Interview with Rachel Griffiths for Indian Summers

15 March 2016

You’re in the new series of Indian Summers, playing Sirene, a Maharajah’s consort. That must set tongues wagging in Simla!

Yes, but Sirene loves it. She loves the fact that she has escaped the mores of the bourgeoisie. 

What attracted you to the role?

She is a chameleon. I like the idea of playing someone who has recreated herself. But she is so vulnerable within that. 

How did you enjoy working with Art Malik?

He is a very, very, very funny man despite being shockingly well read!  We had a hoot. He was so creative and open. 

Did Indian Summers get shown in Australia or America? Had you come across it?

Yes it did but I hadn't seen it until it was sent to me. Then of course I binge watched the entire series!

What did you think when you watched it?

I really enjoyed it and having worked with Anand Tucker in Hilary and Jacki I could totally feel his vision in the pilot and they the first season the moving camera and emotional tensions. It was grand and intimate at the same time .  Paul Rutman is brilliant at getting the perfect balance  between the personal and the political . 

Is the British Raj and partition a familiar subject in Australia?

Yes. Of course The Jewel in the Crown was huge in Australia, and we grew up with the canon of Anglo Indian children's literature in the Jungle Book and Little Princess. The actual partition is perhaps less well known as we were very much focused on recovering from the war in the Pacific.

Did you do much in the way of research, or was it all in the script?

To find out what their lives were like I did quite a bit of research on the generation of girls who, because of World War 1, stayed and got married. Many made quite adventurous choices and with rural Australia hit quite badly during the depression, a well brought up girl could find herself on hard times, with her fallen brothers and finances dead in the distant past. I imagined Sirene as having attended a good country girl’s boarding school outside Melbourne and being reluctant to governess for any girls she might have known, so she took the opportunity to go to the colonies where her fall in status might be less noted. Being fluent in French and maths would have given her skills she could trade. I found many examples of such women all around the pacific - some missionaries, some governesses and some private secretaries.  

What was it like joining an established cast who all knew each other?

Having been on shows where the incoming talent have injected new colours into the palette, I was confident that the cast would welcome me.  They are all hideously smart and brilliantly read, which was somewhat intimating. All of them seemed to have a least a first class degree from a first class university. So whilst not being nervous, I none the less felt a bit colonial!.As I get older I love meeting both young and antsy talent (antsy to make great work), as well as the chance of working with some actors I have known and deeply respected . Working with Art, who I have always adored, and Patrick Malahide  and Roshan Seth, was a real treat, while the chance to go head to head with Julie Walters was a career highlight. 

How was the experience of filming in Malaysia?

I absolutely fell in love with Penang. It's kind of in Australia’s back yard but I never realised what a world class town Georgetown is. The texture and street art and food were incredible and the people were so warm and kind. I loved the melting pot of it. It truly is the living proof of tolerance and multiculturalism.

Did you cope better with the heat than the Brits? (it never gets above 14°C here…)

 Well, yes the Australians, South Africans and those actors who spend a bit of time in India looked cooler!  But I can't cope with the cold at all so I am not bragging!