- Growing up in Manning in the 80s was pretty much as bogan as you could be - I don't think I wore shoes for about seven years.
- I work out because I'm cripplingly vain.
- Whenever I am in America I find that I'll always order my coffee and lunch in an American accent, otherwise they can't understand me.
- I have a small family, but they are all still in Perth, and I am still very close with my high-school friends.
- Wentworth (2013) offers so much to Australian actors, It's lovely to be part of such a strong female ensemble; it's a rare production.
- I went to drama school, I basically lived in the nude for 4 years.
- [on Wentworth (2013)]; Because of the way the show is structured, it makes so much sense that new characters are always coming in. And, of course, with every new character is a whole new storyline potential. I think that's what's kept the show alive and so engaging for so long. I can't wait to see what the writers do for series eight.
- I think people love edge-of-the-seat viewing. Shows such as Game of Thrones (2011) and The Walking Dead (2010); it's like you're walking into a haunted house and you just don't know what's going to jump out at you. Wentworth (2013) is like that. Nobody is safe. Not even the viewer...
- It's often quite intense, but we somehow manage to keep it really light on set. You kind of have to, as an antidote to all the grim subject matter. It's so rare for Australian television to be this "high stakes" and to have constant drama. It's really kind of cut-throat TV - people drop left, right and centre and you never know if your character is going to be safe. It's incredibly wonderful to be part of intense drama on one level, but also on a personal level, it's such a joy of a job, because all the cast are so lovely.
- [on Wentworth (2013) character deaths]; It's like a death in real life - you don't mourn just the death of a character, but also the actor who played that character. Selfishly, I want everyone to stay! I don't want any character to die. I want everyone to get a happy ending, because I love these women and men so much. But what I love more than anything in Wentworth is its ruthlessness. It's true to the circumstances, which is that the women are in a cut-throat prison, and people die. And no-one 'plays nice', either. I love that it's a scary place.
- [on Wentworth (2013) and its return after it was in limbo]; We hoped it would. It was bittersweet to walk away thinking, 'This could be the last time I get to play Ali.' I actually got the phone call from Pino, our producer, on my birthday to say we were going ahead for more episodes. I thought he was calling to wish me a happy birthday, but he was calling with even better news: that the show was being picked up for 20 more episodes, which is unheard of in Australia. You get used to stepping off a set on your last day of shooting and really not knowing whether the show is going to go again. It's always the way. I think it's rare that you know if a show is going to continue.
- The whole idea behind this birthing centre, which my character Grace set up, is that she wanted to create an environment that was a lot more holistic, less clinical, less hospital-like, so the women could have the most empowered, relaxing, joyous birthing experience possible.
- You have to remain calm, no matter what the situation, even if it is an extreme situation, even if it's life and death, you have to remain completely calm. Because your concern, primarily, is the woman who is giving birth and then the baby second. And that, for me, is something I was always conscious of, because as a theatre nerd and an actor, you want to lean into the drama of it, but a good midwife should do the opposite.
- This is more of the garb that you would wear to give birth, to help someone else give birth? This is possibly one of the more impractical costumes I've worn. But you know what? It looks good. It's my colour. And arguably that's more important.
- And so for the midwives, that meant looking less clinical and looking more kind of approachable. Fortunately, for me, it means I get to wear pretty dresses.
- And I don't think any show is led by just one person. From the outside, perhaps, when people watch the show it may appear that way. But from the inside, I feel I'm one of very, very many people who are essential to this process.
- I've always thought that Wentworth has skated a really, really fine and enjoyable line between melodrama and gritty reality. And I, personally, really like that line. Because there are moments that are so outrageous, but you can lean into it because of the world that has been created.
- And I don't think people watch television - like drama, scripted narrative television - to see regular everyday life. They tune in to see drama. And that's why a character like Grace, the most interesting thing about her is how flawed she is. Her failures are more interesting than her successes. And I feel that about most characters.
- Trauma, in general, is something that's not really talked about. And that's a real shame, because it's dangerous to deny people grief. Things are changing slightly, but I remember very much being brought up with this kind of idea that you shouldn't indulge in sadness and if you're going through grief, or going through a bad time, the dialogue you hear is, 'Get over it, pull up your socks.
- Can we just put it in writing, to all the producers and writers and directors out there, that I can tap dance? Not as well as I could when I was 15. But if anyone wants to put me in some kind of a Bob Fosse-style show, I'm your gal. I can't sing, but we can dub over that.
- I am happy to go wherever the good work presents itself, whether that's in Australia, whether that's in Los Angeles or wherever, I'm happy to go where the work is. But I have to say that I think that Australia produces some of the best television in the entire world and I've been so privileged to be a part of some really, really exceptional TV projects.
- She kind of voluntarily became my own personal midwifery consultant, which was extraordinarily useful because, of course, not only is there a huge technical side of midwifery and what the women have to do from a medical point of view, but it's so much also about what the emotional role that our midwife plays in birthing women.
- So it's an incredibly important role and I have a huge, huge newfound respect for men and women who choose that career because it is hard, really, really hard, taxing emotionally, physically, mentally, but joyous at the same time.
- I would very much like to work overseas again, but if I never do and I just work on brilliant Australian TV for the rest of my life, then I'll feel very, very blessed and satisfied with that.
- When women come in to give birth, they really rely on the midwife more than they rely on anybody else that day - more than the doctors, more than the obstetricians, more than their partners, more than their parents who might be in the room. It is the midwife who is really going to be saving the day and in control and directing traffic that day.
- "And that's a shame because we all go through it. And it's something we all experience and are unified by it.
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