Bryan Brown was at a Dymocks Literary lunch to promote the second of his books, the novel, THE DROWNING, which followed his collection of short stories entitled Sweet Jimmy.
Philip Clark, as is often the case, was the interviewer to draw out Bryan Brown’s inner raconteur in to the light which Clark did with his usual aplomb.
Brown recalled his early days living in Panania, an impoverished Sydney suburb with his single mother who was a strict disciplinarian who kept him on a short leash, for which Brown is eternally grateful.
Many of the youth in Brown’s neighbourhood ended up at a relatively early age in prison. Brown’s mother ‘insulated’ him from this fate.
When he was writing his book of short stories his mind wandered back to those Panania felons. When asked how he created his works he stated that he never plotted his stories in advance but followed an imagined course of events for example the lives of the Pananian boys after they were released from prison and their destinies.
A similar technique was used in the creation of THE DROWNING. Brown owns with his wife Rachel Ward a property on the Northern New South Wales coast. Many of the areas rural properties had ‘Keep Out’ and ‘Trespassers Prohibited’. On the rough roads adjacent to these properties were a number of trail bike enthusiasts.
To young, impulsive teenagers these signs create an irresistable temptation to disobey them. Brown found himself ‘following’ the teenagers after they had driven in to prohibited territory, initially not knowing himself, what they would find and thereafter the consequences of their discovery.
Brown then switched to his early life and education. He noted that ironically his worst subject was English (considering this would be the foundation and backbone of his acting career.
Nevertheless he had an aptitude for mathematics and one of his first jobs was as an accountant at AMP. He noticed that the sharpest and most well tailored male employees were the insurance salesman. He requested the switch from accountancy to salesmanship which was reluctantly agreed to.
At that time AMP believed their staff would be lifelong employees. In order to maintain their loyalty AMP organised social events and theatrical revues. As with the smart suits Brown participated in these reviews in order to meet women. At that time he discovered a spark that would create a passion for theatre that he saw as his future.
After he left the AMP he also left Australia to go to London which at that time and even today was the centre of theatre whether old or new. On route he found himself in a hostel in Mykinos, a Greek island. One of the hostel’s guests mentioned that his father was in the London theatre world. Brown immediately ‘pounced’ on the hostel guest abd procured his father’s address.
Brown discovered on his arrival that the man was a fireman which was a requirement for all the theatres in London.
Not knowing what to do with Brown, he put him to work pushing around scenery. Brown emphasised that if you are at the bottom rung of the acting ladder you cannot afford to be a snob.
He then pushed scenery in larger venues and eventually got some minor roles with the English National Theatre.
Brown found that he really missed his mother and returned to Australia just as the Australian performing arts industry was experiencing a renaissance of creativity. There were the David Williamson’s, Peter Weir’s, Fred Schepsi’s and Gillian Armstrong’s.
His best friend Sam Neill got his big break in Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career. At almost the same time Brown was getting his big break in Breaker Morant directed by Bruce Beresford.
What gave Brown immense pleasure was that there was an explosion of Australian stories relatable to the theatre going public and performed to them with an Australian accent. Clark noted that Breaker Morant and other films like A Town Called Alice led Brown to the UK and Hollywood.
Brown was asked what it was like to work with Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Initially the script was about two barmen working at a resort. Cruise returned from a club in New York juggling bottles and drinks. He insisted that this juggling be included in the script. This demonstrated to Brown what a hard working, respectful man Cruise was, who was always pushing the envelope. The film was probably best remembered for those bottle twirling scenes.
Brown then went on to say that his international acting career took him to places he could never imagine that he would visit. He received a call from London to star in a movie called Gorillas In The Mist by Director Michael Apted which he expected, like the most recent Tarzan movie, that it would be filmed with men in gorilla and monkey suits.
Instead Apted said that they should meet in Rwanda. Brown thought to himself a bit more authenticity. He then saw men with guns accompany the vast and crew to where the real gorillas in the mist lived! It was then revealed that only four people could enter, at a time, the gorillas domain – the actors Bryan Brown and Sigourney Weaver, the cinematographer and the focus puller.
Almost immediately a huge silverback gorilla stared at the group with Brown feeling that he looked through his soul. He returned to the main camp speechless.
For the next three weeks the gorillas flet more and more comfortable with the cast and crew and the baby gorillas were extremely playful with their visitors.
However, one had to always play a submissice role lest the senior gorillas would become aggressive.
Someone who was not so submissive was his costar Sigourney Weaver. She seemed to be constantly changing the script. In one scene an ailing primate was being placed in a cage to be transported elsewhere. Brown was to ease the primate in to the cage and then nail the top down. Thereafter Brown, as the romantic lead, would comfort the heartbroken Weaver. Instead Weaver eased the primate in to the cage, nailed down the roof, whereupon Brown walked away. Apted, within earshot of Weaver, asked Brown why didn’t he console Weaver. Brown replied that as she had done everything in the scene, she could console herself. Weaver got the hint and they got on famously for the rest of the shoot.
Then Brown jokingly asked the audience to keep these stories a secret.
Clark asked Brown if he was irritated by people saying that he was always Bryan Brown in his roles. Brown loved that fact. Some roles required an adjustment and he would use a metaphorical glove which was transparent enough to let his laconic draw and hint of larrikinism shine through.
In fact Brown revealed that in the dozen of Hollywood films he always played them with an Australian accent with most of the roles not calling him to play an Australian character.
Brown was asked about the creation of the movie Palm Beach. Brown and Rachel Ward were visiting friends in Wales for a dinner party. The husbands, due to their retirements, were bouncing off the walls with boredom. Brown himself was suffering from severe anxiety because he had recovered a few weeks earlier from a life threatening illness. He thought that this would make a good film with his wife directing. Ward intensely collaborated with the scriptwriter Joanna Murray-Smith. Unlike his own stories, this was a combined effort.
Brown then concluded with a call to arms to entreat the government to subsidise Australian films. This happened in every country, including the United Kingdom, which had a film industry similar in size of that in Australia.
He felt that some actors today had everything served up to them on a plate. Brown countered that this was an illusion and constant pressure must be put on the federal and state governments. As he stated previously, Brown stressed that Australian audiences would see films that were relevant, to them, spoken in an accent that was the country’s lingua franca.
Brown enchanted the audience with his engaging storytelling and especially his pulling away of the Hollywood curtain.
His relaxed and inviting manner continued at the book signing session when, in particular, senior ladies would kiss him on the cheek, pull him around for selfies, all of which he happily oblidged to do.
Philip Clark stated that if you wanted to think of the quintessential Australian character it would be Bryan Brown.
After this delightful and engrossing lunch, a memoir must follow!
Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum