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The Advertiser
10-08-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
'It fills my cup': there's no place like home for Teresa Palmer
It's not surprising that Teresa Palmer agreed to work on an Australian television series that explores themes of motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity. Palmer, an Australian actor whose credits include Ride Like A Girl, Warm Bodies, Hacksaw Ridge, Lights Out, The Fall Guy, The Clearing and Mix Tape, loves working on Australian productions. She loves Australian screenwriters and directors. She's pregnant with her fifth child, and she co-hosts a podcast (The Mother Daze) that talks about motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity (among other things). Her latest project, The Family Next Door, is a female-forward story led by Palmer alongside Bella Heathcote (The Moogai, Pieces of Her), Philippa Northeast (Territory, The Newsreader), Ming-Zhu Hii (Prosper, La Brea) and Jane Harber (Offspring, In Limbo). It's peak holiday season in the popular seaside town of Osprey Point when a stranger, Isabelle (Palmer) rents a family home in a quiet cul-de-sac. As she charms her way into her neighbours' homes and lives, she finds out that everyone at Pleasant Court has something to hide, and, in her relentless quest for truth, she pulls the rug from under this seemingly harmonious beachside community. Based on bestselling Australian author Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name, The Family Next Door is a mystery that blends drama and humour while exploring family dynamics through the unique lens of award-winning screenwriter Sarah Scheller (Strife, The Letdown) and Emma Freeman's (The Newsreader, Interview with the Vampire) character-driven directorial skills. In the real world, Palmer is down-to-earth and kind. Content. A deep thinker who speaks with warmth and laughs easily. She has a firm grasp on who she is, what she wants, and where she wants to be in life. Living in Byron Bay and working in Australia suits her just fine, at least for now. "I love this show," she says. "Sometimes it is difficult for me to be objective, to rip myself out of it and see it as an audience member, but this one I was able to watch in a way that none of the usual self-critique was coming in. "I could just enjoy the show, and that, to me, is a sign of Emma Freeman working her magic." The acting, too, is magic; the darkly funny neurotic edge to Heathcote's character, for example. And the way it is filmed captures the essence of a laidback Australian coastal town, transporting the viewer to that hot, bushfire-prone summer of 2019-20. You can hear the cicadas and almost smell the smoke in the air. "You tend to elevate each other when you're in a scene with someone and they're bringing their absolute best work. You can't help but try to dig as deep as possible," Palmer says. "Everyone is working collectively to elevate it, to ground these characters in colours and nuance, and it was really exciting to work with a group of actors who all felt the same way." Some scenes were filmed at Hepworth's favourite local cafe and beach, bringing her book to life in more ways than one. "I loved that, and what it meant for her to be able to shoot it in that way," Palmer says. "Often when you have a book and it's turned into a TV adaptation, the book isn't folded in so much. They just take it and run with it. But Sally was really folded into this process, and her opinions and ideas really mattered, and that was just another beautiful part of bringing this story to life. "You know, I can't help but come back home and work here. The quality of the storytelling is next level, and working with Australian crews, there's such familiarity there. It just fills my cup. "And it's a win-win situation - getting to be in the country that I love, working here, and then seeing a lot of these shows getting picked up for America and the UK. I'm proud to help the Australian film industry because that's where I started." Living permanently in Australia also "works" for her family. "My children are getting older now. We were the travelling circus; we'd live in Wales and shoot something for three years and then move to America and shoot something there, and then go to England and Europe," Palmer says. "But I had a yearning for them to have the experience that I had growing up in Adelaide, of going to school and having regular friends and being part of the basketball team or the AFL team, grounding them, rooting them, in one place. And for us, that place was Australia. "If we can be based in Australia and I can still work relatively locally, that's what works for our family. That's not to say we won't go back to America, but this has been a really important choice that we have made for the family." Talking about her movie roles to date, Palmer says her favourite is the 2021 psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome, directed by Australian screenwriter Cate Shortland. "It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my career. We would sit together, me, Max [Riemelt] and Cate, and talk about our comfort zones and what we wanted the film to be, and we talked about our own history, our own desires ... we brought everything into it," she says. "All those hours and hours of discussions, we weaved them into the script, and it made for such a good movie." What about Lights Out, the 2016 supernatural horror made on a budget of $US4.9 million that grossed close to $US150 million at the box office? "You have no idea when you're acting in it how they're going to do the special effects, and how the creature is going to look, but it was really well done in this movie," Palmer says. "But also, at the heart of that one was a family drama. We were talking about mental health, and it was scarier, more heightened, because at the core of it was this believable family dynamic." And her most challenging acting experience? Restraint (2008), an Australian movie co-starring Travis Fimmel. "It was one of my earliest movies, and I was so in over my head," she says. "I didn't really know how to act yet, I was young and impressionable, and I felt really lost. I remember going home every night and crying, thinking, 'Don't mess this up Teresa, this is your dream'. And then you go from job to job to job, and you get better and better. My peers were my acting school, I learnt on the job. "Watching it now, I wish I could just reach through and grab the younger me and go, 'Guess what, it's going to get easier and better, and trust your instincts, you're doing great!'. I want to comfort that younger me." Her other most challenging role is also her most rewarding: juggling motherhood and a successful acting career. "I used to think motherhood could stall or end a career. I had this general misconception because it was a narrative fed to me years ago, before I had kids. I was told you get to be one or the other," Palmer says. "But to have these experiences in parallel, and in tandem, has really proven otherwise. I have been able to work and feel creatively and intellectually stimulated from my work, and also get to be a very present, hands-on mother, which was my other great desire. "It turns out I didn't have to choose one over the other." It's not surprising that Teresa Palmer agreed to work on an Australian television series that explores themes of motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity. Palmer, an Australian actor whose credits include Ride Like A Girl, Warm Bodies, Hacksaw Ridge, Lights Out, The Fall Guy, The Clearing and Mix Tape, loves working on Australian productions. She loves Australian screenwriters and directors. She's pregnant with her fifth child, and she co-hosts a podcast (The Mother Daze) that talks about motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity (among other things). Her latest project, The Family Next Door, is a female-forward story led by Palmer alongside Bella Heathcote (The Moogai, Pieces of Her), Philippa Northeast (Territory, The Newsreader), Ming-Zhu Hii (Prosper, La Brea) and Jane Harber (Offspring, In Limbo). It's peak holiday season in the popular seaside town of Osprey Point when a stranger, Isabelle (Palmer) rents a family home in a quiet cul-de-sac. As she charms her way into her neighbours' homes and lives, she finds out that everyone at Pleasant Court has something to hide, and, in her relentless quest for truth, she pulls the rug from under this seemingly harmonious beachside community. Based on bestselling Australian author Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name, The Family Next Door is a mystery that blends drama and humour while exploring family dynamics through the unique lens of award-winning screenwriter Sarah Scheller (Strife, The Letdown) and Emma Freeman's (The Newsreader, Interview with the Vampire) character-driven directorial skills. In the real world, Palmer is down-to-earth and kind. Content. A deep thinker who speaks with warmth and laughs easily. She has a firm grasp on who she is, what she wants, and where she wants to be in life. Living in Byron Bay and working in Australia suits her just fine, at least for now. "I love this show," she says. "Sometimes it is difficult for me to be objective, to rip myself out of it and see it as an audience member, but this one I was able to watch in a way that none of the usual self-critique was coming in. "I could just enjoy the show, and that, to me, is a sign of Emma Freeman working her magic." The acting, too, is magic; the darkly funny neurotic edge to Heathcote's character, for example. And the way it is filmed captures the essence of a laidback Australian coastal town, transporting the viewer to that hot, bushfire-prone summer of 2019-20. You can hear the cicadas and almost smell the smoke in the air. "You tend to elevate each other when you're in a scene with someone and they're bringing their absolute best work. You can't help but try to dig as deep as possible," Palmer says. "Everyone is working collectively to elevate it, to ground these characters in colours and nuance, and it was really exciting to work with a group of actors who all felt the same way." Some scenes were filmed at Hepworth's favourite local cafe and beach, bringing her book to life in more ways than one. "I loved that, and what it meant for her to be able to shoot it in that way," Palmer says. "Often when you have a book and it's turned into a TV adaptation, the book isn't folded in so much. They just take it and run with it. But Sally was really folded into this process, and her opinions and ideas really mattered, and that was just another beautiful part of bringing this story to life. "You know, I can't help but come back home and work here. The quality of the storytelling is next level, and working with Australian crews, there's such familiarity there. It just fills my cup. "And it's a win-win situation - getting to be in the country that I love, working here, and then seeing a lot of these shows getting picked up for America and the UK. I'm proud to help the Australian film industry because that's where I started." Living permanently in Australia also "works" for her family. "My children are getting older now. We were the travelling circus; we'd live in Wales and shoot something for three years and then move to America and shoot something there, and then go to England and Europe," Palmer says. "But I had a yearning for them to have the experience that I had growing up in Adelaide, of going to school and having regular friends and being part of the basketball team or the AFL team, grounding them, rooting them, in one place. And for us, that place was Australia. "If we can be based in Australia and I can still work relatively locally, that's what works for our family. That's not to say we won't go back to America, but this has been a really important choice that we have made for the family." Talking about her movie roles to date, Palmer says her favourite is the 2021 psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome, directed by Australian screenwriter Cate Shortland. "It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my career. We would sit together, me, Max [Riemelt] and Cate, and talk about our comfort zones and what we wanted the film to be, and we talked about our own history, our own desires ... we brought everything into it," she says. "All those hours and hours of discussions, we weaved them into the script, and it made for such a good movie." What about Lights Out, the 2016 supernatural horror made on a budget of $US4.9 million that grossed close to $US150 million at the box office? "You have no idea when you're acting in it how they're going to do the special effects, and how the creature is going to look, but it was really well done in this movie," Palmer says. "But also, at the heart of that one was a family drama. We were talking about mental health, and it was scarier, more heightened, because at the core of it was this believable family dynamic." And her most challenging acting experience? Restraint (2008), an Australian movie co-starring Travis Fimmel. "It was one of my earliest movies, and I was so in over my head," she says. "I didn't really know how to act yet, I was young and impressionable, and I felt really lost. I remember going home every night and crying, thinking, 'Don't mess this up Teresa, this is your dream'. And then you go from job to job to job, and you get better and better. My peers were my acting school, I learnt on the job. "Watching it now, I wish I could just reach through and grab the younger me and go, 'Guess what, it's going to get easier and better, and trust your instincts, you're doing great!'. I want to comfort that younger me." Her other most challenging role is also her most rewarding: juggling motherhood and a successful acting career. "I used to think motherhood could stall or end a career. I had this general misconception because it was a narrative fed to me years ago, before I had kids. I was told you get to be one or the other," Palmer says. "But to have these experiences in parallel, and in tandem, has really proven otherwise. I have been able to work and feel creatively and intellectually stimulated from my work, and also get to be a very present, hands-on mother, which was my other great desire. "It turns out I didn't have to choose one over the other." It's not surprising that Teresa Palmer agreed to work on an Australian television series that explores themes of motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity. Palmer, an Australian actor whose credits include Ride Like A Girl, Warm Bodies, Hacksaw Ridge, Lights Out, The Fall Guy, The Clearing and Mix Tape, loves working on Australian productions. She loves Australian screenwriters and directors. She's pregnant with her fifth child, and she co-hosts a podcast (The Mother Daze) that talks about motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity (among other things). Her latest project, The Family Next Door, is a female-forward story led by Palmer alongside Bella Heathcote (The Moogai, Pieces of Her), Philippa Northeast (Territory, The Newsreader), Ming-Zhu Hii (Prosper, La Brea) and Jane Harber (Offspring, In Limbo). It's peak holiday season in the popular seaside town of Osprey Point when a stranger, Isabelle (Palmer) rents a family home in a quiet cul-de-sac. As she charms her way into her neighbours' homes and lives, she finds out that everyone at Pleasant Court has something to hide, and, in her relentless quest for truth, she pulls the rug from under this seemingly harmonious beachside community. Based on bestselling Australian author Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name, The Family Next Door is a mystery that blends drama and humour while exploring family dynamics through the unique lens of award-winning screenwriter Sarah Scheller (Strife, The Letdown) and Emma Freeman's (The Newsreader, Interview with the Vampire) character-driven directorial skills. In the real world, Palmer is down-to-earth and kind. Content. A deep thinker who speaks with warmth and laughs easily. She has a firm grasp on who she is, what she wants, and where she wants to be in life. Living in Byron Bay and working in Australia suits her just fine, at least for now. "I love this show," she says. "Sometimes it is difficult for me to be objective, to rip myself out of it and see it as an audience member, but this one I was able to watch in a way that none of the usual self-critique was coming in. "I could just enjoy the show, and that, to me, is a sign of Emma Freeman working her magic." The acting, too, is magic; the darkly funny neurotic edge to Heathcote's character, for example. And the way it is filmed captures the essence of a laidback Australian coastal town, transporting the viewer to that hot, bushfire-prone summer of 2019-20. You can hear the cicadas and almost smell the smoke in the air. "You tend to elevate each other when you're in a scene with someone and they're bringing their absolute best work. You can't help but try to dig as deep as possible," Palmer says. "Everyone is working collectively to elevate it, to ground these characters in colours and nuance, and it was really exciting to work with a group of actors who all felt the same way." Some scenes were filmed at Hepworth's favourite local cafe and beach, bringing her book to life in more ways than one. "I loved that, and what it meant for her to be able to shoot it in that way," Palmer says. "Often when you have a book and it's turned into a TV adaptation, the book isn't folded in so much. They just take it and run with it. But Sally was really folded into this process, and her opinions and ideas really mattered, and that was just another beautiful part of bringing this story to life. "You know, I can't help but come back home and work here. The quality of the storytelling is next level, and working with Australian crews, there's such familiarity there. It just fills my cup. "And it's a win-win situation - getting to be in the country that I love, working here, and then seeing a lot of these shows getting picked up for America and the UK. I'm proud to help the Australian film industry because that's where I started." Living permanently in Australia also "works" for her family. "My children are getting older now. We were the travelling circus; we'd live in Wales and shoot something for three years and then move to America and shoot something there, and then go to England and Europe," Palmer says. "But I had a yearning for them to have the experience that I had growing up in Adelaide, of going to school and having regular friends and being part of the basketball team or the AFL team, grounding them, rooting them, in one place. And for us, that place was Australia. "If we can be based in Australia and I can still work relatively locally, that's what works for our family. That's not to say we won't go back to America, but this has been a really important choice that we have made for the family." Talking about her movie roles to date, Palmer says her favourite is the 2021 psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome, directed by Australian screenwriter Cate Shortland. "It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my career. We would sit together, me, Max [Riemelt] and Cate, and talk about our comfort zones and what we wanted the film to be, and we talked about our own history, our own desires ... we brought everything into it," she says. "All those hours and hours of discussions, we weaved them into the script, and it made for such a good movie." What about Lights Out, the 2016 supernatural horror made on a budget of $US4.9 million that grossed close to $US150 million at the box office? "You have no idea when you're acting in it how they're going to do the special effects, and how the creature is going to look, but it was really well done in this movie," Palmer says. "But also, at the heart of that one was a family drama. We were talking about mental health, and it was scarier, more heightened, because at the core of it was this believable family dynamic." And her most challenging acting experience? Restraint (2008), an Australian movie co-starring Travis Fimmel. "It was one of my earliest movies, and I was so in over my head," she says. "I didn't really know how to act yet, I was young and impressionable, and I felt really lost. I remember going home every night and crying, thinking, 'Don't mess this up Teresa, this is your dream'. And then you go from job to job to job, and you get better and better. My peers were my acting school, I learnt on the job. "Watching it now, I wish I could just reach through and grab the younger me and go, 'Guess what, it's going to get easier and better, and trust your instincts, you're doing great!'. I want to comfort that younger me." Her other most challenging role is also her most rewarding: juggling motherhood and a successful acting career. "I used to think motherhood could stall or end a career. I had this general misconception because it was a narrative fed to me years ago, before I had kids. I was told you get to be one or the other," Palmer says. "But to have these experiences in parallel, and in tandem, has really proven otherwise. I have been able to work and feel creatively and intellectually stimulated from my work, and also get to be a very present, hands-on mother, which was my other great desire. "It turns out I didn't have to choose one over the other." It's not surprising that Teresa Palmer agreed to work on an Australian television series that explores themes of motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity. Palmer, an Australian actor whose credits include Ride Like A Girl, Warm Bodies, Hacksaw Ridge, Lights Out, The Fall Guy, The Clearing and Mix Tape, loves working on Australian productions. She loves Australian screenwriters and directors. She's pregnant with her fifth child, and she co-hosts a podcast (The Mother Daze) that talks about motherhood, marriage, friendship and identity (among other things). Her latest project, The Family Next Door, is a female-forward story led by Palmer alongside Bella Heathcote (The Moogai, Pieces of Her), Philippa Northeast (Territory, The Newsreader), Ming-Zhu Hii (Prosper, La Brea) and Jane Harber (Offspring, In Limbo). It's peak holiday season in the popular seaside town of Osprey Point when a stranger, Isabelle (Palmer) rents a family home in a quiet cul-de-sac. As she charms her way into her neighbours' homes and lives, she finds out that everyone at Pleasant Court has something to hide, and, in her relentless quest for truth, she pulls the rug from under this seemingly harmonious beachside community. Based on bestselling Australian author Sally Hepworth's novel of the same name, The Family Next Door is a mystery that blends drama and humour while exploring family dynamics through the unique lens of award-winning screenwriter Sarah Scheller (Strife, The Letdown) and Emma Freeman's (The Newsreader, Interview with the Vampire) character-driven directorial skills. In the real world, Palmer is down-to-earth and kind. Content. A deep thinker who speaks with warmth and laughs easily. She has a firm grasp on who she is, what she wants, and where she wants to be in life. Living in Byron Bay and working in Australia suits her just fine, at least for now. "I love this show," she says. "Sometimes it is difficult for me to be objective, to rip myself out of it and see it as an audience member, but this one I was able to watch in a way that none of the usual self-critique was coming in. "I could just enjoy the show, and that, to me, is a sign of Emma Freeman working her magic." The acting, too, is magic; the darkly funny neurotic edge to Heathcote's character, for example. And the way it is filmed captures the essence of a laidback Australian coastal town, transporting the viewer to that hot, bushfire-prone summer of 2019-20. You can hear the cicadas and almost smell the smoke in the air. "You tend to elevate each other when you're in a scene with someone and they're bringing their absolute best work. You can't help but try to dig as deep as possible," Palmer says. "Everyone is working collectively to elevate it, to ground these characters in colours and nuance, and it was really exciting to work with a group of actors who all felt the same way." Some scenes were filmed at Hepworth's favourite local cafe and beach, bringing her book to life in more ways than one. "I loved that, and what it meant for her to be able to shoot it in that way," Palmer says. "Often when you have a book and it's turned into a TV adaptation, the book isn't folded in so much. They just take it and run with it. But Sally was really folded into this process, and her opinions and ideas really mattered, and that was just another beautiful part of bringing this story to life. "You know, I can't help but come back home and work here. The quality of the storytelling is next level, and working with Australian crews, there's such familiarity there. It just fills my cup. "And it's a win-win situation - getting to be in the country that I love, working here, and then seeing a lot of these shows getting picked up for America and the UK. I'm proud to help the Australian film industry because that's where I started." Living permanently in Australia also "works" for her family. "My children are getting older now. We were the travelling circus; we'd live in Wales and shoot something for three years and then move to America and shoot something there, and then go to England and Europe," Palmer says. "But I had a yearning for them to have the experience that I had growing up in Adelaide, of going to school and having regular friends and being part of the basketball team or the AFL team, grounding them, rooting them, in one place. And for us, that place was Australia. "If we can be based in Australia and I can still work relatively locally, that's what works for our family. That's not to say we won't go back to America, but this has been a really important choice that we have made for the family." Talking about her movie roles to date, Palmer says her favourite is the 2021 psychological thriller Berlin Syndrome, directed by Australian screenwriter Cate Shortland. "It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in my career. We would sit together, me, Max [Riemelt] and Cate, and talk about our comfort zones and what we wanted the film to be, and we talked about our own history, our own desires ... we brought everything into it," she says. "All those hours and hours of discussions, we weaved them into the script, and it made for such a good movie." What about Lights Out, the 2016 supernatural horror made on a budget of $US4.9 million that grossed close to $US150 million at the box office? "You have no idea when you're acting in it how they're going to do the special effects, and how the creature is going to look, but it was really well done in this movie," Palmer says. "But also, at the heart of that one was a family drama. We were talking about mental health, and it was scarier, more heightened, because at the core of it was this believable family dynamic." And her most challenging acting experience? Restraint (2008), an Australian movie co-starring Travis Fimmel. "It was one of my earliest movies, and I was so in over my head," she says. "I didn't really know how to act yet, I was young and impressionable, and I felt really lost. I remember going home every night and crying, thinking, 'Don't mess this up Teresa, this is your dream'. And then you go from job to job to job, and you get better and better. My peers were my acting school, I learnt on the job. "Watching it now, I wish I could just reach through and grab the younger me and go, 'Guess what, it's going to get easier and better, and trust your instincts, you're doing great!'. I want to comfort that younger me." Her other most challenging role is also her most rewarding: juggling motherhood and a successful acting career. "I used to think motherhood could stall or end a career. I had this general misconception because it was a narrative fed to me years ago, before I had kids. I was told you get to be one or the other," Palmer says. "But to have these experiences in parallel, and in tandem, has really proven otherwise. I have been able to work and feel creatively and intellectually stimulated from my work, and also get to be a very present, hands-on mother, which was my other great desire. "It turns out I didn't have to choose one over the other."
9 News
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- 9 News
'We love you': Outpouring of support after comedian and actress's cancer diagnosis
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Szubanski, who rose to fame playing the character of Sharon Strzelecki in Aussie television series Kath and Kim, revealed the tragic news in a post on Instagram this afternoon. Szubanski's loved ones and friends were quick to voice their support. Magda Szubanski in character as Sharon from the ABC series Kath and Kim on the set in 2004. (Nine) "Lots of love and support to you, beautiful one," comedian Rove McManus commented on her post. Actor Sam Neill, who is in remission from blood cancer, said, "Right there with you darling." Neill and Szubanksi both starred in the 2019 film Ride Like A Girl. "I'm so sorry to hear this Magda, but this cancer has no idea what it's taken on does it?" former A Current Affair Host Trace Grimshaw said. Actor Sam Neill, who is in remission from blood cancer. (Getty) "You come from strong, odds-defying stock, and you'll beat this." Today host David Campbell said "I love you so bloody much." Former The Project host and radio presenter Carrie Bickmore, who lost her husband Greg Lange to brain cancer in 2010, told Szubanski, "You've got this." "Yelling at you now from a distance that we all love you," Bickmore said. Hugh Sheridan, who starred alongside Szubanksi in the Australian production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and hosted her on the 2012 TV series I Will Survive said, "I love you so much Magda". "Massive hugs being sent to you and so many more in person to come," the actor wrote. celebrity celebrities cancer national Sydney New South Wales CONTACT US Property News: 'Stressful': Perth mum's dilemma after rental mix-up.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘That's where he was happy': Maddie Raymond's tribute to the boat rower of Lady Bay
But one of the toughest moments came months later, in December, when it was time to return to the water. Loading 'Paddy has been rowing the boat for us now,' Raymond said. 'I think the hardest part for me was the first day we put the boat back in the water and seeing Paddy row out, because you look out and you expect to see Dad.' Raymond is a talented horsewoman with links to two of Australia's greatest racing stories – Michelle Payne's Melbourne Cup win, and the unbeaten Black Caviar. As she prepared for this week's Warrnambool May Racing Carnival, her first without her father, she reflected on her recent highs and lows. 'Everyone thought the beach would be the hard place for me and our family to be, but I just know that Dad enjoyed it down there, so it is quite a happy place,' she said. 'We go down there now on those special occasions and have a coffee and still celebrate that that's where he was happy. 'But sitting up in the pavilion and seeing the boat in the water – that was hard.' Raymond was not from a horse background. Her father was a premiership player for Warrnambool Football Club, a talented basketballer, and loved playing golf. But her parents were lured into racing when their teenage daughter progressed from pony club to stable foreman for Weir. It was during this period she played an integral, but lesser-known, part in the Prince Of Penzance story – the horse that carried Michelle Payne to Melbourne Cup history. If you look at pictures of Payne's brother, Stevie, leading his sister back to scale, you will see Raymond, wearing a red jacket and sunglasses, on the other side. She was Prince Of Penzance's full-time carer, riding the gelding every day in trackwork, but agreed to share duties at Flemington on Cup day because of Stevie's special bond with his sister. 'Obviously, Stevie and Michelle had that relationship, and Stevie helped with selecting out the barrier, so it just fell into place that Stevie was strapper on the day,' Raymond said. 'But I was happy. Stevie probably likes a bit of limelight, whereas I am happy to step away from it. So it worked in my favour as well.' In the weeks after the Cup, Payne took Raymond to Bali with a group of friends as a thank-you. She even got to play herself in a cameo role in biopic Ride Like A Girl. 'I just stood there and held the horse,' Raymond said. 'So, I'd say I was more of a helping hand, rather than an actress.' If Raymond, 32, was known as a 'Weiry's girl', her now-husband was considered a 'Moody's boy'. Bell, 36, was a former star New Zealand apprentice who had to hang up his jockey's boots after a broken leg undermined his battle with the weight. He flew to Australia to join Peter Moody's stable for a three-month working stint and stayed with him for eight years. In that time, he rode Black Caviar in trackwork and travelled to the UK for the champion mare's narrow win in the 2012 group 1 Royal Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. 'I swear to God, every time we turn on you are watching a Black Caviar documentary, so he is probably going to live in the limelight a bit more [than me],' Raymond said. Loading 'I mean, I wouldn't give up that [Melbourne Cup] group 1 for 25 of them, that's for sure, but she [Black Caviar] was pretty special.' Moody's boy and Weiry's girl met on a Cargo plane in 2019, travelling horses from Australia to race in Dubai – Raymond with Brave Smash for Kris Lees, and Bell accompanied Lloyd Kennewell's Viddora. They started dating when they came back, were married in February this year, became co-trainers on March 27 and are expecting their first child in June. 'It was a bit of a … it was unexpected,' Raymond said of the pregnancy. 'It was very close to the time that I lost my dad, so it was definitely, I think, for myself and my family... it has given us some joy to look forward to in what was a pretty dark time.' Raymond said she was not as 'agile as I used to be' with the baby almost due, but the stable would run as normal. 'Paddy rides most of the work now, so none of that changes, and I am still able to do the organising, you know, the day-to-day training sheets of the horses, whether I am pregnant or I have got a baby beside me,' she said. Raymond and Bell work about 20 horses in their boutique stable. 'I worked with Black Heart Bart, Kings Will Dream, Voodoo Lad, Lucky Hustler and Humidor – so both of us come from working with genuine group 1 horses to where you are starting off from scratch. So the bar is set very high,' she said. 'We had one trial this morning and Paddy said, 'This is one of the best horses we've got, but it is no Black Caviar'. But we hope one day.' Raymond said one of their best chances at Warrnambool over the coming three days would be Rolls in the 1700-metre event on Tuesday. 'Rolls' first-up run in Adelaide, I thought, was absolutely huge. I think he is going as good as he's ever been,' she said. 'The weight will be hard [61 kilograms, with jockey Jaylah Kennedy claiming 1.5kg], but he's still going super.' But before she sets foot on track this week, she will have been back to Lady Bay. No doubt, talking about her father.
The Age
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘That's where he was happy': Maddie Raymond's tribute to the boat rower of Lady Bay
But one of the toughest moments came months later, in December, when it was time to return to the water. Loading 'Paddy has been rowing the boat for us now,' Raymond said. 'I think the hardest part for me was the first day we put the boat back in the water and seeing Paddy row out, because you look out and you expect to see Dad.' Raymond is a talented horsewoman with links to two of Australia's greatest racing stories – Michelle Payne's Melbourne Cup win, and the unbeaten Black Caviar. As she prepared for this week's Warrnambool May Racing Carnival, her first without her father, she reflected on her recent highs and lows. 'Everyone thought the beach would be the hard place for me and our family to be, but I just know that Dad enjoyed it down there, so it is quite a happy place,' she said. 'We go down there now on those special occasions and have a coffee and still celebrate that that's where he was happy. 'But sitting up in the pavilion and seeing the boat in the water – that was hard.' Raymond was not from a horse background. Her father was a premiership player for Warrnambool Football Club, a talented basketballer, and loved playing golf. But her parents were lured into racing when their teenage daughter progressed from pony club to stable foreman for Weir. It was during this period she played an integral, but lesser-known, part in the Prince Of Penzance story – the horse that carried Michelle Payne to Melbourne Cup history. If you look at pictures of Payne's brother, Stevie, leading his sister back to scale, you will see Raymond, wearing a red jacket and sunglasses, on the other side. She was Prince Of Penzance's full-time carer, riding the gelding every day in trackwork, but agreed to share duties at Flemington on Cup day because of Stevie's special bond with his sister. 'Obviously, Stevie and Michelle had that relationship, and Stevie helped with selecting out the barrier, so it just fell into place that Stevie was strapper on the day,' Raymond said. 'But I was happy. Stevie probably likes a bit of limelight, whereas I am happy to step away from it. So it worked in my favour as well.' In the weeks after the Cup, Payne took Raymond to Bali with a group of friends as a thank-you. She even got to play herself in a cameo role in biopic Ride Like A Girl. 'I just stood there and held the horse,' Raymond said. 'So, I'd say I was more of a helping hand, rather than an actress.' If Raymond, 32, was known as a 'Weiry's girl', her now-husband was considered a 'Moody's boy'. Bell, 36, was a former star New Zealand apprentice who had to hang up his jockey's boots after a broken leg undermined his battle with the weight. He flew to Australia to join Peter Moody's stable for a three-month working stint and stayed with him for eight years. In that time, he rode Black Caviar in trackwork and travelled to the UK for the champion mare's narrow win in the 2012 group 1 Royal Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. 'I swear to God, every time we turn on you are watching a Black Caviar documentary, so he is probably going to live in the limelight a bit more [than me],' Raymond said. Loading 'I mean, I wouldn't give up that [Melbourne Cup] group 1 for 25 of them, that's for sure, but she [Black Caviar] was pretty special.' Moody's boy and Weiry's girl met on a Cargo plane in 2019, travelling horses from Australia to race in Dubai – Raymond with Brave Smash for Kris Lees, and Bell accompanied Lloyd Kennewell's Viddora. They started dating when they came back, were married in February this year, became co-trainers on March 27 and are expecting their first child in June. 'It was a bit of a … it was unexpected,' Raymond said of the pregnancy. 'It was very close to the time that I lost my dad, so it was definitely, I think, for myself and my family... it has given us some joy to look forward to in what was a pretty dark time.' Raymond said she was not as 'agile as I used to be' with the baby almost due, but the stable would run as normal. 'Paddy rides most of the work now, so none of that changes, and I am still able to do the organising, you know, the day-to-day training sheets of the horses, whether I am pregnant or I have got a baby beside me,' she said. Raymond and Bell work about 20 horses in their boutique stable. 'I worked with Black Heart Bart, Kings Will Dream, Voodoo Lad, Lucky Hustler and Humidor – so both of us come from working with genuine group 1 horses to where you are starting off from scratch. So the bar is set very high,' she said. 'We had one trial this morning and Paddy said, 'This is one of the best horses we've got, but it is no Black Caviar'. But we hope one day.' Raymond said one of their best chances at Warrnambool over the coming three days would be Rolls in the 1700-metre event on Tuesday. 'Rolls' first-up run in Adelaide, I thought, was absolutely huge. I think he is going as good as he's ever been,' she said. 'The weight will be hard [61 kilograms, with jockey Jaylah Kennedy claiming 1.5kg], but he's still going super.' But before she sets foot on track this week, she will have been back to Lady Bay. No doubt, talking about her father.
