun again, as opposed to where it often gets to with actors if if it's your day job, you oftentimes you don't have a choice about whether you take the role or not, you just you gotta do it because there's a mortgage that needs to be paid and your kids gotta eat.
00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:43.519
So you don't always have the luxury of being able to say no.
00:29:43.839 --> 00:30:01.920
And that's the been the best thing for me about having my side hustle turn into a like a full-time hustle, is that I I now do have that power to be able to say, I'll work as an actor when I want to, as opposed to I desperately need to work as an actor because I've got bills to pay.
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:02.640
Yeah.
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:05.759
Well, on that, you've gone from top dog to top chef.
00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:06.559
Excuse me.
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.240
How did my shit kitchen come about?
00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:09.839
That wasn't like as in that was a joke.
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:11.920
I actually have gone from top dog to top chef.
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:15.279
It's just a an inopportune throat clear.
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:17.200
How did my shit kitchen come about?
00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:18.400
How did it evolve?
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:25.119
It came it came about when we were filming Wentworth in the very last season.
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:34.240
And COVID hit, and because of all of the restrictions and regulations about proximity, we obviously couldn't continue to shoot the show.
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:41.440
And we were sent home midway through the season, and we were all, like everybody was, a bit nervous.
00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:43.839
Are we at are we ever going to work again?
00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:54.720
Are we going to be able to finish this iconic show that everyone desperately wants to, you know, we had fans gagging for the last season, and we all really wanted to finish it.
00:30:54.799 --> 00:31:01.519
So we were all sent home with our fingers crossed, hoping that we would be able to act again one day.
00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:12.240
And I think I I guess harking back to what I was saying before about always having this like need to, I suppose, entertain people.
00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:29.440
I thought that it would be a funny idea if I filmed myself cooking dinner one night because it was at that particular point of COVID where it was the very early stages where you couldn't buy groceries, that you walked into Kohl's and there was not a thing on the shelf.
00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.400
You know, you couldn't find a potato to save your life.
00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:37.039
There was no spaghetti, like there was literally nothing in the shell on the shelves.
00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:43.599
So I was making do feeding myself with what had been in my cupboards for weeks.
00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:52.559
And so I thought it would just be funny if I filmed myself making myself dinner with whatever random scraps I had in my cupboard and in my fridge.
00:31:52.799 --> 00:32:02.640
And so I whipped up this chicken noodle soup, except I didn't have chicken, I had chickpeas, and I didn't have noodles, I had lasagna sheets and peanut noodle soup.
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:03.599
Yeah.
00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:12.640
And so I kind of cobbled this meal together and I called it cooking with COVID, and and I didn't think any more of it.
00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:21.759
And I published it, and I got such a nice response from that video, and so many people said, Oh, this has really lifted my mood today.
00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:30.480
This has this has been like a little shining ray of light in like the depression of COVID.
00:32:30.640 -->
00:32:39.359
And people encouraged me to do more of it throughout the lockdown, and so I did because I I didn't have anything else to do, quite frankly.
00:32:39.519 --> 00:33:02.319
So every day I would film myself cooking with COVID and sharing the ridiculous meals that I was cooking in my kitchen, and it became quite popular and it was fun and it was a pastime, and I never imagined that it would turn into what it has turned into.
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:05.680
But when COVID finished, we went back to work.
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:12.400
I stopped doing the cooking videos, went on to finish Wentworth, went on to work on other projects, had a child.
00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:33.599
But I noticed that whenever I would catch up with people or if someone would stop me in the street and want to talk, talk to me, I noticed that more and more people were asking about the cooking show, more so than they were asking about Wentworth or Offspring or any other TV show that I had in the mix.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:37.680
People were more interested in this silly little cooking show that I did during COVID.
00:33:38.000 --> 00:33:47.119
And so I I just thought it was probably about two years ago now that I thought, you know what?
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:50.720
I I'm gonna see if I can turn this into a career.
00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:52.559
I think maybe I can.
00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:55.920
And I hadn't been working as much as an actor.
00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:04.160
I had a young child, I moved up to the Gold Coast, big life changes, and I I just thought, you know what?
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:05.759
What have I got to lose?
00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:07.440
I'm gonna give it a try.
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:15.199
And so I brought it back, and COVID's well and truly done, so I needed to come up with a new name for it, and I called it my ship kitchen.
00:34:15.519 --> 00:34:24.960
And I just treated it like a full-time job, and I filmed most days, I posted most days, and I just wanted to see where it would go.
00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:30.480
And sure enough, it's turned into my full-time job now.
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:34.159
I'm I'm literally filming collaboration at the moment.
00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:52.960
When we hang up, I'll be back on the tools, and it's it's been really, really joyful because it's everything that I wanted to be as a kid, you know, being silly, being an entertainer, telling stories, trying to make people laugh.
00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:58.639
It's just not a scripted narrative that I that I'm was used to as an actor.
00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:05.840
So it's been a really, it's been a really lovely turn of events in my life.
00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:08.880
And I'm glad that I invested in myself.
00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:17.519
I'm very proud that I'm very proud that I've turned it into something that can be just mine and I can have a lot more control over it.
00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:22.800
And it's it's just given me a lot of opportunities in life that I wouldn't
have had just as an actor.
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:53.280
So it's been um, it's been really magic, and it's nice to connect to other women who are at a similar stage in their life because I think I do, I speak to a lot of women my age who have kids, who are by no means Michelin starred chefs, and we're just trying to survive, you know, and it doesn't have to be fancy, you don't have to be dressed in a ball gown, the lighting doesn't have to be perfect, the sound doesn't have to be perfect.
00:35:53.440 --> 00:36:00.719
We're just we're all in our shit kitchens and we're just trying to feed ourselves and hopefully not let our kids starve.
00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:01.519
True.
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:04.719
I think everyone's craving authenticity too, and it's real.
00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:18.239
Did you ever so I've got your cookbook here, it's gonna come up back the front, but it's called Huff Bakes, and I've marked uh my favourite recipe in here is the princess pasta, which you completely Megan Muckle, who stole it from Martha Stewart, who stole it from Mononic in Italy.
00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:26.639
Now, ironically, when I went onto Amazon to buy this book, it was in the section with there was Jamie Mullivathi and Pasta Nunners.
00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:29.119
So you're and then you and I was like, oh my god.
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:31.119
Like so you totally that goes.
00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:31.519
I love it.
00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:35.599
Oh my god, what a thrill, what a good company.
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:41.199
That was, you know, and then you've got here like lazy caprizy, it's got words in it, like there's no mixing, it's just chuck.
00:36:41.280 --> 00:36:42.960
But let's just be real, chuck it in and bubble.
00:36:43.039 --> 00:36:44.480
It's just it's so huge in co.
00:36:44.639 --> 00:36:46.000
And I just I love it, yeah.
00:36:46.159 --> 00:36:48.239
I don't pour, I don't mix, I chuck.
00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:50.000
Chuck, just chuck it in.
00:36:50.159 --> 00:36:53.519
And it's not, there's not really a lot of measurements, it's just a bit of that, bit of this.
00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:00.480
I saw the other day you were doing a like a brand ambassador, like product testing for Harris Garvesome kitchen utensils.
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:03.679
Like, did you ever think it would lead to this and that?
00:37:03.840 --> 00:37:07.519
Like I honestly, I hoped it would.
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:08.960
I really hoped it would.
00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:13.679
That is that is exactly where I wanted it to lead.
00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:18.960
Because I look at someone like Jamie Oliver and I think, my God, wow, there's this.
00:37:19.039 --> 00:37:24.480
I mean, let me be clear, he is a chef, a very, very talented chef.
00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:32.000
But he clearly has a way of being able to connect to people and tell stories and is extremely charismatic on screen.
00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:38.239
And he's just found a way to use his skill of cooking to connect people.
00:37:38.639 --> 00:37:49.280
And and I I guess I wanted to do the same thing because cooking is something that almost everybody has in almost everybody has in common, right?
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:55.199
Everyone's got to cook, usually, and not everyone is gonna be great at it.
00:37:55.360 --> 00:38:03.280
So why not put a spotlight on the millions and millions and millions of people like me who have to cook every single day?
00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:07.519
It is one of the most boring and grueling things about motherhood.
00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:08.559
You gotta cook.
00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:11.440
That kid is gonna be hungry all the time.
00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:24.239
And it's for me, it was a way to connect with people, hopefully entertain people, but also make my boring life tasks more enjoyable.
00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:32.880
And I mean, let's be real, the fact that I can monetize cooking my kid dinner, like what a joy! So it's so good.
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:34.079
So clever.
00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:35.920
What's your favorite meal to make?
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:39.360
Like if you could choose tonight to have something for dinner, what would it be?
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:45.039
Oh man, that's that is unbelievably difficult.
00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:50.639
My favorite thing to eat is like a spicy brothy noodle soup.
00:38:51.360 --> 00:39:00.400
That would be my favorite thing to eat, but I have to say that brothy noodle soups are probably not my that's not where my skill set thrives.
00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:13.119
I cook a mean pasta, I'm good with the Italian seasonings, uh I'm not so good with the the noodle soups, but gosh, if I could cook anything tonight, what would I cook?
00:39:14.960 --> 00:39:26.639
I'm just a hungry girl and I generally very much enjoy whatever is in front of me in that moment because whatever I'm about to consume is my favorite food of the second.
00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:33.519
And I think you can tell, you know, when I eat something on camera, I'm actually not faking those responses.
00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:36.559
I am actually just very passionate about eating.
00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:40.559
Um gosh, my favorite thing to cook.
00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:42.880
Or if I came for dinner, what would you make me?
00:39:42.960 --> 00:39:44.639
What would you cook for me if I came as a guest?
00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:46.239
And we want to make, we want to keep it easy.
00:39:46.320 --> 00:39:47.840
We don't want to, you know, we don't want to.
00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:51.199
Okay, well, why do you eat everything?
00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:52.480
Not not really.
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:53.280
Kind of picky.
00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:57.599
You don't eat olives or seafood or like I like I like pasta.
00:39:57.679 --> 00:39:59.199
Would you make me a princess pasta salad?
00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:00.400
Princess pasta.
00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:06.079
Yep, I'd probably, if you didn't like, if you if you're not into seafood, God, what would I
make you?
00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:07.440
You know what I would make?
00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:09.280
Something that I've been obsessed with lately.
00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:20.159
I would make you my steak, but the way that I make it is I marinade the steak in soy sauce and pineapple juice.
00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:23.760
I learned this trick recently, it's revolutionized my life.
00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:33.840
Something about the combination of the salt and the enzymes from the pineapple juice, it breaks down the proteins in the steak and it makes it so tender.
00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:36.400
So I'd marinate the steak in that.
00:40:36.639 --> 00:40:45.280
I'd do, I'd do a beautiful piece of steak with some delicious zingy chimichuri style sauce.
00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:52.400
And I'd do probably like a ooh, see now I'm getting excited.
00:40:52.480 --> 00:41:00.079
I'd probably do like a crushed potatoes, like crushed roast potatoes and some kind of a creamy cabbage situation.
00:41:00.239 --> 00:41:01.599
I'm sal I'm salivating.
00:41:01.679 --> 00:41:02.159
That sounds really good.
00:41:03.199 --> 00:41:04.000
That sounds really nice.
00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:05.440
It doesn't even sound shit.
00:41:05.760 --> 00:41:11.840
And I think you need to give yourself a bit more credit because that sounds like something a chef would make, like the pineapple trick, and that's like next level.
00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:12.400
Thank you.
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:22.320
Look, I will say, I am, I am not ashamed to admit that I think I have become a better cook because I have been cooking all of the time.
00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:30.000
And because if I was just cooking for myself and the cameras weren't rolling, I'd probably cook the same thing on repeat.
00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:43.599
But because I'm, you know, it's my job now and I've got to create interesting content and diverse content, I do find myself thinking, okay, well, what can I cook that I haven't cooked before?
00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:48.800
And it has actually, I think, improved my skills as a as a chef.
00:41:49.039 --> 00:41:55.280
My brother, who is living with me at the moment, can attest that everything I've been, he because he's my official taste tester.
00:41:56.000 --> 00:42:00.159
Um everything I've been bunging out recently has been has been pretty good.
00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:02.559
Yeah, 10 out of 10, gold standard.
00:42:02.880 --> 00:42:08.480
You mentioned recently that you were you were filming for two whole days and you're doing a two-page monologue.
00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:10.800
How do you prepare for that?
00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:13.039
And and you know, I don't have a very good memory.
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:16.639
I spent half the week thinking yesterday was Saturday and it really wasn't.
00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:18.960
Um how do you prepare for that and remember?
00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:23.039
And I know if that's Perimenopaur's brain as well, which we have to contend with that sort of stuff too.
00:42:23.119 --> 00:42:24.559
And that's really true.
00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:29.840
How do you remember lines, especially on a set where there is no ad libbing and it has to be verbatim?
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:30.880
Is that really hard?
00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:37.039
Is that just an extra skill actors have an extra brain chromosome where they have a great memory for remembering what they're saying?
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:38.079
Yeah.
00:42:38.320 --> 00:42:41.599
Yeah, well, I think I think you have to get good at it.
00:42:42.559 --> 00:42:44.000
There's no avoiding it.
00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:49.760
And it can, I mean, it is obvious, it can be a huge challenge.
00:42:51.039 --> 00:42:54.800
And for me, I've always found learning lines quite easy.
00:42:55.039 --> 00:43:01.760
If if there's a dialogue, especially, because all you need to know is, well, what's you know, what's really what's the journey of this scene?
00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:03.039
What am I saying to this person?
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:04.239
What are they saying to me?
00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:14.400
And it can be a lot easier to make sense of a scene where, well, girl walks into a bar and she orders a drink and then she meets a guy and they flirt.
00:43:14.800 --> 00:43:17.599
It's easier to learn something like that where there's a dynamic.
00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:29.119
But if it's just a two-page monologue, like what I had to do a couple of weeks ago, that's a lot harder because there's no, you don't get any cues from a scene partner.
00:43:29.519 --> 00:43:34.000
You just you literally are just memorizing what's in your head.
00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:39.039
Fortunately for me, the script was brilliant.
00:43:39.280 --> 00:43:44.639
It was really well written, and it was, I found it fairly easy to learn.
00:43:44.800 --> 00:43:46.559
Like it it made sense.
00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:59.760
There was a, I guess there was a bit of a journey in the speech because it was a she I was playing a woman who was a professional debater, and so she was debating a topic, and it it just, I don't know, the the words just flowed.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:03.679
And it I found it fairly easy to learn.
00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:09.280
But God, I wouldn't even know how to tell someone how to learn lines like that.
00:44:09.360 --> 00:44:15.760
I think you just have to read it a thousand times, and then you read it again at like another 50 times.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:18.239
And then I will sometimes write it all out.
00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:22.079
And then Bruno's next to me coughing up a hairball.
00:44:22.400 --> 00:44:23.519
Get it out, buddy.
00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:25.039
There you go.
00:44:26.719 --> 00:44:33.599
And then I always make sure that I've said it out aloud a bunch of times before I get to set.
00:44:34.400 --> 00:44:40.639
The biggest mistake I think is getting to set, and the first time that you say it out loud is on camera.
00:44:40.800 --> 00:44:41.840
That's always dangerous.
00:44:42.000 --> 00:44:56.320
So it's it's not nothing particularly earth-shattering in terms of originality, but I literally just read it a million times, say it a million times, and then hope for the best on the day.
00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:06.079
If I was, but I would struggle what I would really struggle with, and thank God I haven't really been cast in many of these roles.
00:45:06.239 --> 00:45:11.519
Sometimes I have, but but not many, is when you have to have technical jargon.
00:45:11.760 --> 00:45:26.880
Like when I played a doctor on Doctor Doctor, or when I played, like I played a sonar specialist on this American TV show where it was everything was like it, I don't even know what words I was saying.
00:45:27.039 --> 00:45:35.840
It was it was basically 15 kilometers south of gobbledygook, and I I literally didn't know what I was saying.
00:45:35.920 --> 00:45:40.400
So I just that is the hardest stuff to wrote learnt it.
00:45:41.440 --> 00:45:41.760
Yeah.
00:45:41.920 --> 00:45:42.159
Yeah.
00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:43.599
Because like you can't make sense of it.
00:45:43.760 --> 00:45:44.239
I don't know.
00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:46.000
I literally don't know what I'm saying.
00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:46.880
Yeah.
00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:47.440
Yeah.
00:45:47.519 --> 00:45:49.760
And I like I watched episodes of the pit.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:51.280
Have you seen episodes of the pit?
00:45:51.519 --> 00:45:51.679
Yeah.
00:45:51.840 --> 00:45:53.039
How do they do that?
00:45:53.599 --> 00:46:00.719
The the I've heard too that there are no, they're not allowed to bring their scripts onto set.
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:03.199
You have to learn it like a play.
00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:04.400
Wow.
00:46:04.800 --> 00:46:07.039
God, that's that would be difficult.
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:15.519
I would find that incredibly stressful because there's no emotional journey when you're literally just spewing out medical jargon.
00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:21.519
It's just that's just a a that's just an exercise in how good your memory is.
00:46:22.719 --> 00:46:32.480
I guess I always assumed as someone that's not in the acting world, that if a if you deliver a line and if you didn't know the next one, they'd just cut and then they'd just whisper it and then you go again and it could be stop and start.
00:46:32.559 --> 00:46:35.920
But I guess in a situation like that, you can't just have a quick read and you know.
00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:39.760
You you can, and that's where editing is your best friend.
00:46:39.920 --> 00:46:45.280
Because of course, you know, when I was shooting this film the other day and all of us had big long monologues.
00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:51.280
Of course, you know, there were times where we would mess up and forget where we were and call out for a line or whatever.
00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:55.519
And, you know, thank God the magic of cinema, you can edit around that.
00:46:55.679 --> 00:47:04.639
But something like a show like The Pit,
it's my understanding that they really they try to do everything in one take.
00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:13.280
And the I think the the actors have famously kind of come out and spoken about the fact where the fact that you know you really don't, you don't mess up.
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:19.039
You make sure that you know your lines, and that would be I would find that incredibly stressful.
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:24.079
Yeah, I'd be too worried about knowing it, thinking constantly, do I know it to know it?
00:47:24.159 --> 00:47:24.719
Do you know what I mean?
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:24.960
Yes.
00:47:27.199 --> 00:47:29.119
You just came back from New York a few days ago.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:31.119
Can you tell us what you were doing in the Big Apple?
00:47:31.199 --> 00:47:32.239
Is it secret?
00:47:32.880 --> 00:47:34.320
No, no, it wasn't a secret.
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:44.480
So one of the many, many joys of being on Wentworth for as long as I was, that that that show just had a cult following and still does.
00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:47.760
It's very, very popular in Australia.
00:47:47.920 --> 00:47:51.360
It was hugely popular in America and the UK.
00:47:51.760 --> 00:48:00.239
And we the show is still so popular, and we've got new people coming to the show, I guess, because it's still on streaming platforms.
00:48:00.559 --> 00:48:14.719
So the fan base never really diminishes, and there's been a whole new world that's opened up post finishing the show, where we will go and do it's like a Comic-Con, but just for Wentworth.
00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:22.239
And so people will come from all over the world, and there'll be a convention, but it's just cast from the show.
00:48:22.480 --> 00:48:24.960
And yeah, it's a fan event eventually.
00:48:25.119 --> 00:48:27.199
It's a fan event, essentially.
00:48:27.519 --> 00:48:36.800
And people can come and they get photos with us and they get signed autographs and round tables where they get to meet us up close and personal.
00:48:36.880 --> 00:48:39.280
And it's really lovely, actually.
00:48:39.440 --> 00:48:49.760
It's a beautiful way to connect with people, and it's been it's been so nice to be a part of the show, a show that has had such impact on people's lives.
00:48:50.079 --> 00:49:04.880
Because as an actor, I can say in my two decades, two plus decades of doing this, I have never ever been a part of a show that has had such an impact on people.
00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:08.559
And you don't, and an impact that you get to see as well.
00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:12.960
Because most of the time you shoot a show, it goes to air, and that's it.
00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:18.400
You never mostly, most of the time, no one's ever seen it, no one cares, and people forget about it.
00:49:18.639 --> 00:49:22.960
But with shows like Wentworth, a little bit with offspring as well.
00:49:23.199 --> 00:49:35.760
I still get people wanting to talk to me about offspring a lot, it it really affects people, and they're it's so nice to be able to, I guess, enjoy the spoils of what you do.
00:49:36.000 --> 00:49:47.760
Because you unlike the theatre where the audience is right there and you can see them in the lobby afterwards, and they can say, Oh, hey, I love that, or I didn't get it, or whatever.
00:49:47.920 --> 00:49:53.119
You never really have that dialogue with the audience on a film or a TV show.
00:49:53.440 --> 00:50:06.719
So Wentworth has been an anomaly in that respect because for years now, like I shot Wentworth for six years, and I've now been doing Wentworth cons for six years.
00:50:07.039 --> 00:50:22.239
So I've I've had I've been able to talk to people about their journey and how the piece of art that I was a part of changed their lives or had an impact in their lives, and that's really rare.
00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:27.599
And I'm I'm so glad that I get to be a part of that.
00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:35.840
Yeah, and it like you said, it's the validation that you don't get from being on stage, you know, getting in front of the people and and hearing them express how much it means to them.
00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:48.079
I know that later on this year in on binge, I think it is, or early next year, there's Wentworth Halfway House is coming out and it follows paroled Boomer, Boomer's paroled, and it's so Susan Jenkins and she navigates her life outside prison.
00:50:48.239 --> 00:50:54.320
Is Ally Novak in that or Ali Novak is not in that, at least not in the first season.
00:50:54.480 --> 00:51:10.159
Maybe if if the show hopefully is wildly successful, yeah, and the fans of the show get behind it, maybe, maybe it will maybe they will have intentions at intentions of bringing other characters into the mix, like original Wentworth characters.
00:51:10.480 --> 00:51:22.159
But my understanding of the show is that yeah, it it follows Boomer in Halfway House as she sort of I suppose assimilates back into the real world.
00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:24.880
And I think it's really, really cool.
00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:37.119
And I obviously it's going to focus on some of the Wentworth characters, but by and large, I think it it's a story about the new women, and it'll be a new world outside of the prison.
00:51:37.360 --> 00:51:44.159
And so I think that they're very clear that they want to make it a very separate entity from Wentworth.
00:51:44.639 --> 00:51:49.920
So um, at least for this first series, Allie will not be making an appearance.
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:56.400
But I I'm so excited for Katrina and for Kate Box and Nicole DeSilva who are in it.
00:51:56.719 --> 00:52:03.440
I hope that I hope that I hope that it finds the old audience and I hope that it finds the new audience.
00:52:03.679 --> 00:52:11.199
It's just I ultimately I love I love seeing women-led projects.
00:52:11.599 --> 00:52:17.360
I love that it's a forecast of women again, and I hope, I hope it does really well.
00:52:17.840 --> 00:52:21.760
I think you'll get a call up at some
point because everyone wants to know what happened to Ali and you know.
00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:23.199
Oh, I know.
00:52:23.440 --> 00:52:26.000
I'm I'm curious to find out what happens to her too.
00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:28.559
I don't think she's working in a shop.
00:52:28.639 --> 00:52:31.119
I think I don't know where she is, but she's up to something.
00:52:31.280 --> 00:52:33.599
And I love that there's been a massive fan buzz about it.
00:52:33.679 --> 00:52:35.679
People are really excited, so I'm looking forward to seeing it.
00:52:35.920 --> 00:52:36.559
Yeah, me too.
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:40.639
I just want to ask you one more question.
00:52:40.880 --> 00:52:41.840
What's next for you?
00:52:41.920 --> 00:52:46.719
And how can we help you in your cooking journey and support what you're doing and get onto all the time?
00:52:47.679 --> 00:52:49.199
That's so lovely.
00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:51.679
Oh God, you've put me on the spot.
00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:54.400
I need to I need to know what my five-year plan is.
00:52:54.719 --> 00:52:59.280
Well, we need to buy, I'm gonna put a link to this, this half half-baked cookbook, because it is fantastic.
00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:04.559
It's not it's also funny because you are very you're very good at comedy, I must say, because you're quite a funny person.
00:53:05.039 --> 00:53:05.280
Thank you.
00:53:05.360 --> 00:53:13.039
I did, I did want it to be, I did want it to be a funny book, something that would be equally enjoyable to read as it would be as well.
00:53:13.199 --> 00:53:15.039
It sounds like you like how you present.
00:53:15.280 --> 00:53:17.920
Yeah, when you talk on camera too when you do your cooking show.
00:53:18.000 --> 00:53:20.159
This sounds like you talking in the book, which I really like.
00:53:20.239 --> 00:53:21.840
Like, you know, there's one go through it.
00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:22.719
You definitely wrote this.
00:53:22.800 --> 00:53:30.960
But yeah, so we can buy the book, we watch the show, we can go on to yes, you can support me by absolutely buying my book.
00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:33.119
Hey, let's send me into early retirement.
00:53:33.280 --> 00:53:37.360
Actually, I was gonna say send me into early retirement, but no, I don't want I I want to keep doing this.
00:53:37.519 --> 00:53:38.880
Um, but yeah, buy my book.
00:53:38.960 --> 00:53:41.440
It's fun, it's a really cute and it's it's funky too.
00:53:41.519 --> 00:53:42.239
Like it looks cute.
00:53:43.039 --> 00:53:44.000
You look cute in your kitchen.
00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:47.760
So buy my book and please follow along with my kitchen escapades.
00:53:47.920 --> 00:53:50.559
Follow me on Instagram or TikTok.
00:53:50.880 --> 00:54:04.000
And I think what's next for me, I I just I'm very curious to see what else I can create with this foundation that I've built.
00:54:04.159 --> 00:54:10.239
Because I feel like being an actor where you know it was just one thing.
00:54:10.320 --> 00:54:13.119
I just wanted
to be an actor and be in different shows.
00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:15.760
But this feels like a different thing altogether.
00:54:15.920 --> 00:54:20.800
I've I've created a platform where I'm not playing a character, I'm me.
00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:25.440
And so I can hopefully parlay that into all sorts of different things.
00:54:25.519 --> 00:54:29.840
Like I'd love to have a cooking show, like a legit cooking show.
00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:33.199
I'd love to write another book.
00:54:34.000 --> 00:54:37.119
I have what I'm really enjoying is my Substack.
00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:47.440
You can go and follow me over on Substack where you get premium content that isn't shown on my social media platforms, and you get the recipes there as well.
00:54:47.599 --> 00:54:52.079
And yeah, I think I'm excited about becoming a businesswoman.
00:54:52.239 --> 00:55:00.639
It feels like this year has been about me migrating from being an actor to a businesswoman, and it's really exciting.
00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:03.519
It feels very adult.
00:55:04.239 --> 00:55:05.280
Congratulations.
00:55:05.440 --> 00:55:06.000
I love that.
00:55:06.159 --> 00:55:11.920
I went looking for merch and I think you had some, but it all sold out because I can see aprons, I can see cookware.
00:55:12.079 --> 00:55:12.960
Like I would buy that.
00:55:13.119 --> 00:55:13.440
Yes.
00:55:13.679 --> 00:55:16.719
Buy the my sheet cookware set, you know.
00:55:17.119 --> 00:55:19.840
It did, it did all sell out, but that's the plan.
00:55:20.000 --> 00:55:23.119
Let's let's turn me into like why not shoot for the moon?
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:26.239
Can I be like Kim Kardashian with her skims line?
00:55:26.320 --> 00:55:30.480
And you can just buy all of my merchandise merchandise and I can be a billionaire.
00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:31.440
That'd be great.
00:55:31.599 --> 00:55:32.159
I'd love that.
00:55:32.239 --> 00:55:33.679
Yeah, I'd be a good billionaire.
00:55:33.840 --> 00:55:38.880
Like I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be one of those awful ones that uses you know, free labour and all that.
00:55:39.199 --> 00:55:39.840
You'd save dogs.
00:55:41.119 --> 00:55:41.840
Yeah, I'd yeah.
00:55:42.320 --> 00:55:43.440
I'd be like Taylor Swift.
00:55:43.599 --> 00:55:45.760
I'd be the Taylor Swift of the food industry.
00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:46.079
Yeah.
00:55:46.320 --> 00:55:47.440
About with dog rescue.
00:55:47.840 --> 00:55:49.599
I yeah, I think the sky's the limit.
00:55:49.760 --> 00:55:59.519
And I don't know about you, but even doing starting this podcast, whenever I've done things for other people, I've had to not be the myself, but a professional version of myself.
00:55:59.599 --> 00:56:04.239
And when you're doing it for yourself, you're responsible for your own brand and you're responsible for it sinking or swimming.
00:56:04.320 --> 00:56:05.840
And I find that quite freeing.
00:56:06.079 --> 00:56:08.800
You know, like if if my stuff works out, it works out.
00:56:08.880 --> 00:56:12.480
Do you find that too, compared to having to perform for someone else on their production?
00:56:12.559 --> 00:56:16.159
When you're doing it for yourself, it stops with you, it can be whatever you want.
00:56:16.880 --> 00:56:17.599
Absolutely.
00:56:17.679 --> 00:56:31.119
And it's then so much more gratifying when something hits to see, to see this little channel that I've created succeed and thrive.
00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:33.199
It's gratifying because it's me, right?
00:56:33.280 --> 00:56:40.159
I'm not playing a character, I'm not saying the lines that someone else has written, I'm not wearing a costume that someone else has put together.
00:56:40.320 --> 00:56:43.199
I'm something that I've created myself.
00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:49.440
And the fact that people are enjoying it and embracing it is it's lovely.
00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:51.039
It's brilliant.
00:56:51.199 --> 00:56:52.559
You're authentic, you're the real deal.
00:56:52.639 --> 00:56:53.920
I appreciate your time greatly.
00:56:54.000 --> 00:56:54.639
Thank you so much.
00:56:54.800 --> 00:56:55.519
How are the boys?
00:56:55.599 --> 00:56:57.280
Are they good, Bowie and and Bruno?
00:56:57.360 --> 00:56:57.679
Are they okay?
00:56:59.119 --> 00:56:59.920
They're so good.
00:57:00.159 --> 00:57:13.440
I mean, Bruno, if Bruno's falling apart every day, there's something new with him, but he's he's they're they're both survivors and they are both living the lap of luxury with me.
00:57:13.679 --> 00:57:20.320
They're thriving, they're good boys, and they're very annoying, and they still poo inside all the time.
00:57:21.039 --> 00:57:21.760
But you know what?
00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:22.960
I'm just I'm okay with it.
00:57:23.039 --> 00:57:25.039
It's it's literally my shit kitchen.
00:57:25.199 --> 00:57:28.000
There's probably gonna be a dog shit in the kitchen.
00:57:28.480 --> 00:57:31.039
So it's it's a brand, if nothing else.
00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:32.079
For sure.
00:57:32.239 --> 00:57:33.280
Uh thank you so much.
00:57:33.360 --> 00:57:34.320
I appreciate your time.
00:57:34.480 --> 00:57:34.960
Have a great day.
00:57:35.119 --> 00:57:39.039
Look forward to seeing what you're doing next and to buying the apron and the uh the the measuring cup set.
00:57:40.079 --> 00:57:41.119
Thank you, Alex.
00:57:41.199 --> 00:57:42.079
It's been my pleasure.
00:57:42.960 --> 00:57:43.760
Thank you.
00:57:47.840 --> 00:57:48.960
The popcorn pen.