Claire Lovering - GOLD DIGGERS - Actress

It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload, the podcast past deep that line. Welcome back, guys to TV Reload. My name is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast to get all the inside goss all the popular TV shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, and yet very little is

It looks like that, I guess because I'm on a lot of things I did last in the last eighteen months are all coming out at once, so it looks like I'm everywhere.

You know. It's funny though, you know that often happens in the industry, and that is that while you're working, people don't know you're working, and so they think you're unemployed. And then when all your shows come out on TV, they think you're really busy, but in actual fact, then you're unemployed again.

You're doing nothing. I'm doing nothing. Yeah.

Everyone's like, wow, you're everywhere, You're and I'm like, no, I was busy last year.

This happened a while ago. Yes, yeah, now I need something. I just think you can make a really really good show real out of all the work you've been doing.

It's crazy because I was trying to I was trying to put together a show real, I guess, like six months ago to get a manager in America, and all my screen credits were kind of from the last like eight years ago, I guess, and so they were all really dated, and all my material, like I looked completely different, and I was like, I don't have anything. I was like, I've got all this stuff in the can, it just hasn't come out yet. So I will be able to put something together soon, hopefully.

Yeah, I think you really do well. We're here to talk about gold Diggers, which is a really fresh, screwball comedy for the ABC. There's something kind of Monty Python about the whole thing.

Oh okay, cool. What is it about it that makes it Monty Python for you?

I don't know, did you grow up watching that sort of comedy. I grew up in a household where we watched a lot of English comedy. And it's kind of interesting because a lot of that Monty Python, like the Life of Brian, was all set in a different time whilst telling humor that was really relevant to today, which works really well together. So that's kind of how I've arrived with Monty Python. John Cleese could walk in and work Yeah.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, because I was talking to Jack about Jack Out writer creator about it, and he was saying that, like because I was like, I don't know how to describe to people that it's set in the past, but it's got contemporary language, really fresh comedy, very contemporary references, and he was like, well, it's been done before, Like Shakespeare

And you're so funny in this, like really like laugh out loud funny. You just have this face the whole way through, no matter what your character is doing. And I just wanted to know about your history with comedy. What sort of comedy shows were you watching when you were growing up? Well, what are you borrowing from? I guess in your work now?

I definitely my mummy's English, so I grew up watching a lot of English TV. I loved things like like The British Office is my favorite show. I loved shows like Green Wing really kind of obscure but bold kind of character comedy character. And because I've worked predominantly in theater, I always come at my work from a place of character, and like, even though it's comedy, like if you're playing the truth, but I'm always keen to kind of build the character up and do like because you went to

Now. Those faces work because in theater you're kind of having to play to the front row but to the back row, and then you kind of try and dull that down a little bit when you're doing television. But somehow, with this particular character, those sort of big caricature of faces a bit Kristen Wig or even a bit Jim and carry to a certain element. You know, they're all landing really well, and it makes you laugh.

That was a thing when we were filming.

You know, sometimes you don't have lines in the scene, but you're sort of in it, and so if you don't have a line, to kind of make a joke, but you're always mining for comedy. I would just pull these weird faces to react, and I sort of would joke to Danny, who played my sister Goldie. I would say, like, I just feel like all I'm doing is like pulling really big reaction faces.

And then I went and did some adr and I was like, oh God, they're in there.

They've really cut to them quite a bit so, Yeah, I didn't expect them to be, but yeah, I guess it's Skert's way of processing what's happening around her.

And it's funny because you saying that has reminded me. Like even Eddie Perfect and a few other characters, I noticed when they had their characters without dialogue, they were also being extremely expressive as well. And I noticed that more with Eddie Perfect because I remembered him so much from Offspring and he had a character that wasn't so expressive. So yeah, so noticeable in this and Eddie Perfect is actually perfect for this role. He's very funny, so perfect.

I mean the number of times I would say perfect Eddie, how often do you get that? And he's like every day? He was so dry.

He was sort of like the you know, the uncle figure for us, Like we were always trying to kind of get him to laugh, get him to love us, and that kind of relationship was kind of mirrored in real life.

We were always kind of we're obsessed with him. He's so beautiful. But he was perfect.

See it again, it's probably why they you know, they named in that way. He came out and he looked perfect, but you know, Gert Brewer, who was your character. She kind of plays this one part of the scrappy sister duo that sort of rereaks havoc on the gold mine and it's very funny. But how have you tried to describe this personally to your friends and family? I know you talked a little bit before about how you should talk about it, but like, how do you explain this show to get people to watch it?

I guess what I say to people.

I say it's I say it's about two rat bag sisters who go to the gold fields to try and get a rich husband. But now I kind of joke and go and hr larity ensues. But I think, like for me, I've described her as a bit of a superhero in that she can get away with anything. She's one of those people that has no She's completely unseelf conscious, no self judgment, no insecurities. Anything that knocks her down, she just does. She just gets up and keeps on moving.

He's he's actually an actor and he.

Can we mention him like I feel like we should.

Yeah, sure, his name's Kick Gury.

Oh, I know him. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

He's in looking for Labrady and he he's a really good friend. He lives in our apartment building and he all through COVID was writing this show which is now being made with it's called Court.

It's coming out. I'm actually in it, but it comes out in late this year. It's got Sean.

Penn, Susan Sarandon, it's got all these maz people. And through COVID for two years he was going, I'm gonna make the sure it's gonna be the best show where it's gonna have these people in it. And he get, you know, making a show so hard. He got knocked back and knocked back, and every time he got a no, it just made him more determined to kind of keep going.

He just never gave up.

And that kind of relentless optimism and enthusiasm was a big part of the character of Gert because that kind of optimism in the face of adversity and never giving up is what makes characters so funny.

That was what sort of Jack inspired Jack.

That kind of comedy, like Leslie nopod Or, I think he mentioned David Brent, like characters that just never give up, and so she's that.

To me, she was and it's so fun to.

Play a character like that where you were just you can stand in this and you completely bulletproof, nothing gets to you. And she's funny and she's she's brush and she's bold and she's outrageous and she's not afraid to tell people what she thinks of them and physically big as well. Like it was great to kind of just be able to go crazy in that way.

She's a little obnoxious, but she's incredibly likable.

It's so likable. That's good. She's likable.

Yeah, tells people what she's thinking though, you know, which I love in real world. You know, I love people who you know, kind of when someone walks into the room dressed as a frog, they go, you're a frog? You know what I mean?

I love yeah, totally. Yeah, that kind of enthusiasts like yea, hey man, you've awesome.

That's the person.

Yeah, like say anything like that's something terrible.

Yeah.

I'm quite an introvert, and so when I do these like personality quizzes, it's it's really to make me able to realize the differences between me and a character, and Gert was the exact opposite to.

Me in every personality trait.

She's an extrovert, she's assertive, she's an and so like for me, like, I'll walk down the street and kind of keep my head down where it's And I noticed with Kick, he'll walk down the street in Bondy and.

He'll be like, hey, Alan, how are you going?

You're like he'll know everyone in every shop and be on a first name basis, have like know their whole life history. And I feel like Gert's like that. She's kind of leans into life and with people.

So yeah, I feel like it would be wrong of me not to mention my kickstory. But I was living in Los Angeles in two thousand and seven. Yes that's right, people, I'm old, and I was watching him on a date with Christina Richie. Oh yeah yeah, yeah they did. And so I was watching this happen and she's exactly the same age as May. I grew up watching her from

You know it was date one.

I'm pretty sure it was because we could hear part of the conversation. Actually we could hear everything.

So he will love that so much.

Very funny story. So we're going to get back into this TV series now.

Okay, okay, he will love that. I'm going to tell him.

You know, the concept I think is you know, a little bonkers at times as we were talking, but it's also really clever in the sense that it's making you laugh, but it's also making you think, because the patriarchy gets challenged without it being too political, and I think it's a very net It's something we need to talk about, and somehow you've interwoven that into this story, which is a comedy in a way that I think is very accessible to the audience.

Yeah, and Jack was saying that that by keeping it at a little bit of arm's length with the period setting, he's able to talk about issues of today, like the patriarchy, like toxic masculinity, like the housing crisis, but it's not on the nose because we feel a little bit more removed from it. So that was really deliberate that we're able to kind of comment on things without it feeling really obvious. I think that does make it more accessible, and it's just I guess, a fresh perspective on it.

I think. Also the thing that I enjoy is that it's going to get a broad audience and there's people out there that probably need to understand about some of the challenges with the patriarchy and how it needs to change, and that they're not being beaten over the head with it, you know what I mean, Like it's being packaged in a way that people will go, oh, you know, I'm looking at that differently because I'm not being told I'm stupid. I'm accessing this in a really light and intelligent way.

I mean, we've definitely had a laugh about Like some of the comments on the trailer on their Facebook is like, oh, another thing about women thinking it's funny to you know, reach man is stupid.

I'm won't be watching this.

And it's like, well that that's of course, this isn't for you. But you're kind of the people that would love to see it, and.

They'll watch it. I think, you know, being that it has a home on the ABC, I think there's an older generation that's going to watch this and look at it differently, which is cool.

Yeah.

Cool. Anyway, I need to ask you about how this project came about, Like was it something that came to your agent or your audition for it, or did you know someone that was working on it. How did this all come about for you?

It came just through like a regular email through the agent, But there was something in the email that really caught my attention, which was they said they were looking for fearless, funny actors who could bring their own personal charm and chemistry to the role.

And I was like, oh, all right, you want me to feel it's funny.

Okay, because that usually means like bring everything, throw everything at it. And I started to find in my career that if I get an audition and I make it my own and I kind of tweak the script or add lib or improvise have fun with it, that tends to be when I get further along the casting process or get a call back or get the job.

So I was like, all right, it sounds like you want me to really go for it.

So I auditioned and I immediately was like, you're on a short list, come, you know, just hang in there. And then there was a callback over zoom and then it just went quiet, and there was a lot of talk like they saw seven hundred actresses for me and Danny's roles, so like they even did a whole casting of England and Ireland at one point, so everyone everyone's talking about it.

I got it.

I was like, oh, this was like fun, But I don't think I'm I'm right for this. I just don't think I'm not like as I've said, like I'm a bit of an introvert. I'm a bit more gentle, like I'm not like day everybody. So I was like, I don't know if I'm really right anyway. So I didn't hear after the callback, and then I heard that they were doing other callbacks and lots of people were in the mix. And then I got told I didn't get it with months and I was like, okay, that's all right,

I was a bit of a kind of up yours.

I think I went in with a bit of that kind of girt. I guess meantal and when I did. I think they really responded to that. Apparently they could. They really loved the love between us. They could really tell that that was there, So that was it was. It was a long drawn out process, but it wasn't too painful. I wasn't strung along because I was let go for a bit.

So that's always the worst. When I mean all of these things. People always think things happen in a straight line. In the entertainment world. It never does, you know what I mean, Like so much that happens before the camera's even roll. What I thought was interesting was that this show's success really does rely on this chemistry between you and Daniel Walker, which does work, you know, And I guess that's what they're looking for when they're auditioning that

Well, when we first, like, we did the read through and we did the chemistry read and I had this immediate affection towards her because she's so sweet and seems innocent, like she's hilarious and amazing and fear intelligent and all that, but she presents as kind of just like oh hello, Like so I immediately had like felt this affection towards her. And I remember my agent saying, would you cast you

But I remember feeling really awkward.

I remember feeling like a lot of pressure, like even the director was there, and she was like, it's really important you guys get along, like whatever you need to do, like to hang out to get a bond. And I was like, I don't think this is but I don't think we've got it like an immediate We're not clicking, Like it's feeling a bit awkward, and I think it

We bonded over skin care and hair and.

Like it like you had a girly chat.

Yeah, and then we and then from there we just grew and grew, like the bond just grew and grew and grew, and we became really really intertwined and bonded like we were under so much pressure as well that we really helped each other and were each other's kind of support person as well through it all. And and then because we just had that natural connection things like physical affection and hugging or linking arms or stuff that

She did my nails. She's a whiz at all things she can do.

Those are good nails. I can confirm for people the podcast this.

Is like she lac She's amazing, Like.

It's amazing craft.

Yeah, she's incredible.

I can imagine that the language that the two of you had created in your in real world, like in catching up and before filming, continued into the script because I guess there'd be times we might improvise a little bit. But is this show a little bit like in See No Man? In a sense like that whay you two have sort of turned up from this world in the eighteen hundreds, Like, is that a bit.

I don't want? And See No Man is I'm terrible with.

Oh it was a nine his comedy with Brendan Fraser. I think it is is like a like a warlock, like a man. You know, it's thought out in the nineties and then basically, you know, comedy ensues because it's you know, fish out of water, where I felt like with the two of you, it's kind of a little bit like you guys are from present day turning up and sort of absorbing this environment.

I think that we're definitely like, it's definitely fish out of Water story, and it's definitely the audience are seeing dead Horse Gap the town through our eyes. We're the inn for the audience. And as much as we're pretty outrageous, the characters around us are even more kind of heightened, and so it is kind of us receiving and responding and reacting to that world around us.

But this was my big thing, like is it time travel? Like why do we know those words? Why do we know those references?

But we're definitely from that time period, and it's more that we are we just happen to have, you know, an innate understanding of social politics and kind of we're just ahead of our time in that sense. But there probably were people like there are always people who were a bit ahead of their time in that in that way, and so that was the kind of mentality that I went into it with, was like, I'm not Gert hasn't grown up in twenty twenty three Australia and then gone

Aware, but she's still getting those words like hype girl, hard, launch of a relationship. The characters are sex positive, you guys are looking out for red flags, so you know, it is still very current in that language that you know, it's good that you've explained that because I'm not at the end of the series, but I was thinking not be hard to believe that all of a sudden, I you know, it flashes back to you guys getting out of a time machine, you know.

Totally totally Yeah, No, that's and that was like a big thing for me because I'm I'm so literal about things like as an actor, I can't play something less. I don't understand it really fully. So I've had a lot of conversations with Jack Raw's like explain this to me, but it was just I guess it's just to sort of suspend his belief in that sense and just kind of go with it that.

Yeah, we know all those references.

Like we didn't do things that we didn't do, references that were like we did things like your hype girl hard Launch.

I think we said like F Boy.

And stuff, but we were careful to not run reference like Beyonce or some something like very much cemented.

In reality, terms are always there though, you know, it's interesting there would have been terms used in a way about that kind of behavior. You know. I was only talking about this the other day when I was watching F Boy Island and my best friend I'm talking about it. We were like, oh, well, like F Boy, it's new, but we're like, no, they were called a player when we were growing up. Do you know what I mean so like if it was the f boy is now

I looked up see this is my notebook, this is all my research and stuff. There was like there were definite words for that for men. Source box was like pie hole. I don't know, they just had like if you were depressed, you got the MORBs, like there was there was words for of course, who was a good friend. It was just it was just interesting, like there was oh, dirty puzzle was nasty plant. So it was all like, you know, they had words then as well.

And I was like, Jack, let's get these references in. Let's bring them back. No, but they're too obscure.

I thinks, of course they're too obscure. I mean, this is the magic of this show is that it has been updated like that. Do you know what I mean?

Yeah.

I want to ask you as well about the where it was filmed. I was getting some really strong Movie World vibes from when I went to Movie World as a child, and I don't know when the last time I went back there. Was it filmed at Movie World?

No, it was filmed at a place called Porcupine Village.

Oh where is that.

It's in a town called Malden, which is ah and a half out of Melbourne. It's near like Ballarat and Castle Maine.

Like so Sovereign Hill type place, Thorren.

Hill type place. Yeah. It was built in the nineties as a tourist town.

Uh huh regitration and then it wasn't news for ten twenty years and then someone bought it.

So the producers saw the ad on real estate dot Com and kind of swooped in the like can we hire this? And it's being done up.

I think it's going to open soon, but it's going to be done up for like it's being done for wedding venues. And there's a pub there that's like the world's smallest pub that can only seat five Like.

Oh great, it's like this cool town.

But it was awesome.

We like went there and it was like thirty buildings that were all like period accurate, and it was amazing to kind of just be able to like really immerse yourself in the world and pretend you're really back in time like that.

I don't mean to judge these people, but people who get like have those theme weddings gives me the ick, just like I know.

When they were like, we've done five weddings this year, I was.

Like, weddings what who?

What? What are they wear? It's like not my people.

No.

At the bar, I was like, this.

Is oh, yes, yeah bar.

Yeah, but no, I mean whatever floats your boat.

There's also some amazing recognizable faces in this cast. We mentioned Eddie Perfect before, but there's like Heather Mitchell, Lincoln Uni There's just so many exciting faces. I mean there's a lot of new people as well, which I thought was great. But were you excited to work alongside you know, like Heather Mitchell, she's like acting Royalty for Australia. You know, were you excited to work alongside those sorts of people? Yeah?

It was so exciting.

Like every time they cast a new character, I was like, oh, perfect, I love them. And some of the people I had worked with before, like Brandon McClelland, who plays Lenny the police officer. He and I had played husband and wife in a play before.

I was also going to say, you know, that scene with Lincoln Unice is so sexy, so we have to unpack that because I'm obviously a creep. Did you find him as a bushranger very sexy whilst you were filming?

When you refer to the scene, is that like in the bedroom.

In the bedroom, I mean the chemistry when you first meet in the bar is also very electric. I was like, you know, I was believing that the sparks were flying. I mean, it's hard for the two of you not to find each other attractive. I'm sure in the real world. But this scene that's in the bedroom is is sexy, funny, hilarious. There's different roles that we haven't seen, men and women playing in the bedroom, which was hilarious. Like, I just

We did so.

Link is a really really dear friend, so when he was cast, I was like, amazing, Like we're so comfortable together.

But also like it's like kissing your brother.

So I was like, I think this is for the best, this is good will we like we get it, We've got a communication like this is great, but also like and I was talking to my partner about it, who's also friends with Lincoln, I was like, it's gonna be weird. It's gonna be weird today, Today's day, it's gonna happen. But you know, on set, you play it cool and you're like, yeah, I'm thinking, like hold it for two beats,

So she talks through.

Everything in a really clear, breaks it down mechanical ways. So even like the first kiss with Lincoln, she demonstrated to me on a pot how to kind of come up and use Lincolm like a pole and like demonstrated what kind of kiss on her hands, so like it was completely spelled out for me, so that I knew exactly what to do, he knew exactly what to expect.

It is all there, everyone's bits are all in the right place. It's very funny and very sexy.

Great great, well, yeah, I know, like the day onset when he had his top off, some of the women in the crew were very excited.

They were like it was like it.

Was International Women's Day. And she was like, oh, well, we got a gift on International Women's Day for me And I was like, I don't think that's how it works. I guess my friend we're talking about. But anyway, yeah, I'm glad it works. But yeah, it was just a lot of kind of like having fun. And then yeah, we just we just walked around. We didn't get too many takes at each thing. Some most of it we just did one take of each kind.

Of yeah right vignette.

But I'm glad it all comes together.

If not for anything, please watch the show just to watch that it go okay. I think it's thirty five seconds thirty five seconds of joy.

When your partner walked in and you were like see.

Yeah. So for the people listening to the podcast, we were talking about this before, and I feel like I should bring this part of the story in because it is quite funny. But we had been watching Hijacked, which has it was his an Alba ddress album Dress Albert and he's it's not out yet, it's coming out on Apple Plus. Very good, don't promote show on a different

I think for me, like you know, when I graduated from from WAPO in twenty ten, I was twenty, and I was like, you know, you think you're going to be the exception to the rule. You're told like, no one's gonna make it one person in out of twenty and you think.

Like, I'm gonna be different. I'm going to go to them. I'm gonna be amazing.

And for me, it just did not happen in that way. Like I just every year it was like more theater. Couldn't get my foot in the door with screen, like I did the odd screen job, but it was just like all right, I just kept doing theater, and then I started doing voiceovers and that was kind of supplemented my income, so I stopped having to kind of do six casual jobs to pay the rent, and I just kind of kept I guess in terms of it's almost

A lot finally caught up. You're finally I'm trying to still catch up with grow into my nose. But yeah, I think, yeah, you've finally grown into the person I think that you always had. It's kind of like those women that are trying to get pregnant, though, and they almost give up and then they get pregnant. It's like that,

Yeah, yeah, I think it's like and that's the thing is like, even though I may have thought when I was twenty two that I was ready to be the leader of an ABC comedy, I know so much more now that I think feel like I'm the most ready obviously to take on these opportunities. Like I feel like everything I've learned has led me to this point and I'm bringing so much of that those experiences, so that when I did rock up on setain and I was number one on the call sheet for the first time,

I'm just like, you know, what I think is really interesting is we always think, like when you want something really badly, you're in your head a lot thinking about what you think people want from you. So there's this barrier that you've created for yourself because you're not being your authentic self. You're not giving them the best of you because you're so busy telling yourself that, oh no, they oh no, they want this from me. Do you know what I mean? And that's happened to me before.

Yeah, that's exactly what happened.

I kept my hair blonde for seven years, I think because I'd been told that would make me more appealing.

Kept my hair long, like was terrified to cut it.

All these things that you're trying to be what you think an industry wants, and really you're just appealing to like TV executives.

That's why, you know.

I was like trying to be more I guess sexually appealing in that way, like with the blonde thing. Yeah, totally, I was trying to be something else. And you can see like I went when I watched my old self tapes, like there's just a discomfort in my own skin because I'm not confident in I'm I'm just self critical and questioning everything. And yeah, I think because I decided, I was like why I need this? You know, I'm actually

It meant to me this, yeah.

Yeah, it meant that I didn't Yeah, I didn't need it.

And I and I think, particularly with gold Diggers, like I went in with that for that callback of like you.

Would be lucky to have me.

You passed this up, which is you know, not healthy maybe, but I think it made an impression.

I think as well. My dad once said to me, what's inside your head at any given time is what people will read from you, you know what I mean, And so if you can't shake it from your head, like he told me this because he'd always want me to smile authentically for photos. This sounds so weird, but whenever my dad wants to be in a photo, you know, stand there on you know, at the zoo with this animal behind you and smile and we'd be like as kids,

Yeah.

I actually had the experience of being a reader for many years in auditions so for casting directors, and that was so insightful to me because you learn so much about what that what that first impression is when you walk through the door, how you greet people. And I also I used to notice when we audition kids, they just they were just like you'd be like, how it's going to be like, yeah, fine, like I'm just doing this after school and then I'm going to go like

Difference with the.

New dads in their forties who'd come in on their lunch breaks and that kind of desperation that they needed it because they obviously had a new family to support. I just that was the demographic that I really noticed that that desperation as much as they like would try and be like how are you going like and it it was just you're just this air of kind of like need that. Yeah, really resonated, So I always.

Kind of no one likes a needy and no one likes a needy straight white male. I mean no, no, no one needs a need cat either. I'm looking after my friend's cat at the moment, So no one likes anyone that's needy. Just no.

And you notice as.

Well, people hang around too much after the audition to chat and then they try and shake yourone's hand, and that I'm always like out the door.

Yeah, cheers, bye, thanks very much. What's the replay? Yeah? Yeah, you what you need, give me the job. What I thought was also could also have sort of come into a line with you, is that we're seeing a lot of these left of center ideas on television, you know, that are a little bit different to that normal basic storyline formula that we've seen on TV for a really

Yeah, I think I've definitely that.

I've never thought of it like that, Like I think I think you might be right in that. Yeah, I guess there's more of an appetite for quirkier comedy or a bit different in terms of classifs. And that was high concept comedy, like I think comedy does seem to be my niche and character comedy and offbeat or yeah,

And yeah, the different writers obviously bring.

Their experiences and that leads to writing characters that are different and interesting. So I've definitely noticed. I mean, when I graduated, like I remember, you'd I auditioned for like there'd be a place to call home, doctor, doctor, Like there'd be a Channel nine drama, Channel ten drama, Like it was a telemovie under belly, Like it was sort of very straight in that way, and I think I think in trying to fit into that, I I don't

I don't do that particularly well or better than anyone.

But I think with calmed like because I have an appetite for that and I really have a passion for kind of making things as interesting and detailed as possible.

I think that's where I started.

I've started to be able to kind of stand out in that way to be able to get those opportunities. So yeah, I think, yeah, I hadn't thought about that, but I think there's definitely.

I'm trying to think in doctor, doctor, who you would have auditioned for? You know, you're not. Actually someone told me this the other day. You're not allowed to tell actors don't like telling people roles they're bone for that they haven't got. Is that a true thing?

Oh?

No, I tell everyone I audition for Home and Away. When I graduated for like, I went for like seven different roles. I got all for all of them. Like I went I figured out over seven years, I went in twenty three times.

Oh my gosh, I just never.

I like auditioned with Steve Peacock, like for three different roles, and I just never got And I was just like.

He's like this girl again.

Yeah, And I was like.

In my agent remember being like, it's not a matter of if, but when, and it just never. I've never been on Home and Away, but no doctor doctor. I went for Danielle's role, and I also went for Shalom Brune Franklin's role, the Irish.

Nurse, and then I never I never got either of them, didn't get them.

Didn't get them. But that was when I did.

I got Hide and Seek, which shot at the same time, which was a crime thriller, which I thought was going to be my big break when I was twenty six, I was like a detective with Matt Nabel and Sara and didn't.

That did not get renewed.

Yeah, hard though, because some shows are really good. I mean I can't Hide and Siks I can't hasn't stayed in my zeitglist. But sometimes shows can be very good and not get a serial, Like some of my favorite series never got a series two so my so called life with Claire Danes was like one of the best TV series ever, and you know, there's more at play than just whether or not that's found an audience, you know what I mean totally. I feel like, you know,

No?

I mean I've signed options so hopefully, but I no idea until the airs, I guess, yeah, but.

I hope that this show gets a season two. I can see this show evolving, and I think there's a lot to unpack in this show. It's not just a one joke. It's not a one trick pony with what it's trying to do, so hopefully we get more. My last question, though, is what is something from behind the scenes, something that we won't see that's kind of a bit like, you know, a behind the scenes secret of gold Diggers.

I knew you're gonna ask this because I listened to some of your episodes. I have two.

The first one is the horses were incredible, and they were like, you know how they take like horses into nursing homes to like make people happy.

When we'd be on set a night they'd be like, Claire, we need to ever hear we get it?

I go.

Can I please just go pack the horse for a sec?

So we loved I would just go and then we were obsessed with them. There was Rainy with the swishy tail and Horruce and we just go and pat them and that was really lovely. And one time a horse farted during a long it's really funny. But my other one is that what you wouldn't know is that Danny L. Walkie is incredibly competitive and we were always racing each other to be the first into the chair for makeup, the first out of the chair, first on to set.

Oh wow, and how did you do that? Can we do that? Can we do some improv right now? Perhaps?

I mean it's if you I can't. It's sort of like doing this.

It's sort of like people people can't watch this. It's a podcast podcast.

It's just sort of like you you just think, I don't know, it's like a breath thing and like you think about your eyes and anyway you can kind of see.

So I taught Danny how to do.

That, and then she got really competitive and we would have for fun when we weren't acting, we would have competitions to see who could get a tear rolling first, and she was always she was.

Really funny that as you were doing that, I started to get tears in my own eyes. That's not from your training. I just felt. I just looked at your your face while you were crying and was so believable.

But like, oh, there you go. So yeah, and I was like, don't beat me. You can't be better to meet my own craft.

I taught you this game.

Yeah, And she's really and she would and we're making comedy. So they'd be like, okay, guys, we're getting ready to roll that. We're gonna do a funny scene. And we'd both be like turning, like facing a wall and like you guys reading me, like both turn around and be crying.

But what are you doing?

You've ruined it? What are you two doing? Claire? So amazing to have this chat with you, very funny, very insightful, spilt a lot of tea on everything, which I thought was great. I hope people have really enjoyed it. But yeah, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me today. It's been a lot of fun.