New Idea
May 1, 1993

"We’re Not Getting Married”
Pregnant, jobless and happy… Rebecca Rigg and Simon Denny talk about life after "E Street”

Actors Simon Denny and Rebecca Rigg - eagerly awaiting the birth of their first baby - have no plans to marry and no steady work. But the former stars of the recently axed "E Street” don’t look concerned.

In fact, relaxing in their comfortable home in Sydney’s Northern Beaches on a sunny Saturday, the pair look blissfully happy.

Rebecca beams with good health while Simon, who will be at the birth, simply can’t wait for their child to arrive.

"I want the baby now!” he says with a smile. "It will be such a happy day when I can hold the baby in my arms.”

Simon whose role on "E Street” as Constable Sam Farrell was his first, and screen veteran Rebecca, who had a role last year as nurse Amy Preston, say that while the baby wasn’t exactly planned, they weren’t doing a lot to prevent pregnancy.

"We were just kind of fatalistic about it,” says Rebecca, adding they hadn’t been "Strict” about contraception.

Rebecca, 25, says she felt "absolutely overwhelmed” when she saw the test result, while Simon, 23, felt like yelling for joy. "It was like this massive adrenaline rush,” he says. Rebecca says Simon was so excited he wanted to tell the world, but instead the couple told just a few friends until Rebecca was through the "danger” period.

"I couldn’t have stood it if I miscarried and the media found out,” she tells New Idea in an exclusive interview. Five months into the pregnancy the couple are also facing questions on the topic of marriage. "Everyone asked us, ‘When are you getting married?” says Rebecca. "But I think our grandparents are more concerned about that than we are.” Nevertheless Rebecca admits she still dreams of the special day. "I go through stages of thinking I want to have a big wedding and wear a white dress,” she says. "Really the only reason I would do it is to have a big party and celebrate with friends and wear a nice frock and be skinny again.

"But really this is or bond,” Rebecca adds, referring to the baby.

Simon agrees. "Marriage breakdown is so high and it seems much of the time the whole reason for getting together is forgotten. And that reason is to join together and create new life - and if that’s not the strongest bond between two human beings then I don’t know what is!”

Rebecca and Simon believe it won’t be difficult to combine parenthood with careers in the turbulent world of acting. And Simon views losing his "job” on "E Street” as a new beginning.

"I think it was time for me to move on,” he says, adding he was with the show for about a year. While Simon hopes to break into film, he isn’t worried if it doesn’t happen immediately.

"I am a healthy young male and I can dig ditches if I have to, to pay the bills!” he says.

Meanwhile Rebecca is preparing for a new role in an American television movie "Mercy Mission.”

"I play the pregnant wife of an American pilot who likes a challenge in his career and wants to fly around the world in a very small plane,” she says. Rebecca has to master an American accent for the film, which will be shot round Surfers Paradise. While she is looking forward to the role, Rebecca says she has enjoyed her time at home.

"I feel very reluctant about having a career at the moment, she says. "I’m happiest pottering around the house cooking and cleaning, but I hear that’s straight out of the text book on how pregnant women usually behave.”

"I am not leaving acting, but at the same time I believe in giving the child a lot of time, for a couple of years at least.”

Rebecca fell into acting when she was 11 years old - auditioning as an extra in Fatty Finn and landing a starring role. Since then she has had a string of acting credits including films "Spotwood” with Anthony Hopkins and "Hunting” with John Savage. Her TV work has included "A Country Practice, "Raffety’s Rules”, "Willing and Able” and "E Street”.

Simon grew up near Ballina on the northern NSW coast and first worked in modeling in Japan before deciding his real ambitions lay in acting.

The couple met 18 months ago through friends and are keen to point out that it wasn’t "E Street” that brought them together.

They put much of the success of their relationship down to the fact they are opposites who attract.

"We complement each other,” says Simon. "I’m a country bloke and she’s a city chick. I am a sort of surfie who’s pretty laid back and relaxed and Rebecca is the energiser.

"It’s like, ‘come on! If we are going to do it, let’s do in now!”