Quick Quiz: Stephen Curry

With a credit list as long as your arm,  Stephen Curry remains that rare creature among performers – a seriously talented actor with a sense of humour and a genuinely affable presence. In fact, according to one recent profile, he’s commonly known among colleagues as ‘Australia’s nicest guy in showbiz.’ From his iconic Aussie appearance as the young suburban narrator of The Castle (‘Dad, I dug another hole!’)  to his AFI Award-winning performance as television host extraordinaire Graham Kennedy in The King (2007), Curry has been friendly and familiar part of the Australian screen landscape for some time. Of course we have to mention his wonderful appearance as host at the AFI Awards in 2008, when he helped us celebrate our 50th Anniversary.

Riding to victory. Stephen Curry as jockey Damien Oliver in The Cup.

Most recently, Curry been seen on television in a variety of comic and serious roles. It was a treat to catch him playing an unfortunate cockatoo in SBS’s blackly comic Wilfred. Then there was his turn as the lovable ne’er-do-well Sam Pickles in mini-series adaptation of Cloudstreet; and as McBaney in the advertising satire :30 Seconds. In recent year’s, Curry has also become well known for his continually shrinking and expanding frame – having to diet down to jockey weight seven times in the stop-and-start lead up to playing the Melbourne Cup winning jockey Damien Oliver, whose dramatic win in 2002 is the subject of the feature film The Cup.

Here Stephen Curry answers our Quick Quiz with good humour and a touch of silliness – but notice he’s serious when it comes to naming and praising his mentors.

1. What is your favorite word? Gruntled. The opposite of disgruntled. i.e: Worked at a soup kitchen today and boy did it add to my general feeling of gruntlement.
2. What is your least favorite word? Panties
3. What turns you on? Dexter from Perfect Match.
4. What turns you off? Being stabbed repeatedly in the chest with a large hunting knife.
5. What sound or noise do you love? The sweet warbling of doves.
6. What sound or noise do you hate? The voices in my head.
7. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I think I’d make an astonishing flautist.
8. What profession would you not like to do? Being the guy that has to gather all the information every time I do a google search.
9. The last film or DVD you watched? Snowtown.
10. The film that changed you, and why? Gigli. I decided then and there that I never want to be in a film like Gigli.
11. Your guilty television pleasure? Jerseylicious. Frankie is a genius. I love him and his enormous head.
12. Complete this sentence:  The thing I love about working in the Australian film and television industry is…That it stops me from working at a drive-thru.
13. Three key mentors who’ve inspired or helped you? Matthew Saville (Australia’s best director), Katherine Dodd (Australia’s best agent), Lachie Daddo (Australia’s best Daddo).

The Cup is in general release from 13 October, 2011. The Cup is one of the Feature Films in Competition for the inaugural Samsung AACTA Awards.

*Bernard Pivot is a journalist, interviewer and host of French cultural television programs. He developed a list of questions based on Proust’s famous questionnaire. This then formed the basis of James Lipton’s questions to actors on American cable television program Inside the Actors Studio.

Now the AFI has its own Australian version. We hope you enjoy it!

AFI Quick Quiz: Kestie Morassi

The Adelaide-born Kestie Morassi is a familiar face in Australian film and television, having worked steadily for more than ten years in the business, yet she’s still a little bit mysterious. Her television roles have ranged from Miss Sharlow in the ABC’s The Saddle Club to the kinky-but-sweet brothel madam Natalie in Foxtel’s Satisfaction, and she has appeared on pretty much every recent Australian drama you care to think of, from The Secret Life of Us, to Underbelly, and from Offspring to Wilfred. Morassi has appeared in films including Dirty Deeds, Travelling Light, The Illustrated Family Doctor and Strange Bedfellows.

 

Morassi’s real breakthrough, however, came with the role of the terrorised backpacker Kristy in Greg Mclean’s international hit horror film Wolf Creek (2005) – a performance that earnt her an AFI Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Morassi is currently starring in Blame, a psychological thriller shot and set in Roleystone, outside of Perth. Written and directed by Michael Henry, and also starring a cast of other up-and-coming young actors, Blame sees Morassi playing a grieving young woman who teams up with the friends of her dead sister in order to take revenge on the man they blame for her death.

 

With her wide blue eyes and mischevious dimple, Morassi is a talented and versatile actress with a winning warmth and vulnerability on screen, and an obvious lack of pretention. Here are her answers to the AFI Quick Quiz.

 

Kestie Morassi as a grieving sister intent on revenge in Blame.

The AFI Quick Quiz: Kestie Morassi

Q. What is your favorite word? Oil.

Q. What is your least favourite word? Wrong.

Q. What turns you on? Trees.

Q. What turns you off? Cinnamon.

Q. What sound or noise do you love? A crowd cheering in the distance.

Q. What sound or noise do you hate? A motorbike down a narrow street.

Q. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Astrophysics.

Q. What profession would you not like to do? Anything 9 to 5.

Q. The last film or DVD you watched? Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

Q. The film that changed you and why? Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner is the first film I remember seeing as a child and realising what a film is, and what it can do. I recognised how the actors worked together to tell a story and it occurred to me that a film could be a way to say something important.

Q. Your guilty television pleasure? Top Model.

Q. Complete this sentence: The thing I love about working in the Australian film and television industry is… the genuine sense of camaraderie.

Q. Three key mentors that have inspired you?

• My first drama teacher Michelle Williams. She gave everything to her students and recognised people’s strengths, encouraged you to love yourself and be an individual. She was also an inspiring actress to watch perform.
• Bryan Brown. He was integral in helping me to be cast in Dirty Deeds, my first break into film. He and David Caeser recognised something in me that I always felt was there but I just needed a chance to show it. Bryan Brown is a huge inspiration to me also because he’s obviously an icon, but has remained completely down to earth, has a huge heart and is always himself. What you see is what you get and I admire that.
• My Mum. My support, my angel, my life, my love. 

Blame is currently in limited release. You may want to check out our Reviews Wrap of the film.

Editor’s Note: Just for fun, here’s a gorgeous red carpet photo from the AFI Awards archive, featuring Kestie Morassi with fellow leading ladies from Satisfaction. If you haven’t seen her as the latex-loving madam with a heart of marshmallow, it’s worth a look. In my opinion, this is Morassi’s funniest, naughtiest and sweetest performance to date.

Leading ladies from Foxtel's Satisfaction on the red carpet at the 2008 AFI Awards, L-R: Madeleine West, Diana Glenn, Peta Sergeant, Kestie Morassi (in silver) & Alison Whyte.