Eddie
Perfect enjoys the break from writing that his role in Offspring
affords.
Paul Kalina, The Sydney Morning Herald, reports
Eddie
Perfect will make a real man of Offspring's Mick yet.
For Eddie Perfect and his Offspring
character Mick Holland, botch-ups have paid healthy dividends.
For his first scene in the pilot of the Melbourne-made dramedy,
whose third season concludes on July 11, Mick and his on-again, off-again then
girlfriend, now wife, Billie Proudman (Kat Stewart), stole an intimate moment
in a stranger's house.
It was meant to be a steamy sex scene, but for the nervousness
that the self-confessed novice actor was experiencing.
''I couldn't get her friggin' buttons undone and her accessories
got caught on my clothes; it was awkward and we laughed our heads off through
the entire scene,'' says Perfect, sipping mint tea in an East Brunswick cafe
that could easily be a backdrop for the urbane drama. Indeed, when we leave one
hour later, fellow cast member Richard Davies, who plays Billie's airhead
brother, Jimmy, pulls up in his car and the two actors amicably hug in what
feels like a scene from the show.
''But it turned into a quite comic, awkward moment, and from then
on the writers have never attempted to do anything sexy like that for us again,
which is great. We managed to shape these characters, who are a contrast to the
more brooding doctors-and-nurses thing that's going on with Nina [Asher Keddie]
and the others, which is fine with us.''
Three seasons in, Perfect is still making hay from part-time
gardener and wannabe musician Mick's imperfections, even stealing scenes from
his more experienced colleagues on the show. Mick and Billie continue to
weather their share of storms: there's the ghost of Mick's impulsive one-night
fling with Billie's sister, Nina; the ongoing problems of Mick's infertility,
which in turn catalysed an uneasy reconciliation with his brother, Andrew (Dan
Spielman); and Mick's evident attraction to fellow musician Rosanna (Clare
Bowditch).
''He's not successful and he's scared,'' says Perfect of Mick.
''He's not ambitious and is unwilling to push himself. I find that an
interesting place to be.
''His ambitions are really small. I know lots of people like that
and it's complicated, because part of it is trying to draw a circle around your
life and minimise the drive and desperation and be happy with what you have
creatively. It's about creating a comfort zone that limits your ability to take
things further. Mick's scared of success, really. He doesn't like to put
himself out there.''
One of the key drivers of the Mick and Billie storyline this
season has involved Mick's relationship with Rosanna - or, more specifically,
his mishandling of their musical partnership, which threatens Billie to her
core.
''A real relationship is measured by how you manage those things …
and stay connected to your partner,'' Perfect says.
''There are feelings [for Rosanna] he's denying to protect Billie.
He is confident he can handle it and feels he should
have the trust and latitude to handle it on his own. That's what I like about
the show. It's not black and white; it's not like, because you're attracted to
this person you're inevitably going to sleep with them in a Days of our Lives
scenario. Most people in a relationship have had to deal with a crush … and you
can navigate that and keep your relationship intact.''
A prolific and versatile writer, Perfect says he doesn't harbour
secret ambitions to join Offspring's
writing team.
''The thing I enjoy about this job over 90 per cent of my other
work, which is writing, is I don't have that control - I don't have that
creative voice, I'm just an actor who turns up and acts my lines. I love
that.''
Though he wonders whether his perspective would be in line with
the female sensibility that drives Offspring's
storylines, he offers a sharp insight to a key theme that underlines the show:
redemption through humiliation.
''If anyone transgresses, a cataclysmic humiliation happens in
public. It's like a public shaming that absolves them and they can move
forward. It's quite cathartic … and great territory to explore.''
In real life, Perfect and Stewart separately became parents
(Perfect for a second time four months ago) while, ironically, their onscreen
characters were dealing with the realisation and aftermath of infertility.
The idea of having a baby is one that TV tends to romanticise,
Perfect says.
Not on Offspring.
In addition to Mick and Billie's inability to conceive, lurking in the margins
is the breakdown of Patrick's (Matthew le Nevez) first marriage following the
delivery of a stillborn child, the precarious fate of Jimmy and Zara's (Jane
Harber) premature baby and, at the conclusion of last night's episode, Nina's
anxiety about her late period after a moment of weakness with Patrick.
Conception affects a lot of people, Perfect says.
For Mick and Billie, the discovery they can't conceive a child
together has been a lonely journey, which has stabbed at the weak point of
their relationship.
''If you're in a relationship and the end point is having kids
together and that's taken away, you're kind of free-falling until you can
pinpoint what you're living for now, and I think that's where Mick and Billie
are at now,'' he says.
His ownership of Mick not only involves standing up for him -
''Mick's a bit of a doormat and I always feel there are moments I need to stick
up for him and represent his point of view'' - but ensuring that he isn't a
blank canvas for Billie's explosive episodes.
''Both characters need to be in a scene and after something,
wanting something. If there's a scene and you're in it so that the other person
doesn't look crazy talking to themselves, then it can be a disappointing
experience. Those are the moments you chime in.''
Though a fourth season of the show is yet to be confirmed, Offspring's consolidated
audience of more than 1 million suggests it will return.
''I think the reason people like the show is because it shows
there's a way through conflict, that things can be resolved, the importance of
talking and communicating and accepting people's limitations.''
Offspring is on Wednesday at 8.30pm on
Channel Ten.
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