So your latest film, Palm Beach, is based on a real-life family and friends gathering you attended? Yes, two of my best girlfriends live near Hay-on-Wye in the UK, and in 2015 we stayed for Christmas with all our families. They seemed to be pretty normal to me, but Bryan [Brown, Ward’s husband] – who was experiencing a lot of anxiety at the time after he’d got septicaemia on location – recognised that they were all having a bit of an existential crisis, perhaps brought on by having to accept ageing, and who they were at this time of their lives. It inspired the themes of Palm Beach.
Fiona CarruthersTravel editorFiona Carruthers has written and edited travel for the Financial Review for almost a decade. She has held senior roles with ABC Radio National, Deutsche Welle Radio, TIME and The Australian, and was deputy editor of Traveller. Email Fiona at fcarruthers@afr.com
