Australian actor Susie Porter is reaching the age where she has realised life doesn’t stay the same way forever.
Susie is one of the stars in a new film, The Travellers, filmed in WA last year, with a storyline that revolves around the issues of coping with family life as parents and siblings move on to the next stages of life.
On a first reading of the script Susie said the full impact didn’t really sink in.
“It’s a very sweet story, it’s quite poignant about family and how you negotiate through the last quarter of your parents’ life,” Susie said.
“But it was interesting, the more times we read it, we just thought how incredibly structured it was and how much more meaningful than it was at its first reading. It’s almost like it got a kind of deeper meaning to it as you read it.”
Even if the script had been terrible, Susie says she wouldn’t have said no to the film, simply because it was directed by Australian legend Bruce Beresford.
The Travellers stars Luke Bracey, Bryan Brown and Susie Porter and was written by Beresford.
West Australian audiences will be kept on the lookout for places they know with scenes from the film shot in Fremantle, Perth, Guildford, York and the scenic vineyards of the Swan Valley.
Susie Porter, back in Perth on a publicity tour to promote The Travellers sat down to do interviews at Woodbridge House, one of the locations in the film.
She has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most outstanding actors with roles in feature films like Welcome to Woop Woop, Puberty Blues and Australian award-winning TV drama Wentworth along with a host of other movies and television series.
As well as having been asked by Bruce Beresford to take on the role of Nikki, daughter of Fred (Bryan Brown) Susie says the script struck a chord.
“I think for every person, especially of a certain age who has ageing parents, if you’re lucky enough to have your parents still alive and around, that’s what a lot of people have to experience.”
There aren’t many films around that deal with this kind of story about the last quarter of people’s lives and family negotiation.
“I don’t think I’ve seen it represented on film. It’s such a poignant time in people’s life, especially when a husband or a wife loses their significant other, who have maybe been together for 40, 50 years.
“That’s a profound thing, profound grief and change and how sometimes the last quarter of our lives, is unfortunately less dignified and even the fact that we don’t really turn to our elders as much.
“It’s always a big obsession with youth and yet these people who have just incredible experiences and incredible stories, you don’t see as much.”
Susie has experienced the grief of losing a parent herself and seen the changes it has wrought.
“My dad passed away about eight years ago. And my mum’s still alive, she’s 81. And I am seeing what she goes through after being with him for 51 years. Also how the family dynamics change completely when one caregiver dies. Everything’s forever changed through that.”
Susie says death changes relationships.
“Things are different, like Christmases are different, get-togethers are different, there’s no longer the patriarch at the head of the family.
“I have three other sisters stepping up to help mum. I’ve got one sister who lives in Newcastle. She sees mum probably more than we do, but it’s always a conscious effort to drive up to Newcastle and spend the weekend with mum, that kind of thing.
“It’s being aware that the person left has a difficult time, the kids have long flown the coop, that can be quite a difficult time for older people.
“I often think of how undignified that last bit of their lives are in that situation; failing bodies and minds in some ways.”
The Travellers has encouraged Susie to contemplate an ageing future a little more.
“I would probably look at what interests you can have and cultivate as you get older? The importance of community, I think, is a big one. And having time with people and maybe doing things that keep your brain active.”
She also points to the lack of community which seem to exist in the big cities.
Susie says that while the film deals with ageing it’s not all doom and gloom.
“There’s also a lightness to it. Bruce has a really good sense of humour and he’s funny. And I think there is lot of that in the film, which I think is important, to get the balance of it right. I think people will relate to it.
“I think people will really enjoy it and hopefully think about things a little deeper or… just relate to what they’re going through, that you sometimes feel like you’re the only person going through it, to know that this is sort of quite the human experience I suppose.”
The Travellers is now screening in cinemas.
