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Asher Keddie and the laws of attraction

Even before she could afford to be more selective about her projects, Offspring's Asher Keddie says she stuck to stimulating work, and the universe responded in kind.

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Asher Keddie knows the significance of winning a Silver Logie as Most Popular Actress, especially given her body of work hasn’t always featured likeable roles.

With earlier performances in Love My Way, The Society Murders, and Stingers, Keddie has consciously sought to carve out a career with characters that challenge her as well as the audience. The nod from viewers for Offspring, a project close to her heart, was the pay-off for years of work.

But she tells TV Tonight she has stuck to her guns in choosing to work with bold storytelling over more populist roles.

“Even when I wasn’t in the privileged position of choosing what I wanted to do, and was starting out, I still felt like that,” she explains.

“There was something in me that knew that the most important things were the storytelling and the creatives who were involved.

“It’s the law of attraction in a way, I suppose. If you appreciate certain things they start to come your way.

“If you put your energy into wanting to work in a particular way or working with people who stimulate or intrigue or challenge, then all of a sudden it really starts to manifest if you’re committed to it. I think I’ve always been one of those people, even when I wasn’t really in a position to make those choices.”

With the success of Offspring, Hawke and Paper Giants, Keddie has now cemented her place with the audience, affording her more more ability to pick and choose her projects.

“It’s changing now. There’s a collaborative shift that’s taken place. I know now that there are people who would like to work with me as well as me wanting to work with them. That’s an unusual feeling for an actor, because of course we spend most of our lives doing our apprenticeship and thinking ‘Gosh wouldn’t I be lucky if they wanted to work with me?’ she says.

“And I still feel like that in some ways. But I feel more confident now that I perhaps have something to offer, that people would like to collaborate with.

“It’s not because I think I’m too good for it. I’ve never felt like that. My instincts are pretty good and if I know that I won’t be able to do something a service or if I feel that I don’t have any passion for it, then I know I’ll be terrible. I’m temperamental, I get bored very easily, so what would be the point of doing a project that would bring out those less-than-attractive qualities in me?”

But if a popular-voted Logie is an audience endorsement, how is she perceived by others? Keddie concedes some media interviews give hints of how others view her public image, and it isn’t necessarily one that fits with how she sees herself.

“It’s been said that I have a ‘polite impatience’ about me and perhaps that’s the side of me that wants to get on with things, and needs to be stimulated. One of my shortcomings is that I get bored quickly. I don’t know why. I’ve always been like that ever since I was a little girl,” she admits.

“Or they might say I’m a little cold, or aloof or don’t suffer fools –but I don’t actually feel like that.

“But obviously I can be perceived that way because people are writing things like that about me.”

Opening up enough one’s personality, while keeping enough of your private life for yourself, is a juggling act for any performer. Coming to terms with those perceptions is yet another challenge, but Keddie doesn’t seem too fazed by those perceptions, however accurate or inaccurate they may be. She is too busy working on Season Two of Offspring.

As the central character of the TEN series, there is much riding on her shoulders, but she relishes the daring nature of the series and its affirmation of imperfect characters, urban life, romance and fantasy.

“When we left Nina last year she found herself at rock bottom emotionally and wasn’t able to face reality in any way, shape or form. It was affecting her work and relationships and also her placement within the family,” she says.

“So what I’ve enjoyed this season is that we start to see her evolve, and of course it’s a tricky thing when you want to keep the core and the essence of a show, and certainly the central character that people have come to enjoy.

“But in a second series you need the characters to grow otherwise the audience can’t grow with you. So walking that fine line has been the most challenging and enjoyable part of shooting the second series.

“Her perspective shifts and she digs deep to confront her emotional issues and the way she projects and the way she deals with the people in her life. So her placement in the family changes quite considerably.

“She is no longer the golden girl on the pedestal who is looked upon to fix everybody’s issues. There’s a little bit of that going on, but she deals with it in a different way.”

In Season Two there will be shifts that challenge the audience’s perceptions, where not everyone can be taken at face value.

“Certainly a major player that comes into the second series holds up a mirror to her, and god it’s confronting. It’s one of the most complex relationships I’ve played out on the screen. Perhaps it is the most complex, which is a big leap for Offspring, because it’s gone into relationship-territory as opposed to fantasy-land,” she says.

“There are still the wonderful, eccentric fantasies, and I think they’re even stronger this year actually, but because the drama is so strong they work even more effectively.”

Keddie also hopes to return to the enormously popular Paper Giants, to repeat her acclaimed performance as Ita Buttrose. Whilst she doesn’t expect to appear in Nine’s Kerry Packer mini-series, she isn’t sure what form the ABC sequel may take -but she does love the idea of looking at Buttrose’s years as a champion of HIV education during the 1980s.

“I love your suggestion!” she smiles. “I mentioned it to John (Edwards) who said he had seen it as well, and I said ‘Did you see that? That’s a great suggestion!’ But we haven’t had a further conversation about it. It’s all been about Offspring.”

Keddie was astounded by the universal praise for the ABC miniseries, which increased its audience numbers on the second night.

“It was a tremendous response and it came out of a tremendous effort from everybody involved,” she says.

“But I love the idea about exploring Ita’s life further.”

Offspring airs 8:30pm Mondays on TEN.

19 Responses

  1. @Rachel, please let me watch Offspring or anything else on ch 10 without 100 ads for Masterchef ;p

    @Trix totally agree, their promos are also incredibly loud, the volume is increased by about 3 volume bars on my tv from the actual show, i basically record most stuff i want to watch on 10 & play it back later so i can forward thru them

  2. Gee.. not major fan of Offspring myself, have watched bits and pieces of it (was never able to get a proper opinion of it as I used to watch Smallville on 11 at the time previously) but for the ads of a show where a channel is just trying to promote a show actually stop you from watching it? That’s a bit strange, I think.

    I like Merlin, and thought 10 absolutely advertised the heck out of that, but that doesn’t prevent me from watching a show I like.

    Also, I do think Offspring can be said to be a success. 10 doesn’t do much drama outside of Rush and Neighbours, and Offsping is pretty much up there in the ratings around 900,000 and any show that gets around that in this day and age with so many other channels to choose from I think can hardly be called a failure.

  4. I consider Offspring a success – it regualrly managed a million viewers or just under in season one. Moving a show’s slot will mean it will take time to rebuild. To compare Master chef and Offspring’s ratings is somewhat meaningless – they are different beasts altogether. I also strongly receive the drama as just that – a drama, not a soapie. It is more a dramedy, well written and devised. It is quite unique in the narrative landscape. I was suprised but pleased that Asher finally won a Logie after several nominations. But most popular? I was so expecting andpredicting the Outstanding actress award for her for this series. Next year? She will compete against herself ala Roxburgh did this year. She is a luminous and fascinating actor to watch. Great interview too, she is not the most publicity happy camper. It is great to have the show back on air – so witty, touching and provocative – in equal measures.

  5. Thanks for the interview, David.

    I’m surprised at how negative people feel about Offspring on this site – I hadn’t realised the show’s ratings were so low, probably because I had read everywhere that it was a success. This being said, unlike many others here, I believe that critics *do* have a right to label a show a success even if rating figures are average to low – critics’ jobs is to give their opinion, not to simply ape what the ratings say.

    Give me Offpsring over reality shows any day! Asher’s acting is superb, the characters are endearing, and the storylines are much funnier than on most Australian comedy shows.

  7. There is a disturbing trend on this site to equate quality with ratings numbers. What did Deadwood or The Wire get on ABC2? People go on about We Can Be Heroes but I don’t think it set the world on fire when it launched. I can appreciate it when it’s a discussion about whether or not a show should be in a time slot, or if it is doing enough for the network but I think most people would agree that ratings often have little to do with quality. Just look at ACA, while I’m at it the promos are the primary reason I don’t watch Offspring or Glee. Too much!

  9. Everyone is entitled to a respectful opinion, but if you are commenting publicly then you are engaging in a discussion.

    Offspring is doing good pretty business for TEN, but saturation of promos is probably a wise note to the network.

  11. @ Mike the success of a show will always be measured by what the majority of people want and the type of drama they want to watch. Clearly Offspring isn’t cutting it as most people are switching off which means they don’t want to watch it. Just because a few teenage girls might like it doesn’t mean it’s a success with everyone else.

  13. @ducko @walter, When will Australians get over the total people figures as being the be all and end all when labelling a show a hit?

    Offspring is probably hitting the right demographics for Ten, combined with Asher’s Logie, I’d say that’s enough to label it a “hit”.

  14. Agree with Walter, Offspring has never been a success and it never will be. Even with a huge lead in it manages to lose almost half its audience and can’t even get a million. If it was a success I’m sure it would retain more of its audience considering it is on after Masterchef. Next drama please.

  16. @Rachel, I can completely understand your frustration but it’s a pity that the makers of Offspring are being punished by viewers switching off because of Channel 10’s obsession with breathy, “you won’t believe what happens next” promos. It’s such a shame because the second series of Offspring is much better than the first.

  17. I like Asher very much, but am inclined to agree with walter and Rachel below.
    Offspring is effectively a soap opera – and soapies have limited appeal.
    Very much looking forward to more of her serious work, though.
    BTW – won’t it be a cackle, Mr Knox, if your Ita/AIDS idea comes to fruition! Then TV Tonight contributors will be able to brag that we knew you before you were famous!

  18. How is a show that struggled to hit a million, even with a massive lead in that ran late, in its 1st season and still can’t get a million in its 2nd, considered a success? I’m so sick of reviewers trying to rewrite the facts, just because of their own prejudices.

  19. Asher was good in Hawke and Paper Giants but I am refusing to watch Offspring because of the saturation advertising – I am so sick of this show and I haven’t even watched it. Enough, Channel 10! Please let me watch an episode of Masterchef without 10 ads for Offspring.

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