MAN of FORTUNE
Australia In Style Magazine
2001

Simon Baker is the latest Australian actor in Hollywood to earn the dubious title of ‘ next big thing’. He just wrapped his first lead in a major movie, Affair of the Necklace, starring opposite Oscar-winner Hilary Swank. With Red Planet, the sci-fi horror (well, it was supposed to be scary) that come out late last year, Baker is slowly becoming a fixture in Hollywood. He tells Australian style about the circus that is tinsel town and how it feels to be blessed with good luck.

Walking into an Italian restaurant in the up-market suburb of Brentwood (made famous by the OJ murders), Simon Baker says upon opening the door, "You’ll think you’re in Melbourne, if you squint.” And he’s right. Until you look at the menu, of course, but we’ll get to that later. Dressed casually, Baker seems unaffected by his obvious good looks and doesn’t seem obsessively self-absorbed in his actorly pursuits. Unlike many actors his age, he has a life outside the confines of Hollywood. Married to actress Rebecca Rigg, the couple are raising their two children, Stella (seven) and Claude (nearly two), in Los Angeles where they moved to, several years ago.

What made you decide to move to LA?
It was really kind of a whim. I’d done a bit of Home and Away. The last job before leaving Australia was either Naked or Sweat - both sound like pornos, don’t they? [laughs]. They were both television shows.

When you arrived in LA did you have to take many odd jobs?
No I was lucky. The first job I got in LA was a role in LA Confidential. Really the decision to come here was a huge risk. I didn’t have an agent, Didn’t have anything lined-up, really. [The waitress appears.]

Baker tries to order Spaghetti Carbonara. After accepting th fact that he’s not going to find anything with that kind of calorie intake on a trendy LA menu, he finally chooses a Porcini Mushroom Risotto and a glass of Chianti. Note: You never see anyone in LA, at lunch, drinking alcohol unless they’re European or Australian.]

You’ve been in a few big Hollywood movies now: La Confidential, Ride with the Devil, Red Planet and the upcoming Affair of the Necklace. Were you disappointed with the way Ride with the Devil was received?
Yeah. From my perspective as an actor and an artist, of course I was disappointed. You work really hard on something, put a lot of your soul into it. It’s really an enjoyable process making a film. But you have to look at it from the perspective of the studio, where they look at it as a product and they sell it. It wasn’t marketed very well in the US.

Yeah, and it was, in the final product, somewhat of a sympathetic view on the southern man who is basically the devil. They don’t really look highly on the southerners in the Civil War. And it was a huge risk. Radically there were some quite interesting issues raised. When you’ve involved in it, it becomes a whole different thing. So the first time I watched it, I was just all over the place. I couldn’t watch it comfortably. Then I watched it again, on video, not long ago and I thought it was very flawed. It was very sort of … slow and long.

You played a lead in Affair of the Necklace, this is potentially a career-changing role. Does the possibility make you nervous?

No, it doesn’t make me nervous. I’m from working-class roots, and for me to be able to make a living is great. If I can pay the bills, I’m happy.

How long have you and Rebecca Rigg been married?
We’ve been together for eight years, nearly nine. We’ve been married for Three. I’ve got a seven-year old kid. I’ve been married that long.

Are you happy to raise your kids in LA?
Not completely. But then that’s just my nature. The education system is not that great. I raise a daughter who says, "like” every five minutes. I have a visceral reaction to that. What my kids do have going for them is that we move around a lot. That can be difficult and unsettling at times, but I just spent four months with my kids in Europe. My daughter loves to travel and learn about different cultures. She’s really enthusiastic about educating herself on art and culture and the history of other countries.

Did you experience a major culture shock when you moved out of Australia? Did you have other Australian actors that helped you settle in?
It was a huge culture shock moving here. I remember just trying to ring up and order pizza. It was like a Hallmark moment, listening to my wife on the phone and the pizza guy not understanding a word she was saying, and then she had to put on an American accent just to order a pepperoni pizza. Scary. That aspect of it was huge. But also, coming to Hollywood, coming to Los Angeles, everywhere you drive you go, "Oh that’s where they shot this or that, I remember that scene in a movie, or remember that building.” It’s weird too, because there’s no going to Bondi or Darlinghurst or Little Italy to get some food. It’s so spread out, you have to get in your car and drive 15 minutes on the freeway.

How long did it take you to get comfortable?
I’m not completely comfortable. I go in and out of comfort. Sometimes I get frustrated being here and dealing with a whole different psyche and attitude. Socially, dealing with the way, and I know I’m generalizing grossly, but sometimes it’s just like, why do you have to speak so loudly? Are you talking to your child or the 40 people within the 30 foot radius? Just do it, but shut up. I get really frustrated. I just think, you wanker, I want to belt you, you’re annoying [laughs.]

I know you’re friends with Hugh Jackman - do you hang out with many other Australians here?
There’s an obvious connection between Australians living here. There’s an understanding, an unspoken bond that happens whether you meet them in a store and they work behind the counter and they go, "Are you guys Australians?” It’s not like you’ve got to be Australian or we won’t hang out with you, but it’s nice because you share a common understanding and common perspective on the circus that is Los Angeles and the movie business.

Do you think the American perception of Australians now is different to 15 years ago around the time of Crocodile Dundee?
We’re still eating shit for that one. I have a dream to one day be able to make a film that in many ways articulates really what being an Australian is now. Three’s a million different cultures all thrown in and mixed up. And yet there are your Billy Hunter characters and there are your Con the Fruiterer characters, and then you’ve got Asian guys with broad Australian accents calling other Asian guys slope heads. It’s a real mish-mash and that’s what our culture is. It’s just as broad and diverse as our geography. Did you watch the Olympics?
The US coverage was pretty pathetic. I saw it in Paris. What I noticed was that it was a big publicity stunt as far as, let’s show the world how racially integrated Australia is. They could have been more subtle. But I didn’t see all of the opening ceremonies. It was almost like trying too hard. A lot of people were saying to me on the set [of Affair of the Necklace], your country seems to really care about the Aborigines. And I’d say, "I’ve got to be honest with you, they understand that they’ve got the world as their audience and they’re putting their best foot forward, and the fact of the matter is, there’s still a lot of issues going on.” But what it did do, I think, which was positive, was it gave Australians a sense of pride and consciousness about those things. So I think, overall, it was positive.

What do you miss most about Australia?
[Sighs] Don’t get me started [laughs]. I miss the weather, the sky, the whole bit. I miss being able to go surfing with mates, the big southerly busters coming in the summer, the landscape, going for a surf and laughing and having fun with your friends, eating some chips on the beach and feeding the seagulls, letting the kids run around on the beach and not worrying about them. That stern warmth, that Australian thing, I miss that. Watching the football. I miss the sense of humour that Australians have and the sense of irony, the fact that Australians understand what irony is. I miss that you can give someone a hard time in Australia and it’s endearing. A cold VB on a hot sunny arvo.

What’s Affair of the Necklace about?
It’s a story about a girl trying to find out who she is. It’s based on a true story but takes poetic license.

Do you think Hollywood is more forgiving to men than women? Some people think male actors don’t have to come up to the same level as women physically.
Oh, it’s not so bad. It hinges on so many things. It hinges on, was that person in a movie that made money? Did the movie have critical acclaim? Were they nominated for some sort of an award? It goes along those lines. There’s a yardstick and it’s cynical but it’s the way it works. If you fall into the category of winning one of those awards or being nominated then it increases your chances of being in a movie that will make a lot of money - which will increase your chance of not having to be the guy with two percent body fat [laughs].

Well you’ve now starring with last year’s Oscar-winning actress. Obviously, you’re going to be a lot more noticed now as well.
Yeah, but you never know how the movie is going to be. You can feel good on the set but it can end up being ordinary. It could be a great movie and then it could be test screened and audiences may say, "Oh I don’t understand why he shoots the dog.” And the next thing you know, the kid’s shooting the dog out of Old Yeller.

How old are you?
Thirty-one. I think I’ll ask for another glass of wine. I don’t have any more auditions today or tomorrow.
Many people are more comfortable in their own skin at 30. Are you?
No. I don’t know if I’ll ever be all the time completely comfortable. When I’m an old guy I may be. I’m at a point in my life where I’m addressing a lot of things that I stood by when I was younger.

Such as?
Just things artistically or career wise. I never really think much about the past. In some ways I’m somewhat embarrassed about my past, career wise.

Really?
Yeah, and It’s wrong. It’s wrong. Because I worked on a television show that was a successful show and it was my first gig and it’s what I love to do and I think, in a lot of ways, the public opinion, the media’s perception of the show was ….

But that’s because of the show, not your individual performance.
Yeah, I know. But listen, I’ve worked with fine actors but I still pretty much get written up as "the ex-E Streeter.” It’s this tag that gets tagged along forever. It’s funny because I’ve always focused on playing it down and have felt somewhat embarrassed, which I now see as being stupid because it’s how I got here and it gave me an introduction.

Are you able to watch yourself on the screen without being too critical of your performance?
No, But I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to look at my work and go, ‘hey , I rock!” That wouldn’t be me [laughs].

What’s the biggest misconception about being an actor in Hollywood?
That these people’s lives are what you see in a magazine. You still have to take out the garbage. Well, either that or you have to employ the guy that takes the garbage out. Which to me, often feel like, If you go to the trouble of employing someone to take it out, why don’t you just take it out [laughs] I don’t know. I still curse and swear and go, I’ve got to take the garbage out.”

When you hear actors bitching about the downsides of fame, don’t you think to yourself, well go and be a plumber and you won’t have these complaints?
Yeah. When I hear actors whining to me about whatever they do, sometimes you sit there and say, "Do you enjoy what you do?” Is it worth it to you, to get to do what you do? I ask myself and I love it. It’s great fun. It’s a buzz and it’s a kick and the fact that someone pays me enough money to live comfortably doing it. I appreciate it. It’s like Grant Dodwell winning the lottery and I’m lazing back on my boat.

Do you feel lucky?
Oh I’m so lucky, it’s not funny. I’m not about to diss and get angry. Sure, listen, the artist in me is seeing films that I’ve done and been disappointed and stuff but, I was able to go and do it.