Brendan Cowell: Actor & Playwright

Love, warts and all By Richard Jinman The Age November 18, 2004

Love My Way is a more grown-up Secret Life of Us, says Richard Jinman. Inside a smart warehouse conversion in Sydney's Alexandria, four 30-somethings are discussing the name of a newborn baby. The vast, open-plan space is the epitome of of urban chic with white cathedral ceilings, flokati rugs on a polished cement floor and stainless-steel appliances in the kitchen. But there's an undercurrent that suggests all is not well in this inner-city paradise. "I'm thinking 'Toby'," says the baby's blonde mother with just a hint of trepidation. "Toby Jackson. I could live with that," says the baby's proud father. "Here's to Toby," says the proud father's brother, raising an alarmingly large glass of neat vodka by way of a toast. "Welcome to the family, you poor bastard." Family is the focus of the edgy new Foxtel drama Love My Way, which is being filmed inside this architect's residence on a warm day in July.

Picture: Rodger Cummins. It's love their way (from left), Dan Wyllie, Asher Keddie, Claudia Karvan and Brendan Cowell. Photo: Supplied

We're talking about a blended family rather than the traditional nuclear variety; an increasingly common arrangement in Australian society where a third of marriages hit the wall. "Kramer vs. Kramer had a huge impact on me when I was a kid," says Claudia Karvan, the 32-year old actor, the star and co-producer of Love My Way. "The film was synonymous with the way people dealt with the break-up of families in the '70s. People seem to be much better at coping with it nowadays and it seemed there would be plenty of scope for an interesting drama." Coping is something Karvan's character, Frankie Paige, has elevated to an art form. The artist and single mother shares custody of her eight-year old daughter Lou (Alex Cook) with Lou's architect father, Charlie (Dan Wyllie). Money is tight, so Frankie supplements the money she makes by selling her paintings with shifts as a newspaper illustrator. Frankie shares a house with Charlie's brother, Tom. A manic depressive, Tom works as a cook when he's taking his medication and an agent of chaos when he's not. He's played by Brendan Cowell, whose television credits include the SBS comedy Life Support and the interactive ABC drama Fat Cow Motel. Cowell was also part of the six-member writing team that scripted Love My Way. Charlie is now married to Julia (Asher Keddie). This blonde, 30-year-old control freak is determined to be the perfect wife, mother and career woman. Continued next page>>

BACK                         HOME