Genevieve Lemon

The Wentworth Star, Issue 11, March 1997

'The Prisoner cast were a pretty rowdy mob. Have you ever seen photos of us doing "See Food"?' - The ever busy Genevieve stopped by to talk with us on her way to tap dancing class, a lesson she never did get to. She is warm and friendly and genuinely upbeat, even for early Saturday morning!

Hi Colin.

Hi Genevieve, what were you doing prior to Prisoner?
I'd just finished twelve months with the original Australian production of Steaming, 1982-83. Amanda Muggleton was in it, she was the star. She played Josie, the very brassy, out front person who takes her clothing off and struts around in high heel shoes! [Glenda Linscott played Josie, in a later production of Steaming]. Absolutely fantastic in the role. I played Dawn, the retarded daughter to Gwen Plumb's character. Mel Dun came out (from England) the writer of the play and she loved our production. In 1985 we did it again for six months. With all the touring and because of Amanda, we met Betty Bobbitt, Colette Mann and Val Lehman. We had some parties, once we arrived in Melbourne, which is Amanda's home town. All of her friends came and saw the show, so I met a lot of the actors before I went in and Betty Bobbitt is now one of my best friends, and Maxine Klibingaitis, of course. Steaming took us around all the major cities. I met a lot of people that year! Prisoner was my next gig, in 1984.

Did your Steaming performance give you the role in Prisoner?
Well, I had already worked with the producer of Prisoner at the time, Sue Masters, who had produced The Young Doctors because I was in The Young Doctors for the final year of the show. I played Zelda Baker, a wayward nurse who gossiped and dropped things and was always getting into trouble, like the character they wrote for me in Prisoner!

Did you audition for any character besides Marlene?
I didn't audition! Sue Masters had worked with me before and with the recognition from Steaming, which was a really fab thing to do because I got a lot of publicity in every city and I met a lot of producers as well as actors. I was kind of a hit. Amanda was definitely the hit of the show and Gwen Plumb was celebrated as someone very special, in Australian showbiz but I was the next one down and no-one had ever heard of me before and everyone enjoyed what I did with the role of Dawn. So they created the role of Marlene for me. It was very similar to the one I played in The Young Doctors. It looks like it's out of the 50s now, in terms of being old fashioned and I think acting can also date, especially in a soap. I don't think I was very good (Laughter). I thought Janet was very self-effacing. I used to look at her and think, 'You're so good, what's your problem?'. I think I was young enough just to be really brassy and think, 'I'm fine, there's nothing wrong with what I do,' but in retrospect I think, 'What's it going to look like?'. You know, ignorance is bliss ...

Was there a lot of promotional work expected of you, for Prisoner?
No, not as much as when I was in Neighbours, which was seven years later. I realised what promotion was because they were all thoroughly into self-promotion and being on the cover of magazines. I felt there was something I didn't quite like about it. Prisoner, for me was more about being a job whereas in Neighbours it felt like personal publicity. But we did have some Prisoner functions during the year I was on. One being the 500th Episode Prisoner party, in 1984. They gave each of the cast 500th Prisoner nighties, and I've still got mine! I remember going to a party in it in 1987, in Jarvis Bay, two hours south of Sydney.

Was there any particular reason why you left the show?
I actually don't remember. I think that twelve months was enough.

Did you find the Marlene and Matt story a little far fetched?
Of course it was! They put three men in our prison, one of whom was a rapist! (Laughter) A rapist in a female prison! What's wrong with that? We were separated, well not separated enough, for him to rape Judy McBurney (Pixie Mason)! And I think he raped Maxine (Bobbie) and Diane Craig (Sister Selby)!!!

Were you content with Marlene's departure?
It was really nice actually to have the wedding. It was a nice way to leave instead of just slinking off, like I did in Neighbours. Nobody cared about me in Neighbours because I was such a nothing character (Laughter). The cast gave me a beautiful bracelet, when I left though. I had worked on Neighbours for six months with Anne Haddy (Doreen's mum) and Maggie Dence (Bev Baker).

Was there a large budget for the wedding?
No, I think the wedding dress was made by Wardrobe. I honestly can't remember. Prisoner was a pretty cheap show to make, usually, so if you got an OB like the wedding marquee, chairs and tables and lots of extras, that normally didn't happen. In a courtroom scene you'd probably get six extras and a judge and barrister!

Do you think there are any similarities between your work and Colette Mann's?
It's a common question because we're both big, physically, and we both play similar roles and a lot of people come up to me and say, 'Oh Colette'. (Laughter) They do! Particularly at the time. They were like, 'Oh, Prisoner, oh Colette, isn't it?' and I'd say 'No.' But a diehard wouldn't do that because Colette's got that beautiful straight blonde hair and I've got this (twirling her finger through the curls. Laughter).

What's it like working with the Prisoner crew?
I loved the crew, we had the best time. We had a lot of fun with that crew. We would go down to the pub and drink at lunchtime. But the smoking. People used to smoke in those days, so you'd walk onto the set and everyone would be going, puff, puff, puff. It was very nice if you were an asthmatic or even if you weren't! Then they'd say, 'We're going for a take.' And trying to get Annie Phelan and some of the other women to put their cigarettes out, well you know.

Were you able to have any input into your character on Prisoner?
Yes, I remember them approaching me and asking, 'Who do you want to marry?' and I came back with all these suggestions for actors. I certainly didn't suggest Peter Bensley, but I'm glad they chose him, he's gorgeous!

Did you find the scenes with Len Murphy distressing?
Yeah, I think he hurt me didn't he? He stood on my hand or something once, probably what some of the directors would have liked to have done to me! 'Stick Len Murphy onto that girl!' (Laughter) Go for it Maurie!!

How did you enjoy working with Maggie Millar?
Gee, she's a great actor! I've seen her in things since then but I have never worked with her since. Gee, she's lovely, really lovely. I think she's another person who didn't realise how good they were. Marie Winter was real mean and Maggie wasn't like that at all, just a pussy cat.

Was everyone voice trained for their roles in Miracle City?
No. Tom Burlinson wasn't very confident about his own singing. But he's just scored the lead in a new musical, which I'm playing in at the Footbridge, starting June. Peta Toppano is also cast, in Merrily We Roll Along. The three back up singers in Miracle City are all singers. Angela Toohey is wonderful. She was in the play Cry of Little Voice with Amanda Muggleton and Magda Szubanski. She's also an impressionist! We hope to reprise these roles again, next year at the Opera House, for the STC. Something that I absolutely adore, such as this musical, I would go on tour with, we all enjoyed it and everyone really believed in it and loved performing it.

Was Sweetie your first major film role?
Yes, quite major really, (Laughter), for a first time! I took it because it was given to me, like most of my roles. At the time everyone said, 'Oh Jane Campion!'. I didn't know who Jane Campion was, at that stage. So I read the script (of Sweetie) and thought, 'I don't get it!' but I did it anyway! I often do things like that. I read Steaming, thinking, 'Oh my God, she takes all her clothes off ... Oh I'll do it, OK.' I knew Sweetie was going to be a bizarre character but with Jane's reputation, even then was pretty hot. She had already won a major prize for Short Film. I remember being interviewed by people from the United States, who were offended by the film. One of them said, 'Why do people need to see dirty underwear on a washing line?' and 'Are you trying to tell us this is what people are like in Australia?' (in a convincing American accent). And all I could think was, 'Are you asking me if Australians are weird? You, from the US. Please! Like God, wake up and smell the coffee!' (Laughter). But some of the critics adored it! We were invited to the New York Film Festival, which was just a fantastic film festival!

Would you accept another role from Jane Campion?
Oh, yeah. I was in Sweetie, then she did An Angel at My Table, which I wasn't in. Then I did The Piano, then she did Portrait of a Lady, which I wasn't in, so I think I may be in her next creation! She's deep in Portrait of a Lady. She's just completed post-production, which lasted for months and months!

Can you tell me about your role in the outstanding New Zealand film, The Piano?
It was a funny little character. I tend to attract these funny little characters, don't I? I was in Jane Campion's first film Sweetie (which I auditioned for) in 1988, and so she basically wrote the role in The Piano for me. It's great to be able to say, 'I was in The Piano'. It would take about an hour to drive to the set. Altogether, it was a thirteen week shoot and in that time I was flown to NZ four or five times. At one stage, I had a week off, hired a car and drove through the countryside. It was filmed entirely in New Zealand. Mainly in the North Island, north of Auckland, in a town called Walkworth. The beach scenes, I think, may have been filmed in the South Island.

What are your future projects?
I have the role in the musical with Tom, which is a Steven Sondheim musical called Merrily We Roll Along. I did a cabaret show a few years ago called One Foul Lemon, which is very country and it looks as if we'll be taking that on tour next year and we'd love to take it to the Edinburgh Festival. That would be a great achievement, to play there.

Thanks for the interview.
You're welcome, you're very welcome.

Genevieve has recently been on air, in her own comedy series, ABC's After the Beep, with June Salter, Kerry Walker and Genevieve Mooy.