Anne and I met in Melbourne in 1997 when we were cast in a production of Hamlet. We were both single and playing onstage lovers. The first time I saw her in the Melbourne Theatre Company cafeteria, she had a sleepy, grumpy face. I still recall those intense, slightly scary green eyes looking at me. I thought to myself: she is very attractive, but also quite formidable.
At first it was a little awkward, but humour was the key. We’d sit on the dusty rehearsal room floor in our tracksuits while the director was working with another actor. Instead of practising our lines, we’d flip through the faded 70s magazines left in the corner and make jokes about what the models in flares or with chopped beards might be saying as they shot the images.
