GRETA SCACCHI ‘I’D NEVER TURN BRYAN DOWN...’
The screen legend tells Woman’s Day about the joys of filming with her good friend again
There were a lot of things about new series Darby And Joan that interested Greta Scacchi. For one, the shoot, in Queensland, came after a period of lockdown in which she was unable to work at home in England. Another, it allowed the 62-year-old to collaborate with Bryan Brown, who plays former cop Jack
Darby to her Joan Kirkhope, a nurse who has travelled to Australia looking for answers about her husband. Together, the pair find more than one mystery to solve.
Darby And Joan
How was pitched to you? And what about it made you say yes?
My friend Bryan Brown said, “Come and do this with me.
It’ll be fun.” And it was a no-brainer and very flattering to have an actor ask me like that. I’ve known him for years. I’ve known [his wife] Rachel [Ward] even longer – we were both modelling in London in the late ’70s. But it seems that [Bryan’s and my] chemistry in [2019 film] Palm Beach was something that people noticed. It was the best way of being offered something.
It’s hard to say no to a friend, isn’t it?
Exactly. But I really enjoy working with him. We’re very frank with each other and I like to be able to trust the other person and know that there’s real fondness and
straightforwardness. I mean, he’s an easy guy. He’s a laugh a minute and he loves ribbing me and I rib him – and we have this banter that is off screen and it sometimes seeps onto the screen in the sense of fun that [our characters] have.
The series looks great, but what are the biggest difficulties in a major location shoot like that?
After we were about halfway through, I could do nothing at all on Saturdays and Sundays. I’d get into my swimming costume to go down to the pool – I remember it was a total of 50 steps to the lift and onto the pool – and some Saturdays, I’d be lying on the sofa just completely zombied and I’d say to myself, “OK, I’ll do my exercise tomorrow.” And then Sunday would go by and same thing – total couch potato.
‘Bryan’s a laugh a minute and he loves ribbing me and I rib him’
Your daughter Leila George has followed in your footsteps by becoming an actress. What advice have you given her about the industry?
The only advice my daughter took from me gratefully
– and I was quite surprised when she said to me, “I don’t know whether to call myself Scacchi or D’onofrio [from father Vincent] because Scacchi D’onofrio is just too much of a mouthful.” I said, “Neither. They’re great names in Italian but in English they’re horrible. Nobody knows how to spell Scacchi or how to say it. Save yourself the trouble and give yourself a name that can be recognised in every language.” She asked what name and I said, “Your middle name, George.” We named her George after George Sand and George Eliot. I was very pleased that she did one thing I suggested – and that’s the only thing.