LET’S TALK ABOUT MATILDA
She’s the daughter of famous parents but the multi-talented Matilda Brown has firmly asserted her own place in the arts industry.
She’s the daughter of famous parents but the multi-talented Matilda Brown has firmly asserted her own place in the arts.
Matilda Brown has just finished a yoga class, so maybe that’s why she looks so radiant. Or perhaps it’s just her warmth and charisma that gives her that aura and glow. The 29-year-old writer, director and actor has swung by a cafe to meet me on route to collect her just-completed second season of Let’s Talk About, the Foxtel short-format web series she wrote, directed and starred in. “It’s exciting, it’s done!” she enthuses.
The smart, funny series, about a young couple who accidentally fall pregnant early in their relationship, is just one of the many projects she has on the go. As well as other acting roles, she directed The Caravan [an off-shoot of Offspring webisodes] and stars in the upcoming film The Death And Life Of Otto Bloom.
While grateful to be busy given the uncertainty of employment in the arts industry, Brown also feels that it’s only recently that she’s really established her place in her chosen field. This a result of confidence gained through experience, and having carved her own path – one beyond the weight of her lineage. As the daughter of Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown, her name, she reflects, has brought both benefits and drawbacks.
“When people know your parents they can’t really separate you from them. As a creative you’re already trying to work out who you are, but people always want to compare,” she explains. “It’s happening less now, I think probably in the last year and probably also since I’ve found my own place. Before, I never really knew if I was where I was because of them or because of my own merits. Then there comes a time where you’re like: ‘Well, I know where I am now.’”
It’s an affirmation also reflected in the film industry, which has labelled her part of Australia’s next generation of filmmaking talent.
When Brown announced at age 17 that she wanted to be an actress, her mum’s response was less than enthusiastic. Despite her own huge success on screen, Ward didn’t like acting and was reluctant to see her daughter to go through the setbacks and criticism that comes with the territory. “She was never thrilled because she didn’t find it easy,” says Brown. “But my mum was really the reason I went to film school, the reason why I started making films. She said: ‘Well, if that is what you want to do at least go university and get some other skills so that you can have power and create your own work.’ I’m very happy that happened.”
Three years at film school at Melbourne’s Swinburne University were followed by two years studying professional screenwriting at RMIT. Since then she’s combined all her skills, enjoying the differences the roles offer: “Writing is a solitary sort of thing, but I’ve always written, even when I was a kid. I don’t know who I’d be without it, because it’s so part of my identity – it makes life so exciting to be able to draw from it and include it and it’s so expressive to me. Directing is completely different, because it’s so collaborative, you’re working closely with people, and it’s so fun. They’re like different rides in a theme park, with different challenges.”
While Ward encouraged her daughter to broaden her horizons, her father gifted her with his vigorous spirit. “He’s externally optimistic,” says Brown. “This industry can get you down, you’re like: ‘It’s too hard, I want to give up.’ But my dad is like: ‘No, you’re not giving up, it’s persistence.’ His whole thing was – because he sold insurance before he was an actor – he had to get through a whole lot of nos before he got to a yes. So he applied that to acting. With every ‘no’ he’d be closer to a ‘yes’. You need to recognise the yeses, because sometimes they’re so small you miss them. I think that’s been a big thing for me: just to recognise the little things that I’ve set for myself along the way that I can be proud of.”
Brown’s close relationship with her parents and two siblings is one of the reasons (along with an aversion to US politics) she hasn’t moved to LA to like many of her contemporaries. She adds, with a laugh: “I’m much happier creating than being a sort of puppet in someone else’s creations.” Right now, she has a feature film in progress that should be ready to set in motion later this year.
During her career she’s worked professionally with both her parents, most recently acting alongside her mum in The Death And Life Of Otto Bloom and with her dad – as her dad – in ABC’s Lessons from the Grave, which she wrote, produced, directed and acted in. He’s also her on-screen father in Let’s Talk About.
While there’s an easy rapport with her father on set, working with him also comes with the usual familial frustrations. “It’s a team of about 15 of us on set all under 35, and then there’s … Dad,” she deadpans. “He loves being around young people and they all respect him, but I’ve heard all his lame jokes and they haven’t, so he gets to make everybody laugh!”
“I’M MUCH HAPPIER CREATING THAN BEING A PUPPET IN SOMEONE ELSE’S CREATIONS”