WEBVTT - Virginia Gay - DANCING WITH THE STARS - Actress 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:01.760 It's in the news today, but it was actually on 0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:03.600 TV Reload the podcast past. 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.040 Weep that line. 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome back, guys to TV Reload. As you may know, 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:09.480 my name is Benjamin Norris and this is your podcast 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.200 to get all the inside goss on the popular TV 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.480 shows you may be watching from around the world. Undeniably, 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:18.239 our TV sets are a major part of our home entertainment, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.119 and yet very little is known about how our favorite 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.040 shows get made. So each episode I've been finding the 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.320 guests they want to dive just that little bit deeper 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:28.600 in to the shows they're currently making, so that you 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.280 can hear all their exclusive stories and gain access to 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.879 the biggest names in Australian television. I want to thank 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.920 you for downloading or subscribing to this podcast however you 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.639 found it. I love hearing your feedback, so make sure 0:00:39.640 --> 0:00:41.960 you leave a review or a comment on your chosen 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:46.040 podcast platform. This chat, I'm joined by actress Virginia Gay 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:48.680 from the new season of Dancing with the Stars on 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:52.239 Channel seven, which has its epic finale this Sunday night 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:56.040 at seven pm. Virginia Gay is an Australian actress, writer 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.840 and director, mostly known for her work on Australian TV dramas, 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.680 Winners and Losers and All Saints, amongst so many others. 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:07.240 I have been personally obsessed with her for years and 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:09.560 what a real trait to see her on this show 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:13.280 and doing so well. Virginia has stolen the show many 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.759 times this season in puting her perfect scoring foxtrot, which 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.200 Shanna Burgess described as dan sexy, which I can also 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.040 agree with. I will find out why Virginia said yes 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:25.600 to Dancing with the Stars and why she has said 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.240 no to other reality shows. Virginia will discuss what she 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.920 learned about herself and why she thinks dancing has been 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.800 so successful this year. We talk about some fascinating insights 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.240 on why audiences are drawn to community and why shows 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:43.000 with heart are the highest rating programs on television. Plus, 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.520 we will get plenty of exclusives from behind the scenes 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.360 of Dancing with the Stars, which finishes this Sunday night, 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.640 so make sure you check that out on Channel seven. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.560 It also is available on seven Plus if you've fallen 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.720 just that little bit behind. Anyway, Let's bring Virginia into 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.360 the podcast, and guys, I hope you really enjoy this 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:05.040 very special preview of the finale of Dancing with the Stars. Hello, Allan, 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:07.760 are you I'm very well. I woke up so early 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.240 this morning, so excited to be talking to you that 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:11.640 I feel like it's Christmas. 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.000 Oh my god. Well, I will try and give your 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:14.880 gifts them. 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.239 I'll try and do my best. 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:17.920 Little missus clause at. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.959 So embarrassing at last year's logis you were walking past 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.040 me and I was like, I've been a huge man, 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:26.480 just spoiler alert for a very long time, and I 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.200 couldn't help myself, but I tapped you on the arm 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.160 and I just said, I think I said I love you, 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.799 and you've very calm, didn't act like a psycho had 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.000 touched you. You just said thank you very much. That 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.880 means a lot. It's a big night. So you don't 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:46.040 remember some hideously gay man approaching you and telling you 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.359 that he loves you. At least you knew I was gay, 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:49.680 because I'm very obviously gay. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.720 Hiz. I'm honored, I'm thrilled. I couldn't be more stoked. 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:54.160 And now we get to deep in. 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.360 The friendship and that's the joy, that's the real joy, 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:57.120 of course. 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:00.320 I mean, you have done so much this year. Safe 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.880 Home was amazing. I reckon. That's the best show that 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:04.440 we've made here in Australia this year. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.480 I listen. I am so proud of Safe Home. 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:10.480 I am so proud to be a part of it. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:11.760 Holy crap. 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.880 I really I watched it back. I saved watching it 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:17.720 until it was on television because I sort of wanted 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.960 the steeling of watching it as everybody else was watching it. 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:23.160 And it is so electric. 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:26.280 That is world class Telly. And I can say that 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.120 because I'm actually barely in this I'm only in about seventeen, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.519 so I can talk about it like could complete honesty 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:35.760 and be like, that is world class television. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:38.160 I had to keep checking the remote control because I'm 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.600 like SBS. I mean, I love SBS, but I mean 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.640 it just it just felt so incredible. And it also 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.880 the mission statement behind the whole thing was just so 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:50.839 good and so and I mean all everyone that worked 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:52.600 on it was so good. But anyway, we're here to 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:53.840 talk about stars. 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:58.440 But you know, apparently apparently that's the official thy Yes back. 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.240 In time and do like a like an unpacking session 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.200 of that show. You know, feel free to call me 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:04.040 back anytime. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.360 That's your best I love that. 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.640 So I've got to talk to you about Dancing with 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:11.720 the Star. So it's such a good show. I actually 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.320 think this has been one of the better seasons that 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:18.320 I've seen in a while. I can imagine, yes, why 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.400 did you think that? I mean, for me, just all 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:23.680 the performances were really electric. All the celebrities we actually 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.080 knew who they were. 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:30.520 I just loved. I loved the feeling of What is 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.360 really remarkable about this show and which separates it from literally, 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.600 I think any other reality show, is that the feeling 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:42.480 backstage is so joyful and loving and really just embracing 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.400 the ridiculousness of this thing that we're doing, the bunktisness and. 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.400 The bravery that it asks of you. 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.760 So their sense of backstage, everybody going like, hey, I 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.680 know that was scary, but you looked really beautiful, and 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.640 I really saw you when you mark when you like 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:58.480 in those turns. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:04:59.720 I saw how much of your. 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.520 Terms rest is last week, like how much you've grown. 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:06.560 And so I think there's really really good dancing in 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.880 this season. And I just think everybody is really nice 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.320 and funny and themselves like they're all their own their 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:17.880 own brand and flavor, Like it's not a sort of 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.400 was of people like We've got It's as silks there 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:26.080 and we had Matt Matt Matt Cravat his Instagram name, 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.560 but like you know, and then the fabulous Chrissy will 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.159 and Brown and that Oh my God, and Emily Weir 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:35.279 and Joe. 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:38.240 Are like in stil from human nature, Like everybody's got 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:44.000 their own flavor and they're really working within their own 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:45.560 flavor too, And I think that makes for a very 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.040 varied and very rich show. 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:50.960 But yeah, I agree. I think it's just it was 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:52.080 just good people. 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:53.240 That's a good thing. 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.720 How does it compare to I mean, you've just done 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:58.480 a cabaret festival in Adelaide and so there wouldn't be 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:00.719 that feeling before you go on stage and do that 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.719 kind of stuff. Is it a different kind of feeling 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.159 when you're backstage on a TV show like this and 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:09.080 you're performing, yeah, sort of live the whole all of Australia. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.120 I mean, what does it compare? 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:16.040 It doesn't compare actually, partly because like my whole life, 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.440 my whole performing life, which is you know, from the age. 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:21.120 Of that it's twelve, was when I decided I wanted 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:21.479 to do this. 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.760 My skill set has been acting and singing and that's 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.960 just that's where my strengths lie and that's where I 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.799 feel comfortable. So when I feel nervous before I show, 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.880 I can still say to myself, Hey, but you've been 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:39.000 working towards this, or you know, like nearly thirty years, 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:40.880 you know in your soul that you can do this 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:45.120 with dancing. I have worked towards that for six weeks, 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:51.360 six weeks with no previous sense of my body being 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.400 a useful way to tell a story or to get 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.960 my body by itself without words or without singing, without 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:01.000 without a you know, a plot or scene around it 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.640 will do the will do the storytelling work that I want. 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:08.400 So it was like discovering that my body could do 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:12.520 that at the same time as the audience was discovering. 0:07:12.160 --> 0:07:14.080 That my body should do that. Is that strest. 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.120 It's wild to think that we true, like I truly 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.640 didn't know that I could move like that and that 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.640 I could rely on my body to remember those moves 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.160 and to sell those moves until I did it in 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.400 front of the audience, in front of the camera. And 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.880 that's a very that's a very exposing, beautiful feeling with 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:35.320 the team, but it's a it's a pretty exposing place 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.320 to be in too, And I suppose that's actually also 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.200 what people are tuning in to watch, not to see failure, 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.600 but to see people who they think they sort of know, 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.880 the put together version of to see them totally and 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.000 it's overused raise totally out of their comfort zone. And 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.640 then you just then you actually just see the real 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:54.840 person going through. 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.520 Like how do people deal with this level of breast 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:58.640 and confusion and. 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:04.440 Lack of lack of assortedness, And then you then you 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:05.400 just see the real person. 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.280 And that's again that we come back to the fact that. 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:10.720 Like they really were just very good, very good hearted 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:12.680 people in that show, so that when you saw them 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.800 totally in the shit, you don't go. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.640 Or it's you know, it's Carcraft celebs and you go, look. 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.040 At you, you beautiful thing. 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.320 You look at it, right, it's really lovely. 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:23.760 He's say. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.720 Still was my favorite for that because that man has 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.400 never never even thought about dancing in his life, and 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.760 he found such musicality and he really grew as a 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.000 dancer and as a performer over the the whole season. 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:41.160 Like I just love watching him grow and watching him 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:42.040 kind of blossom. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:43.520 Un Sage, I thought that was beautiful. 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:45.520 Yeah, he was good. I mean, I think you and 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:48.800 him particularly worked out the best way to do this 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:52.000 is to sell the performances, like for both of you, 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.079 for any time that there could be a slight second 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.440 where it's not going the way that you just could 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.079 over sell that part. Is that how you felt about it? 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:00.520 Yeah? 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.240 I didn't know that that was a useful skill set 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.920 that I had until somebody mentioned it. 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.079 It was like maybe like week three. 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:10.720 Somebody was like, yeah, but you're selling it with your face, 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:12.880 and I was like, oh yeah, because the only times 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:14.760 that I've ever had to dance before has been like 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.520 a box step in a musical. But when you're in 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:20.160 a musical, you don't want to let the other incredible 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.600 dancers down by by drawing attention to yourself by by 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.520 looking out of place. So I was like, oh, yeah, okay, 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.800 I can definitely I can do up here for dancing. 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.120 But I did what I didn't have the skill set 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:34.240 for was also down. 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:34.880 There for dancing. 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.360 You know, the feet was the feeble, the whole different thing. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:41.120 But keeping the smile on my face and like that 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.679 feeling of selling a dunce or selling it as selling 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.840 a move or a stape. That was a really useful 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:49.720 thing to know that I had in my skill set. 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.040 But again, yes, didn't know that I had. And I 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.400 think also there was something for me where I was like, oh, 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.440 I didn't realize that. Actually, of course, my job as 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:02.240 an accent is also to look at people and go, 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.520 all right, where are you holding your weight right now? Oh? 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:06.920 Your shoulders a little more slump. 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.480 Oh yeah, that's probably like to look and to observe 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.640 people and to put my observations of those people in 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:14.480 my own body. 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:16.079 So I also think. 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:21.000 That that served me again surprisingly well, that I recognized 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:22.560 that one of the things that I was doing with Ian, 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:24.720 my partner all the time, was going, well, yeah, but 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:26.600 what your hip is slightly? 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:28.840 Oh right, so you've got your so your weight is 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:29.520 astley and. 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:31.640 Your back foot at that point okay, okay, So like 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:33.960 that's literally the job as an actor is to observe 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.480 other human beings and try and put those qualities on 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:39.360 their body. So I feel like I also had a 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.679 little trick I'm very grateful for. 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.520 I just have noticed and someone pointed it out recently 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:49.440 about my favorite actors, and it all comes down to 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:52.240 that style of acting which I didn't know was of you. 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:54.920 I'm not an actor, so I didn't know it. You're 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.199 very good in the moment, Like there's something very convincing 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.200 because you can see you thinking in the role, Like 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.480 even you know through I know that this sounds you're 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:05.440 you're an actor. You're like, you're an idiot, that's what 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:06.320 this job is about. 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:07.640 But no, no, I love it. 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.280 But I can see it in that you're thinking and 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.600 you're reacting like you're absorbing the performance in front of you. 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:16.800 You're in character and you're consuming that. And I hadn't 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:18.800 realized that that was the thing that was the magic 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:22.000 between what I as an audience, like with actors, and 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.160 that's been with you, you know, through all saints and 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.000 winners and losers, Savage River, and I just think that 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.200 that's sort of the magic with you, is that there's 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:34.400 a very authentic interaction between your gaze, like the way 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.640 in which you're watching what's in front of you. 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:38.280 You really beautiful thing to say. 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:42.520 I really appreciate that you that's the common I think 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:44.880 I was talking to some kids that whopper the other 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.440 day because I'm a whapper girl and I was over 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.280 there doing syrh at the per festival, and I was taught. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:52.120 I went back to my school and I spoke to 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.679 the kids there that I mean, they're not kids for 0:11:54.920 --> 0:12:00.280 young adults, you know the university study. Yeah, but I 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:03.720 was talking about how actually, that's what an audience is 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.160 paying to see, electricity between two people. And it doesn't 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.280 matter what form that's in, whether it's love or whether 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:10.960 it's you know, pay off, or whether it's a fight 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.200 scene or whatever it is. But they're paying to see that. 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.560 So as as authentically as you can find that and 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.600 let that exist between two performers on stage, or if 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.120 you're doing a direct address to an audience, or if 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:27.319 you're in a one person show, the electricity between you 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:31.280 and the audience, Like, that's what people are paying to experience. 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:32.720 It's absolutely true. 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.040 Like that's the that's the dynamics. And with them stand 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:37.000 up to the moment. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:38.600 When we can dig here, not as a. 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:40.599 Stand up but just doing some shows here with a 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.560 lot of I'm like, yeah, that thing the thing that 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.200 I do in a scene with an actor, you do 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.800 directly to an audience with an audience, and you play 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.400 with an audience like it's the other actor in the scene. 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:55.400 And I found that quite exhilarating to watch and also 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:57.839 to to just sort of unpack and be like, yeah, 0:12:57.880 --> 0:12:59.880 that's it, that's it, that's that's. 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:00.400 What we're selling. 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:02.440 But that's sort of the commodity. I mean, that's what 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:05.200 connects with an audience. Because I remember even I was 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.040 in New York and went along to this is going 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:09.280 to be really random, so come with me. But I 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.400 went to New York and a friend of mine, he 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.280 works in the biz, said do you want to come 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.080 along with the Lincoln Center and see Meryl Street being 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:20.640 inducted into the Hall of Fame. And yes, of course 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.640 we sat so far back that she was very small, 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.760 but it was definitely worth it anyway, it was so amazing. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.160 And she talked about the acting that people have connected 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.640 with her, and she said it always comes down to 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.720 what she studied in people and then making that look 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.480 real on camera. And she said, the key to that 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.640 is the thinking in the moment. The key to that 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:45.840 is happen you yourself are in character as that person, 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:47.599 and you can do the things that we kind of 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:49.280 see people do on the train, you know, when they're 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:54.360 by themselves, nuances like once they're unlocked. That's what I 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.040 think we connect to her, and I think that's something 0:13:56.080 --> 0:13:58.320 that from being in your audience that I've seen you 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.199 do time and time again with so many different roles. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:05.240 So a lovely talk on a Friday morning. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:08.080 Up, I'll call you every Friday, Mate, I'll call you 0:14:08.120 --> 0:14:09.720 every Friday. 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.280 We'll have a come on Friday talk. 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:11.720 Here we go. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.800 But you know what, it's interesting when you see someone 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:16.360 like you. When I heard you were doing Dancing with 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.400 the Stars, I was very excited about it because I'm like, 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.440 I love you as an actress. I think you're phenomenal. 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:23.680 But then I wondered whether or not you've been asked 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.240 to do these sorts of celebrity shows before, because there's 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:27.880 so many of them in this country. I'm sure that 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.120 they've been asking you. What made you say yes to 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:30.560 this one? 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.160 Yeah, great question. This is the only one that I 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:33.560 would do. 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:38.320 And the reason for that is twofold one is that 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:40.600 I have always wanted to learn to dance. 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.560 I have or it's just such a hunger in me. 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:46.680 And I know that my little ADHD brain I would 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.880 never learn unless I did it intensively for five or 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.880 six hours a day for one stretch of time. You know, 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.720 my brain doesn't work in any other way. 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:58.239 It's called hyperfixation. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.960 But but also my schedule as a you know, as a 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:07.600 gigging actor, means that every single week is different. Every 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:09.600 you know, I'm in a different state. I'm currently in 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:11.680 Melbourne and I will only be here for two days. 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.960 So the idea of going to a Saturday morning dance 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.600 class just would never work for me because I would 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:20.960 never get enough routine enough to actually to get into it, 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.240 you know what, I mean, to actually really enjoy and 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:26.480 learn and grow. So that was the first reason. The 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:30.560 second reason was that I called every single person who 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.480 I knew who had done dancing for Stars, and I said, 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:35.920 I need to be extremely clear about this. Is there 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:40.880 anything that is nasty or mean or competitive about the format, 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:45.080 about the like, about the setup? Yeah, for sure, exactly 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.520 are you do you feel like do people get painted 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.320 as villains? Do they like do all of that stuff? 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.080 And every single person said absolutely not. 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.120 That's all there for joy. 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.480 It's it's a completely ridiculous, vulnerable thing to do, and 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.200 it may need from joy and the vibe backstage is joyful. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.920 And that I was like, fantastic, and I'm in I 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.280 have no interest in I mean, I said this before, 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.960 I have no interest in anything that. Actually I didn't 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:12.600 say this, I said this on a different interview. Like, 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.280 I tried to think about this entire experience not as 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:15.880 a competition. 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:18.920 In fact, if I thought about it as a competition. 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:22.000 At all, I could feel the joy leaching away from me. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:26.640 So the only job I meditated twice a day that 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.160 was also a beautiful thing for me to just actually go, 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.440 like just disconnect from your ego, to be just like 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.360 just sit in the space and become still and quiet. 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.280 I knew that if I thought about the marks or 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.440 the comments, or even what people would think when they 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.160 saw the show, when an audience was watching this, if 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.160 I thought about that, I knew that I would lose 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:53.520 the joy or And I wanted this experience to be 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.400 joyful for me because it's mad and. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:59.040 Because it's vulnerable and exposing. 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:03.320 So it happened to joy for me. And weirdly, as 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.919 a result of that, I think I have been doing 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.720 very well. Like I'm really I'm very surprised by that. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.479 I was really prepared to. I considered myself a very 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:18.760 very bad mover, so I was really prepared to be like, 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.719 do not spot at all basically. 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:26.040 And perfect schools, which most people never get, never in 0:17:26.080 --> 0:17:26.520 their life. 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.160 I know, and I think, like, I just picked that's 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.080 because I wasn't pursuing a perfect score. I wasn't pursuing 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:37.720 the numbers. I was pursuing joy in the act of dancing. 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:38.840 That's it. 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:41.439 It's funny that you say about calling people. I was 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:43.720 in Ireland and got a call to do the show, 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:46.720 like it was just an availability check. They never ended 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:47.960 up offering me to do the show. I think it 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:50.360 was in twenty fourteen. It was a while ago, about 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.440 ten years ago. And I rang Brendan Vavola's what What's 0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:59.200 with the Stars? And so I rang Brendan Favola's wife, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:01.800 who she done the makeup for one of my really 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:04.359 good friends for a wedding. So I had her number 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.679 because I was there and we met whatever, and so 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:08.080 I rank her and I said, look, I've just been 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.000 asked to do Dancing with the Stars. What should I do? 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:13.680 And she said, best experience of my entire life. She's like, honestly, 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.480 I had so much fun. The people are so supportive. 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:18.720 She's like, I do it again in a heartbeat. Can 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:20.960 you please suggest an all star season? Because so I 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.840 can do it again. I was like, now, and it's 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.360 so good because you do often when you get usked 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:28.520 to do, I get us to do the worst shows ever, 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:32.119 like you're much more credible. You do get that fear 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.280 when the call comes, because if the next reaction is no, 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:38.359