After a two-decade reign as the nations sweetheart, a new role in an international thriller will ensure that Asher Keddies next chapteris all about winning over the world.
Asher Keddie is in her element. In a sunburnt paddock on Warramba, a farm west of Sydney, a small herd of docile Scottish Highland cows is trailing behind as she is photographed. Far from being intimidated, Keddie is calm and content as she walks through the red dirt, her blue eyes shining.
Keddie clearly feels at home in the country. In fact, it was the seven-time Logie winner’s idea to trade a city studio for a rural backdrop for this story. “I was totally, totally selfish about it,” she says, laughing. “I was angling to get myself back into some mud, albeit in [Christian] Dior dresses and gumboots.”
For a number of years, she and her husband, acclaimed artist Vincent Fantauzzo, owned a property in rural Victoria. While Keddie might be best known to local audiences for her starring role as Dr Nina Proudman on Network Ten’s Offspring, it is away from the city lights tending to the chooks or horses or even mowing where she finds peace. “I’m a person who really enjoys space and nature,” says Keddie. “As an actor, you are often consumed with your thoughts and when you’re shooting in a chaotic manner for … months, the space in the country offers that respite. It’s lovely and peaceful and you can be alone.”
Keddie’s latest role took her, and her family, far from her country – all the way to Scotland. Audiences will soon see the actress in The Cry, a psychological thriller co-produced by the ABC and the BBC. With a heavy-hitting Australian cast that includes Alex Dimitriades, Jenna Coleman and Ewen Leslie, The Cry is adapted from the bestselling novel by Helen FitzGerald. Shot in both Melbourne and the UK, the four-part television series follows the disappearance of a baby from a rural town. Keddie stars as Alex, a mother facing a custody battle for her daughter – a shift from the warm, funny roles she’s known for.
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2018 edition of Marie Claire Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
WHY WOMEN SHOULDN'T BE DISCOUNTED
Four game-changing women share why they want economic empowerment included in the conversation this International Women’s Day
home HAVEN
Sophie Bell, founder of Peppa Hart, invites us into her calming quarters, writes Samantha Stewart
BEHIND THE SCENES with PETER PHILIPS
An intimate backstage moment with the legendary creative and image director for Dior Makeup
MIAH MADDEN
The Australian actor on her biggest fashion crime, party tricks and the women who have shaped her
TAYLOR SWIFT
As she hits our shores in February, music writer Cameron Adams charts the unbelievable career of the world’s biggest music artist, from her Nashville country music roots to her record-smashing Eras tour
The road to NIRVANA
Editor Georgie Abay lands in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for the adventure of a lifetime
makes SUN sense
What if we saw a suntan for what it really is: a visible sign that skin has been damaged? Sherine Youssef looks behind the golden facade
RUNWAY to DEBT
Modelling agencies are ecruiting young people who have fled war-torn African countries and are living in extreme poverty. They are flown to Europe to take part n fashion castings, but some return within days or weeks, often laden with debt
CALLUM TURNER
The British actor shares tales from the front line, why you should play your heroes and his love for Free Willy
ALL ABOUT JESS
Chart-topping Australian singer Jessica Mauboy talks love, lonliness and music legend Whitney Houston on the eve of her new release, Yours Forever