Courier Mail - April 2011

 

Crime pays for cool Baker By Holly Byrnes

 

SIMON BAKER has never been one to bask in life in the public eye. He can be intensely private and less than overjoyed at the prospect of subjecting himself to the prying questions of the media.

 

Watching him in action on the Los Angeles set of The Mentalist, you can't help but wonder what mood he'll be in when he breaks from filming for an interview.

 

It turns out he's far from resistant to questions about his life on and off the screen and is disarmingly honest about what's important in life and his rise to fame - he has become the highest-paid drama star in the US, with a recently inked deal said to be worth $30 million.

 

A key factor in Baker remaining true to his "no bulldust" roots is his 13-year marriage to fellow Australian actor Rebecca Rigg.

 

Though they live in Los Angeles, Baker and Rigg are diligent in ensuring their three children - Stella, Claude and Harry - are infused with their Australian heritage.

 

"It's incredibly important and I think we've done it quite successfully," Baker says of his approach to fatherhood.

 

"All of my kids love Australia and understand the culture there enough to be able to slip backwards and forwards without a problem. Obviously, the sense of humour in my household in the way we approach things is very much like Australia. We approach things in a very straight-forward way."

 

When he talks about marriage to Rigg, of E Street and A Country Practice fame, it's clear Baker knows how lucky he is.

 

While he slaved away for years in Hollywood before his big break as Nick Fallin in crime drama The Guardian, Rigg gave up her career to play housewife and supporter. Asked how he manages long hours on the set of The Mentalist and his role as a father and dad, Baker's response is simple.

 

"She's been amazing," Baker says of Rigg.

 

"If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't be able to be in this situation. I mean, really, she's been a great support. I guess I sort of realised happiness becomes more simplified to you the older you get - not admitting that I am old because I refuse to admit that," he says deadpan.

 

"But the idea of happiness is a lot simpler to me now than what it ever was when I was younger, before I had a family."

Rigg returned to work last year for a two-episode guest role on The Mentalist (it was actually only 1 episode). She also filmed a role alongside Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in Fair Game.

 

"Do I enjoy working with her?" Baker, 41, asks with a boyish grin.

 

"In all honesty, I enjoy being married to her more than I do working with her because we have our different roles when we're at work. I am a different person at work than I am at home, and she is, too, and we are so familiar with how we are in our relationship at home. So it's challenging.

 

"People think, 'How cool, you get to spend time with your wife at work', and that side of it was nice. Having lunch was good, but it's different."

It took time, he says, before he felt at ease on the set of The Mentalist, in which he plays psychic-turned-crime-investigator Patrick Jane.

 

"The first season it's always tough and the workload is intense, but once you're in it, you are in it. You get caught up in it and you don't realise you are here (studio) sometimes 16 hours plugging away. It strengthens you. You get stuff thrown at you; mental fatigue and the right attitude all factor into it. The key to getting over most of those things for me is having my attitude and outlook adjusted in the right way so that negative things just sort of run off me."

 

Welsh actor Owain Yeoman, who plays Wayne Rigsby, was the first to be cast in The Mentalist. Yeoman says Baker's a dynamo on set - a rare breed of actor who can readily absorb detailed script information on the run. It's a trait that makes Baker a perfect leading man.

 

"He really was the catalyst for this show happening," Yeoman says.

 

"I was the first person on board with this project and, really, it was in the waiting-in-the-wings phase because it rested on who we got for the character and it's totally a show piece for Patrick Jane. So when we heard Simon had come on board, it suddenly made it a real prospect.

 

"Simon is a star, he is a genuine star. He is relaxed and effortless and a really good guy. When you have someone level-headed about it and just grateful for success you can't help but be influenced by that."

 

Baker adds: "I am very straight-forward and direct. If I disagree with something, I say something about it. I don't take it personally and I don't think anyone takes anything I say personally."