LIVING IN STRANGER TIMES
ASHER KEDDIE HAD TO SPEND SIX MONTHS AWAY FROM HER HUSBAND WHILE ON AN EMOTIONALLY TAXING SHOOT FOR NEW MINI-SERIES NINE PERFECT STRANGERS – BUT SHE IS PROUD OF THE FINAL RESULT
LAST year was a big year for Asher Keddie. Like everyone, she grappled with the constraints of Covid, of course. But she also spent six months of 2020 separated from her husband in Melbourne while she shot Nine Perfect Strangers in Byron Bay, playing the part of Heather – a grieving mother whose son had committed suicide.
As the mother of six-year-old Valentino and stepmother to 11-year-old Luca, it’s a pain she can’t begin to fathom – but she hopes her character’s journey to healing will help others dealing with the ‘unimaginable’.
“The thing is – I want the challenge of these kinds of roles and certainly there were some days where I would think to myself ‘oh god you’re a glutton for punishment, this is difficult’ – there is an emotional cost here,” says Keddie, who recently turned 47.
“And certainly I had moments playing Heather and being on the journey of that family where it was rigorous and it was hard going.
“But to be honest, the year that we all had added to the challenge. It’s a difficult thing to talk about because it’s unimaginable to me … I can’t bear the thought of it.
“But at the same time, I think the journey is full enough and has been written so sensitively, that I am hoping people that have experienced the unimaginable will be able to relate, and it will be helpful in some way.”
Australian author Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers being brought to screen has been one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year – and for good reason. As well as Keddie being one of the nine strangers who come together at a controversial wellness retreat run by Nicole Kidman’s Melissa McCartney, Samara Weaving and Bobby Cannavale.
Filmed in the Byron hinterland in the height of Covid, Keddie tells Insider its release is timely, with forced lockdowns spurring the increased need for human reconnection – the one thing all characters seek in the series.
“I think we are all trying to get on a path that feels right and we don’t know what it is at the moment and it’s really challenging – we are trying to find a better way of living, of being able to grasp the challenges that we all face – it does feel really timely to me, this project,” Keddie says. “And it certainly did filming it as well.
and also including Nicole’s character Masha – are diverse, but at the core they are all reaching for the same thing, and that is to live better and try – whether they are dealing with grief and the loss of someone, or marital struggles or mortality … I think there are some really inspirational material in there, as much as we also hit the base notes of life – you know, the pain and the sadness.
“I think it’s really great for us at the moment to look through drama – how far we would go to reach that better way of life and that comfortability within ourselves.”
Unable to cross the Victorian border for the six-month shoot, Keddie says it was tough being separated from famed artist husband son Valentino to come to after the 10-hour days.
“Our story was that we weren’t able to cross borders and be together the whole time and that was difficult – but I also felt grateful that I had my little boy up there and I was coming home to him every night,” she says.
“I may have held him a little bit tighter than I normally do because the material required an emotional investment that I just wasn’t able to step away from in that six months of filming – but that was the gig and every gig is different and this one certainly meant a lot to me.”
So triggering and compelling was the content, she says set was a happy place when the cameras weren’t rolling – because it had to be. “It was the best,” she says.
“Nicole and Melissa are powerhouses – they are excellent human beings – both funny, both very generous, but have very rigorous work ethic which I love, and there was definitely levity outside the moments we were doing a take or filming a scene, because we needed that.”
A big fan of Liane Moriarty’s before landing the role, Keddie says having the Big Little Lies author on set was a thrill for everyone.
“It was just fantastic – I was a huge fan of Liane before I was offered this role, I had read every book and I was very excited to meet her,” she says.
With recent lockdowns sparking a revival of Keddie’s past work and cult shows like Love My Way, Offspring and Paper Giants as popular as ever, she says each has a place in her heart – just like Nine Perfect Strangers does. “They are all special shows and I feel really grateful to have been part of shows that have moved people – and I think this show will too,” she says.
Nine Perfect Strangers is now avilable on