Simon Baker: The white guy for the role

From:Boston Herald
Date:January 29, 2006
By Stephen Schaefer

Simon Baker was exactly what was prescribed for the lighthearted, interracial romantic comedy "Something New," opening Friday.

"Visually, I wanted that iconic blue-eyed blond thing," producer Stephanie Allain said about her search for a white guy who would generate enough heat that Sanaa Lathan’s character could abandon her resolve to date only African-American men.

The first time Baker sat down to read with Lathan, Allain said, "We knew. We’d auditioned 40 guys already"

Baker and Lathan hit it off.

"We had a ball and got on really well. I think two people either jell together or they don’t," he said.

The 36-year-old Aussie, best known for three seasons on CBS’ "The Guardian" and as Rachel’s (Naomi Watts) boyfriend in “The Ring 2,” was surprised to find himself a romantic comedy hottie.

"I’ve never set out to be a romantic figure in movies," Baker said during a one-on-one interview. "In fact, I hadn’t done a romantic role before. And in this, I was pretty much the straight man. The jokes were all around and about me."

Unlike earlier films that made racial differences the entire focus, "Something New" achieves a nice balance, Baker said.

"The social issue with race and the collision of two cultures and the humor and drama that comes out of that social issue - it’s essentially two people falling in love, two people getting out of their head and trusting what they’re feeling."

For Baker, trusting one’s feelings is a motto for how he lives.

Baker’s looks won him work in TV commercials and then a series. By the time he was 22, he trusted his gut and took the plunge: He moved to America with his wife, actress Rebecca Riggs (“Farscape”), and their 2-year-old daughter.

"I had nothing lined up. We had enough money to last about 10 weeks and we thought, 'We’ll see what happens.' At the time, it didn't seem that adventurous, but in hindsight it was. We lived here for 10 years."

Baker won a role in his first Los Angeles meeting. The film was the instant classic "L.A. Confidential."

This past year Baker and his family, now expanded to three children, returned to Sydney.

"My family is a great solid foundation for me," he said.

From Boston Herald .

Simon on G'Day LA: Australia Week 2006!

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- INXS has been selected as the final honoree at the Penfolds Icon Gala Dinner on January 14, 2006, the opening event of the third annual G'Day LA: Australia Week 2006 in Los Angeles. Hugh Jackman and Olivia Newton John also will be honored at the event.

The Penfolds Icon Gala Dinner at the Hollywood Palladium will bring together and honor Australians who have made significant international contributions across various industries.

The event will feature the best of Australian entertainment, including a special performance by INXS just days before the kick-off of their U.S. tour, and a menu by celebrity chef Neil Perry, one of the country's leading chefs.

The gala also ushers in a week of events with something for everyone, from film and fashion to sport and education.

The public will have a chance to experience Aussie culture first-hand at the Wolf Blass Aussie Festival on Sunday, January 15 at UCLA. Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, will kick-off the day with a one-hour live stage show featuring aboriginal dance group Tjapukai and the world's most endangered animals.

Following the show, the public is invited to enjoy visiting food and beverage concessions, tourism booths and Aussie entertainment before the action moves to the UCLA intramural field for the first official Australian Football League clash on US soil between the Sydney Swans and (North Melbourne) Kangaroos at 1:30pm.

Tickets are $15 adult, $10 child (3-15), free for under 3, $40 for Family of four (two adults, two children) and available on Ticketmaster at 213 480 3232 or www.australia-week.com. Event hours are 10:30am-4:00pm.

For those that can't make it to Los Angeles, Australia is coming to the rest of the country via the web. The Great Aussie Auction features over 100 Australian items and vacations for bidding with fun interactive video content and links to learn more.

The site has incredible opportunities for bargains and one-of-a-kind experiences -- including a Maton Guitar signed by Gala honorees INXS, 20 Qantas Aussie AirPasses from $.99, and a renewing stay with another Gala honoree Olivia Newton John at her Gaia Retreat and Spa with proceeds benefiting charity.

The auction starts on January 14, 2006 on www.GreatAussieAuction.com and lasts until March 14, 2006.

Big in LA, the film community will also get a chance to attend the US premiere of "Look Both Ways' at the Rosemount Estate Australian Film Premier on January 17 at Paramount Studios.

And the fashion industry will be in full force when seven designers including Toni Maticevski, Aurelio Costarella, White Suede, Gail Sorronda, Wheels & Dollbaby, Dogstar and It Girl show their fashions in the largest ever Australian fashion show in the US at the Australia Designer Showcase at the Palladium on January 18.

The business community has a range of events to look forward to including the Travel +Leisure CEO Golf Day hosted by Ian Baker-Finch on January 16, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and Austrade briefing, Energy Security in Asia Pacific Policy Forum at UCLA on January 18, and two invitation-only events, the Forbes Dinner and G'day YPO events.

The week has also proven to be a star-studded affair with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Baz Luhrman, Greg Norman, Anthony LaPaglia, Simon Baker, Melissa George and last year's Gala honorees Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman and country music sensation Keith Urban.

G'Day LA is produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Austrade, Qantas Airways and Tourism Australia in conjunction with State Governments and key private sector sponsors.

For more information, visit australia-week.com .


From Yahoo new.

Simon Baker - Land of the Dead - Interview

Date:14th December 2005
From:DVD Reviewer
By John Millar

Q: Were you into zombie movies before Land Of The Dead?
A: I wasn’t a fan of the genre. I did grow up freaking over zombie movies. But now I have a fascination that was started by meeting George. My manager was a fan of George’s zombie films and he persuaded me to meet with George. So I sat down with George and he’s quite a guy! I had heard of him and Night of The Living Dead and I had seen Dawn Of The Dead when I was younger and wondered “what is this!” At the time when that film came out I was a kid and all I was worried about was surfing and girls. I was even too young for that, I think, it was probably just surfing and football. But after I met George I realised he was unlike any film director I had ever met. He was really humble, self deprecating, he has no ego and he is incredibly warm. He is like a father figure but he doesn’t lay it on thick at all. He’s George, he’s just sweet. Then I looked at all of his films and I watched the DVD commentaries and started to get really intrigued. I thought this is good! This guy is making a whole genre that I thought was just one thing. I thought it was just about splattering zombies. But I really loved his whole subversive take on society in different periods in time. That coincided with this script, the political climate and the situation that we are in at the moment in the world. I thought it was a good time to reflect on something like that and what better way to do it - rather than getting up on a soap box and making a documentary about it - doing it through entertainment.

Q: It's not bad for your career to be in a film like Land Of The Dead either?
A: You cynic! (laughs) Yeah I guess, we’ll see.

Q: You and George have a Pittsburgh connection?
A: He lived in Pittsburgh and all of his other films are set in Pittsburgh and he is an icon there. I was doing a TV show - The Guardian - that was set in Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh was kind of the central character. Obviously the show was pretty big in Pittsburgh. We would go out there and shoot every year for two weeks and it was like the Queen coming to town because the town so embraced the show. The only other show that was set in Pittsburgh at the time was Queer As Folk and they weren’t coming out in droves to support that. I guess that was how George knew me.

Q: What made you decide to go to the States from Australia?
A: Some people go there with a movie. I just went there because I was sort of bored. There is a business side of it in America, they make money and they make a lot of stuff...some of it’s crap, but some of it’s good. But at least they are making things and in Australia there was a bit of a lack of that at the time. So we had a young child and a little bit of money - I mean really a LITTLE bit of money - so we thought let’s go and see what happens...and we are still there.

Q: Was it hard to break through?
A: Well I don’t look at it like that. I never have. That is an external perception of how this business works...that is a breakthrough performance and so on...from the inside all you think about is just doing it...do I like what I’m doing? Do I like myself? That is more how I like to approach things.

Q: Was it a struggle at times to pay bills?
A: Oh yeah! Of course. I have three kids. There were certainly jobs that I took because I needed the money.

Q: What was the crappiest thing you had to do?
A: That was in Australia for a Taco Bell commercial. I remember going to a football game in Melbourne and went to spend a penny and a guy in the toilet shouted at me ‘Taco Boy!’ I thought he was going to belt me, it felt like a really unfortunate situation.

Q: Why acting and was The Guardian a significant landmark?
A: A lot of it was fun. I did not study as an actor. I read a couple of different books and stuff. One of the reasons I became an actor is that I’m from a working class family - my stepfather was a butcher - and I did not want to work at any specific job, I despised the idea of working nine to five. A lot of it also for me was that it was a way of expressing myself and communicating with people that they could identify with. That was it. The Guardian was a blessing and at the same time I found myself working more than nine to five. For an extended period I was contracted to work from five 'til nine every day. You get paid really well but I'm not that obsessed with money so I wondered whether I had made a deal with the devil. Creatively for the first year I had an absolute ball. But then to continue playing the same character and to try to elevate the scripts is very difficult when all the elements around you are saying “this is the hamburger we are making, you have to keep making the same hamburger...enjoy it”. Then it becomes really difficult. But it was a good time and I learned a lot. There is a lot to be said for being on a set and having to deal with scripts and different directors and the immediacy of it. We were shooting seven or eight pages a day. Every eight days we shot an hour of television. So consider that a two hour movie in 16 days There is nothing better than that experience.

Q: Working those hours must have made you guilty about not seeing your children?
A: Yeah all those things were a real struggle. That became really difficult. I did Ring 2 - which initially was a small part in a hiatus period. Then there was talk of the TV show not going again and I thought that could be a blessing. Then on the first day of Ring 2 I was driving to work and I got a call to say the TV show had been cancelled and I thought thank God I was working on something. Then I did Land Of The Dead and a romance called Something New. Creatively it is good to keep doing something different.

Q: What was the mood like when filming Land Of The Dead?
A: It was so good, considering we filmed all night and it was freezing cold. It was colder that a witch’s tit. Some nights it was starting to snow and we were driving around with no roof on the car, trying to pretend we were warm. It was insane! But everyone got on really well, there was a real family atmosphere. George was like the perfect father figure in a very laid-back way. John Leguizamo and I clicked from the minute we met. We played off each other really well and enjoyed that process. That was a nice environment. Asia was just a sweetheart. I had no idea what she was going to be like. She is portrayed as a wild child and she shows up on the set and she is a lovely, warm, young mother. It pays not to make judgements about people until you actually meet them.

Q: What, for you, was the buzz about this role?
A: It was interesting for me to play a physical, action, heroic character but to do it more as a throwback to the 1970s. It is more of a noir character. He is more of a loner who feels responsibility for people but doesn’t necessarily like having to take that responsibility.

Q: Do you miss home?
A: Yes, sometimes. Sometimes I miss other places in the world where I have been. I grew up in Australia so I had a lot of time there. I have lived in America for a while and I think there would be something to be said for living in Europe for a while. In Australia you do feel psychologically a sense of isolation. That’s why I think Australians are intrepid and feel they have to go out and see the worlds.

Q: In Australia did you do the soaps?
A: Yeah, all the good ones...my first gig was a show called E Street then I did six weeks on Home And Away.

Q: Would you like to do more horror movies?
A: It kind of depends on each thing. It is not an objective that I set out with. It depends what I feel about the script and director.

Q: Do you want to direct films?
A: In the back of my head I probably feel I'd like to direct - as I did on The Guardian - as soon as I get to an age where I can sit still long enough. I really enjoyed it and felt very comfortable doing that. At the moment things are working for me as an actor so I’ll go along with that for as long as because I'm sure that'll dry up.

Q: Did you act at school?
A: When I was a young fellow in Sydney I was an understudy for Oliver Twist but I never got a shot.

Q: You don't appear to be driven?
A: I don't want to die saying...I never made it! Or having had such high expectations. If you say I have a balanced view for an actor, first and foremost I am just a person.

Q: Is self deprecation one of the reasons for the success of Aussies in Hollywood?
A: It's possible. And if you are driven you are not going to show it.

SIMON BAKER
Land of the Dead – Cannes, May 2005
by John Millar

FromDVD Reviewer