Kerry Armstrong at home and at peace on her new farm just outside Melbourne. cover story

Kerry Armstrong: Back to basics She commands attention, writes JULIE McCROSSIN, but is happiest when she’s invisible — or at home away from the limelight

eeting actress Kerry A year or so ago, Armstrong bought a When she was in her early 20s, she lived Armstrong face-to-face is farm near Melbourne where she now lives a very different life. She went to New York a compelling experience. with her three sons and her partner of two on an acting scholarship to study at the M Not only is she attractive years, barrister Greg Lucas. You reach the HB Studio under Herbert Berghof and his and affectionate, but her intelligence and house after passing through small villages on wife Uta Hagen, who played the corrosive intensity demand your attention. To me, the outskirts of Melbourne. Martha in the fi rst production of Albee’s she is like a champion racehorse in the It’s a simple, open-plan house in an Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? marshalling yards before a race, emotion idyllic location, the kind of spacious and During the course, Berghof wrote a note fl ickering across the surface of the skin. comfortable country home where you to director Mike Nichols: “Here is my wild This equine analogy is not new. On immediately feel relaxed. You reach it Australian horse with the headlights and the Australian Story, her mother Bev Armstrong along a winding dirt road that would be beating heart. Look after her because she won’t said of her, “You were like this wild horse treacherous to navigate at night. Behind the look after herself. She’ll give you whatever it is and you had somewhere to go. And nothing home is a fi eld of grapevines and Lucas tells that’s needed and she’ll keep going.” any of us could say or do would stop you.” me he’s hoping to produce a small family Armstrong’s entrance to the HB Studio Armstrong, 48, is best known for her vintage in future years. classes required a tough audition by Uta award-winning performance as Sonia Zat As we walk around the garden, Armstrong Hagen, described by CNN on her death in the fi lm Lantana, as well as for playing points out nests in the eaves of the verandah at 84 as well-known for saying exactly Heather Jelly, the shire president’s wife, on and we spend time photographing small, what she thought and “sparing no one, ABC TV’s much-loved SeaChange. In those colourful birds that swirl about the house. including herself ”. roles, in 2001 she became the fi rst and only It’s clear that living in the country still feels Hagen’s formidable reputation made actress to win an Australian Film Institute like a new adventure for her, but the space, Kerry Armstrong’s experience with her even Award for best actress in both a television the light and the long views into the distance more signifi cant. She stopped the young series and a feature fi lm in the same year. with no neighbours in sight seem to suit her. Armstrong halfway through her audition and simply said, “I’m taking you.” Armstrong was so shocked she thought Hagen had said, “I’m hating you.” But, in I’m full. I don’t need any more attention fact, she’d invited her to join a group of only 15 students and told her, “You can rest now. or scrutiny. What I need to do is to You’re safe. You’re meant to be doing this.” Armstrong smiles as she describes this work out how to be a member of the experience as “thrilling”. This early affi rmation of her talent underpins her successful approach community that adds to its peace of mind. to immersing herself in a character. ➤

lifeetc 19 cover story

‘What I’m very aware of is my inability to enjoy drama in my personal life. I want to be paid to do drama, not have it at home.’

Heather Jelly in SeaChange made us laugh, but she was never a parody of a dumb My little guys are like tugboats and have blonde. Armstrong calls her “the goddess of small things”. She explains Heather like this: pulled me through some rough passages. “If a Japanese businessman is coming over to dinner, she would throw on a kimono and I’m not allowed to curl up in a ball and have a few chopsticks in her hair. She was caught up in what the world said she should die. I have to be a mother, so I stand up. be. She was dying to please.” She sums up her approach by saying, “I won’t give you a dumb blonde. I’ll give you a thought, ‘You’ve got to know what I feel like productions for fi lm, television and theatre. dying blonde.” from day one.’ So I sat on his lap.” At last year’s Sydney Arts Festival, Her search for authenticity can lead to Armstrong’s skills in comedy and Armstrong acted in Sticky Bricks, sharing the intense experiences for her fellow actors. drama will soon be on display again in the stage with public housing tenants from the Anthony La Paglia told Australian Story Australian fi lm Razzle Dazzle, due for release huge Northcott fl ats in inner Sydney. More about his fi rst meeting with Armstrong in March, a black comedy in which she recently, Big hART produced Radio Holiday in preparation for their roles in Lantana: plays a mother with high ambitions for her in the Melbourne Festival and Ngapartji “She walked into the rehearsal room and dancing daughter. Ngapartji at the Sydney Opera House. just sat on my lap. It made me a little Later in 2007 will see the release of the Ngapartji Ngapartji, a drama from Alice uncomfortable. And she just looked me in US production Reservations, which follows Springs involving local Aboriginal teenagers, the eye and said, ‘Get over it. We’re playing the fate of a group of people trapped in a explores displacement and the importance husband and wife.’” hotel fi re in New York. Armstrong plays an of language. The title means, “I give you Armstrong explains, “We only had six Australian fl ight attendant. something, you give me something”, and weeks to make a home and a family and be a She recently appeared in Dancing with the an on-line Pitjantjara language course is husband and wife. I realised that part of the Stars and is actively involved as a mentor part of the experience on offer. The Sydney alchemy is you need to be both emotionally and board member in new productions Opera House will present a full-scale stage and physically centred. The hardest thing in by Big hART, a theatre company that production of Ngapartji Ngapartji in 2007. rehearsals would be to feel his weight and I involves marginalised people in professional “It’s right in my core,” Armstrong says of

20 lifeetc PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUSTY WHITE, SNAPPER AND GETTY IMAGES “is disappearing intosomeoneelse’slife”. community that addstoitspeaceofmind.” is toworkouthowbeamember ofthe for Kerry Armstrong.WhatIneedtodo don’t needanymoreattention orscrutiny of peopleclappingmeagainand again.I MCGs [MelbourneCricketGrounds] full attention formyself. I’mfull.I’vehad400 disappear, nottobeseen.” 1.3 millionviewers,sheinsisted,“Iactto one oftheseries’largestaudiencesever, with TV’s Armstrong’s lifestorywasfeaturedonABC visibility forthemarginalisedisthatwhen Australia’s 26,000homelessyoungpeople. umbrella designedtoraiseawarenessof earlier creativeprojectundertheBighART Federation SquareaspartofaBedVigil,an Indeed, sheoncesleptinMelbourne’s attention topeoplewedon’tgenerallysee. individuals withtheirownspecialstorytotell”. invisible andtheyarenolongernumbers,but created aplacewherepeoplestopbeing her passionforBighART, “becausewe’ve She saysthe“joy andfreedom”ofacting She says,“I’mfi The ironyofallthistalkabout She’s “happytobeahook”attract Australian Story nished withneedingany , inashowthatattracted through diffi her children, whomshelikens to ‘tugboats’ pullingher will screen inearly2007, andwitheldestsonSam, oneof as Tenillein in theABC hitseries TV Anti-clockwise from top: Kerry Armstrong asHeather Jelly winning movie on-screen husbandAnthony LaPaglia inthe2001award- All Iamseeking nowispeace.” chosen. I’malways theonewhogetschosen. “I thinkIhavespentalifewhere I’vebeen in thecharacter.” trust youenoughtoletencase yourself to say, “I’mgoingtoletyoudoyourthing.I approach and,shesays,hadthegenerosity Lawrenceunderstoodher is thatdirectorRay James StewartandCaryGrant”. opposite wonderfulmenlikeSpencerTracey, “always playedstrong,intelligentwomen their roles”,andKatherineHepburnwho and CharlesLaughton,who“disappearedinto with authenticity, butnotasjustaparody.” that’s fl in anyway. I’mhappytohaveacharacter or HeatherJellyin person you’rewitnessingisSoniain “Kerry disappearscompletelyandtheonly uneasily attimeswithhertruenature. the opposite”—somethingshefeelssits Yet shefeelsthe“businessitselfcandemand Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance Into Journey A Dazzle: Razzle cult times. Has shefound peace nowwithher On thepersonalside,Armstrong says, Perhaps thekeytohersuccessin Her earlyrolemodelswereGreerGarson She explains,“Idon’twantwomensullied Her personalmeasureofsuccessiswhen Lantana awed andtorepresentthatcharacter SeaChange , asJustinewithShayni Notelovitz SeaChange , asSoniaZat with ”. , which Lantana Lantana

of thistalented and complexwoman. the back.It’san imagethatcapturesthespirit turns, smiling, I seearearingblackhorseon suddenly appearsinanew, pinkshirt.Asshe requests awardrobechangeand Armstrong people areunkind.” people andwhohaslittlediffi I amanincrediblysimplepersonwholoves carpenter willgetyouandcutyourhands. “If youtrytoexercisecontrol,themaster recognition andawareness,”Armstrongsays. people controlovertheirrelationships? in theinnercircles.Isthisdesignedtogive bring thegreatestpeaceandfulfi concentric circles.Therelationshipsthat place thenamesofeachpersonwithinseven regularly assessalltheirrelationshipsand relationships.” people. Mynextbookwilllookatwomen’s and attimesmen.Igetwildattacksfrom women: “Thereisalotofangerinwomen, that willexplorerelationshipsbetween “life-expanding” connections. seven concentriccirclesinthesearchfor quality ofrelationshipsallkindsthrough copies. Itexploresastrategyforassessingthe publisher HardieGrant,hassold36,000 published in2003and,accordingto continues. Herfi Shanti, 33,Ally, 21, andJulian,19. I standup.”She’salsoclosetostepchildren a ballanddie.Ihavetobemotherso going wrong.I’mnotallowedtocurlupin the worldhaveitswaywithmewhenallis very roughpassages.I’mnotallowedtolet pulledmethroughsome tugboats; they’ve my absolutejoy. Mylittleguysarelike steadying infl year-old twins,CallumandJai—arethe support willberareastheyearsgoon.” that doesn’tneedtobe,thenhavingmy come inandmakeadramafromsomething at home.Inmypersonallife,ifyouwantto drama inmypersonallife. I’m veryawareofismyinabilitytoenjoy parts ofit.It’sonlyacoupleyears.What partner, GregLucas?“We’re stillintheearly Just beforewepart,ourphotographer “It’s notaboutcontrol;it’s In Armstrong isworkingonasecondbook Kerry Armstrong’squestforpeace Her threesons—Sam,16,and10- “I wanttobepaiddodrama,nothaveit Circles , sheencouragespeopleto uences inherlife:“Theyare rst book, Circles culty unless lment are cover story , was life etc 21 ❘❚