The wicked gleam of hard-won success
April 11, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Has Melissa George finally found her Hollywood big break? Sal Morgan reports.
It's an interesting honour. In Hollywood, Melissa George was known as the highest-paid actress who had never actually worked a day in her life.
"I got paid out three years in a row for shows that just kept getting cancelled," she says. "And it was this running joke with all the producers and directors when I went to auditions."
But now, the 28-year-old former Summer Bay resident tells the joke with a wicked gleam in her eye. George, it seems, is no longer a laughing matter. After a string of supporting film roles, a guest spot on Friends and then a running gig on Alias, she was listed 40th in last week's BRW list of the top 50 entertainers, legitimately earning her $1.8 million - the same as Rachel Griffiths.
And she's scored her first starring role, in the remake of the classic 1970s scarefest The Amityville Horror. She plays a mother-of-three who moves her family to a house and experiences a series of bizarre events.
George says the film, based on a true story, is closer to a psychological drama than a "real horror". But she still managed to scare herself during filming - especially after a dead body was found in the river right outside the set in the first few days of shooting, and then the character she plays, Kathy Lutz, died in real life.
Despite her "bit of anxiety", Ryan Reynolds, who plays her husband, credits George with keeping everyone's spirits up on set, describing her as "the perfect co-star".
"I kept looking for the dirt and I couldn't find it," he says. "There are no skeletons in her closet as far as I can tell."
George, who arrives in Sydney tomorrow to promote the film, disagrees. "I'm sure there are plenty of people back home that would have a few tales to tell from my rebel childhood!" she laughs.
She says she never aspired to be an actress but always knew a traditional career wasn't for her.
"But I didn't know I'd be here," she says. "I didn't even know Hollywood existed. I knew that America existed but I didn't know anything about the movies!"
Perth-born George was a rollerskating champion before being cast in Home And Away at 16. Three years later Fox flew her to Los Angeles to audition for a role in a pilot. It was one of the many that she was paid for but we never saw: despite being flown first-class from Sydney to New York to celebrate winning the lead, she was told a few weeks later it was cancelled. "I went from thinking I was going to be a Hollywood star to being totally depressed on the phone crying to my dad," she says. "The show was dropped, I was in LA and I had no work."
But unlike most out-of-work actresses, George managed to keep money in the bank with small parts in movies such as Dark City, The Limey, Sugar & Spice and Mulholland Drive.
Then she joined the cast of hit TV show Alias, playing butt-kicker Lauren Reed. Initially written in for just a few shows, her time was soon extended. Regularly recognised as "that sexy black widow we all loved to hate", she even made a fan of Tom Cruise.
"He said, 'I looked at episode 13 of the third season. Man, your character is . . .' And I'm like, 'You watch Alias? You don't have anything better to do, like MI-4 or MI-3?"'
George also became good friends - and worked out - with Jennifer Garner, who she first met four years ago when she was shooting Thieves with John Stamos (another show that got cancelled).
"She remembered everything, from my husband's name, to where he was from, all the finer details."
The actor, who has been married to Chilean businessman Claudio Dabed for four years, has also just wrapped up filming on Derailed, a thriller co-starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston.
"It's a great, mature role. I play Clive's wife," she says. "It was a good acting piece - nothing fluffy about it. I had to grow up a little bit to play it. But I really enjoyed it."
Next, she hopes to star in a classic, old-fashioned film.
"People tend to see my face and I'm not a modern-day woman. I'm not grungy and I like to bring back the classical Hollywood leading lady look," she says.
"I love Cate [Blanchett] and I have to remind myself that she is 10 years older than me. I have to keep saying, 'You have time'. I think I can just pace myself a little bit and I'd be very happy."
She aims to star in two more big movies before starting a family with Dabed (she already has a stepdaughter, Martina).
"Making movies is everyone's goal. It's just so passionate and I like that lifestyle where nothing is ever certain and is forever changing," she says.
"But I'd never say no to TV. I mean it pays well. That's the moral of the story isn't it? Get a show, hopefully it will get cancelled and you get paid for doing nothing!"
The Amityville Horror is released in Australia on Thursday. Derailed will be released here later this year.
