How was it performing at the Sydney Opera House?
For me, it’s fun to be on stage with other people for a change, rather than doing stand-up. And at the Opera House there’s a shared green room and you just sit in there going, “I wonder if that person is an opera singer or a trumpeter or in a choir?” The ballet dancers are fairly easy to spot.
You’re also writing Season 4 of Rosehaven, which hasn’t actually been given the go-ahead by the ABC, has it?
It’s still not confirmed. But we’re writing it even if it’s not green-lit, which seems strange. If it doesn’t go ahead on the ABC, we’ll do it live, so it won’t be wasted. We already test Rosehaven material live. It’s actually the only time Luke and I ever get to hear if anyone laughs at the jokes.
Unless you watched the show in viewers’ lounge rooms…
That would be weird. But we get as many of the cast as possible and do
it like a radio play. And Luke and I have decided that if the show doesn’t go again, we’ll write a ridiculous ‘burn it down’ episode, just for fun, and we’ll read it out as well.
It’s a very different approach to that of Utopia. No live read-throughs with the Working Dog productions guys, right?
We don’t get the script until a few days before we’re filming. I really enjoy it as a way to work because it’s fast and furious. It’s got a real ‘catching lightning in a bottle’ vibe to it. It’s not over-rehearsed, it’s all very alive and fresh and fast-moving, which makes it feel like a bit of a blur. But it’s also quite enjoyable because when the episodes come out, I genuinely can’t remember filming them.
What’s it really like filming with the Working Dog gang?
It’s just the dream. They’re my comedy heroes. It’s still ridiculous to see Santo [Cilauro] behind the camera. It’s better now because it’s Season 4 and I’m less intimidated by them. I’m just thrilled to be handed this incredible material because it makes me seem really smart. When Rob [Sitch] directs, he doesn’t have a monitor, so he’ll just be listening on his headphones. And I used to think, “What if I’m making a funny face?”
Chris Brown had a great cameo in Episode 1 this season. Was he fun?
What a delight! I asked him the stupidest questions and he has a story about everything. Like, what’s your favourite elephant? And that’s 15 minutes of chat.
Is it true you have a baby? Well, a fur baby. You can’t bring him to the set, can you?
I’m very much an absent parent to [pup] Jimmy Chocolate Chip. He doesn’t travel to the set, so he better be excited to see me when I get home because this time I will have been away for two months.
What does your family think of seeing you on the TV?
Nowadays they’re very supportive. In the early days, they were still supportive, but Mum was very much like, “I’m so happy you’re doing something that you love, but have you thought about how you’re going to pay the rent?” I was a waitress for very long time.