Apologising and patting her tummy, Celeste Barber opens our interview with the declaration “I’ve just had chips!”. She goes on to top up her lipstick, chosen from her new makeup range, Booie Beauty.
“It’s all over my face, and a little bit on John’s too!” she declares proudly.
This is the Barber we all know and love, being human and real. Alongside her sits the also very grounded and humorous John Sheedy. These two have been busy working their magic together to create the film of Craig Silvey’s best-selling book, Runt, Sheedy as director, and Barber as one of the stars.
Barber knew she wanted to do this project from the moment she read the screenplay.
CB: I got sent the script, and it was beautiful. And then reading Craig Silvey’s best selling novel Runt and then knowing that old mate John was directing. That was very exciting, and then the cast. Perfetta is what I’m trying to say. Perfetta!
Although Sheedy and Barber have known each other for a long time, they have never had the chance to work together before now.
CB: Of course, John’s had a crush on me for years!
JS: Huge crush! So it was great to work with Celeste and fulfill my crush. Seriously I’ve respected Celeste as an actor for a long time, and when I read this script Suzy Shearer had all the qualities, and I went Celeste Barbara for me! And then went Jai Courtney for me! Put the two together on a farm kerbang magic! And a dog and kids. Boom! Sells itself!
CB: Blockbuster!
Sheedy clearly isn’t scared of working with animals or children.
JS: I say it’s a delight working with children and animals. They are beautiful, and they bring so much to set. They come with a big, bright, light and open heart and a big imagination, and you know, the worst thing you can do is kind of squash that in a young person or child.
Joining Barber in the cast are the aforementioned Jai Courtney, Deborah Mailman, and Jack Thompson. Filming took place in the remote town of York in Western Australia, meaning the cast became quite close.
CB: There is one pub there in the main street of town, and we all spent time together there when we weren’t filming. Tracy ran the pub, and Stacey owned the pub. Tracy and Stacey.
JS: Yeah, shout-outs, Tracy and Stacey!
CB: And of course, as you say, Deb Mailman, I’m obsessed with her, and I also got to work in just about everything with Gen [evieve] Lemon, which was an absolute dream come true. It was pretty incredible to join to join the caste. It’s the stuff you dream about when you’re a kid to be working at home on a great Australian film with the cream of the crop, and I managed to live out that dream in York.
So what makes for really great children’s screen work?
JS: Well, I I think first of all, you’ve got to have a really great script. And Craig Sylvey has penned a beautiful screenplay/novel. For my own part, what attracted me to it was that there was such a fine balance of humor and pathos throughout the the storytelling. So it it wasn’t just a children’s film or a family film full of color and movement. It had depth. It had it hit the hard spots and the challenging spots that we all go through as a family and as individuals, but as well as celebrating, the highs. It takes us on a big roller coaster ride all the way through. And that’s what I loved about it. It’s very textured emotionally,
CB: I think thematically as well, dealing with like issues around drought. We’re speaking about Australian films. I really love the way that Craig has put that in a story, and we can kind of look at that through the lens of a fable, almost to see in a perfect world, living in the conditions that we sometimes in this country live in. Imagine if we could do this, and we we could raise money and stop a drought. I think with Australian film we’re very good at really focusing on the most important parts of storytelling as Australians.
JS: We’re not scared to go to the tough places, either. We won’t water it down, which is, I think, one of the worst things you can do for young people. Young people like to feel all the feelings.
CB: This film is all heart. And when I read the script, that is the main thing I took from it that this is about family. They are all that matters. All the other things, the extenuating circumstances going on around them, they can’t control. What they can control is their love for each other and looking after each other. And I think that translates so much. That’s a global message, though, isn’t it. That’s just not a strategy. It’s when times get tough, you lock in. You go into the people that are your people, and you lean into the love because that is the only thing you can rely on.
I think we do that so beautifully in this film.
Runt is currently in cinemas.
For further information about Booie Beauty, click here.
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