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22nd Jul 2019
When Claire van der Boom’s agent called her to discuss an upcoming audition for a new film, the first thing the actor asked was: “Do they know I’m not a musician?” Reading the script from her home in Los Angeles, van der Boom realised she would be required to perform six songs on a guitar. “I called all of my musician friends and got them to help me as best they could,” she recalls. “I threw everything down and I was one of the last to be cast – but I got the gig.”
The part was for the new drama-comedy , directed by Australian actress and director Rachel Ward and produced by her husband Bryan Brown and Deborah Balderstone.
Van der Boom was determined to kill the audition for two reasons: she was a fan of Ward’s 2009 directorial debut, , and it would also mean coming back to Australia to work on the project. “It was very special for me,” van der Boom remembers. “I’ve been living in America for 10 years, so to come back and work with Australian legends on a quintessentially Australian film was such a joy.”
As luck would have it, van der Boom didn’t need to perform all those songs in the end, but it’s her chameleon-like nature and willingness to throw everything into a role that has become a hallmark of her career.
After graduating from NIDA in her early 20s, the Broome-born actress went on to play a Catholic nun in (which earned her a Logie), a drug smuggler’s lover in , an ex-wife in US TV series and even a young version of a character played by Diane Keaton in the comedy-drama .
Van der Boom has not only managed to forge a diverse CV as an actress, but has also achieved career longevity thanks to the approach.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a small role, it’s about if it leads to something else,” she says matter-of-factly. “With jobs that are more high profile, you might think: ‘Oh, there will be a little bit of heat that comes off this’, but sometimes that’s not the case, but then someone might see me off-Broadway and that might help me get another job.”
Many questioned van der Boom’s decision in 2009 to leave her role as Grace Barry in the Australian police drama to try her luck in the US, but now she’s reached her mid-30s she says she has no regrets. “I’m really happy that I have a career both in the United States and in Australia. That’s quite tricky to do. It’s led me to work with some incredible people.”
That pretty much sums up Rachel Ward’s . The cast reads like a rollcall of local acting legends, headed by Bryan Brown, Sam Neill and Brit Richard E. Grant, who play former bandmates who reunite for a milestone birthday at the famous Sydney coastal suburb. Along with female co-stars Jacqueline McKenzie and Greta Scacchi, tensions build as friendship dynamics collide and secrets come to light. Van Der Boom plays Holly, whose mother was the lead singer in the band before she died in a car accident, and who sees the group as her adopted family.
Photographed by Duncan Killick, styled by Kate Darvill, Vogue Australia, August 2019.
“The film is a story about old friends and expectations … the struggles we have in communicating with each other in really honest ways,” says van der Boom. “It’s set over a few days with a group of people who are essentially like family, so things can blow up. I think it’s a rare film in that it pulls at the heartstrings, but is also quite hopeful.”
Van der Boom describes as the “most joyful experience” she’s ever had on set. “I feel like you don’t get to say that too often, but I really mean that.” She adds that filming was “very noisy, because there’s a lot of big personalities”, but that Ward kept everyone in check.
“She’s a powerhouse and such an inspiration to me, because she’s an excellent actress. She’s worked really hard to get to where she is. I really do look up to her.”
Ward also insisted on making sure 50 per cent of the film crew were women. “She’s not pushing it in an intense way: she’s just trying to normalise the way that things should be,” says van der Boom.
As is her approach, once van der Boom started filming she completely became the character, cutting a blunt fringe and adding depth to her performance by looking internally. “I really did think about the pressures of women in their 30s and the pressure of what success looks like,” she says. “Whether that be in their career, or if they have a family, or how much money they have – what defines success? I was so proud that I got to play a character who’s so open about her frustrations.”
As for her own aspirations, van der Boom will continued to work between the US and Australia; next up is up a project with the Melbourne Theatre Company, which will be directed by Simon Phillips. “As I’m getting older it’s about the quality of the people you work with that brings me the most joy,” she continues. “I trust that I will keep having an interesting career, and I will keep working with interesting people. I’m at peace with where my career is at. I have faith that as long as I love it, I’m going to be grateful for where I’m at.”
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This article originally appeared in Vogue Australia’s August 2019 issue.