‘I don’t feel the pressure to look a certain way’: Why Gold Logie nominee Asher Keddie refuses to wear heels on red carpet
Eleven years after she last won a Gold Logie, Asher Keddie is nominated again – but this time, there’s one red carpet fashion rule she will be breaking.
Stellar
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For years, Asher Keddie has insisted on driving herself to and from any set – particularly when she’s working on projects that deal with challenging material – so she can shake off the day by listening to music before returning home in “mum mode”.
She certainly never thinks of herself as one of those method actors who lives and breathes the characters she plays.
But Keddie’s husband, artist Vincent Fantauzzo, and their children, 14-year-old Luca (Fantauzzo’s son from his first marriage) and nine-year-old Valentino, have seen the evidence, and teasingly point out her habit of walking through every room reciting lines to herself. “And if
I’m doing an accent, like in Nine Perfect Strangers – where I was playing an American – I would speak in the accent for the duration of the shoot,” she tells Stellar. “I’m not aware that I’m doing it, but they are and find it amusing.”
Of course, having an acclaimed actor in the house also has its perks. “Oh, I love the imaginary play,” she explains of a typical fun night in.
“Both our boys have incredible imaginations and have always loved stories. Vince is an amazing storyteller. So even now, before bed, we are still reading stories and making up stories together.”
Yet despite having accompanied his mum on many film sets, Valentino has only just become properly aware of what Keddie does. “He’s seen a couple of ads for [Binge dramedy] Strife. More recently, he’s seen some ads on Network 10 for Fake and asked if he could watch it,” she says with a laugh about her very grown-up series co-starring David Wenham. “And I was like, ‘Um, I’m not sure about that one, darling!’”
Keddie says it will be some years before Valentino will be able to watch her in shows such as Love My Way, The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart and Offspring.
“He wouldn’t be interested right now,” she replies with a shrug. “The content is just too adult. As wise beyond his years as this kid is, he’s not ready for adult drama.”
Nonetheless, her youngest son was elated when he learnt Keddie was in the running for another Gold Logie, having won her first in 2013, two years before he was born.
“When his dad told him I’d been nominated for the Logie, he was like, ‘Oh wow! That’s a big deal,’” she recalls with a smile. “So he will probably be allowed to stay up and watch a bit of it.”
Valentino’s reaction reinforced Keddie’s own delight in being recognised again. Far from becoming blasé about being up for a Logie, Keddie enthuses, “It actually feels more special now, to be honest. I was really taken aback when I got the call a few weeks back. I was like, ‘What does this mean?’ It’s extraordinary and I feel so excited. This is why we do what we do, to connect with an audience and to tell stories they want to lean into. If this is the result of that, then I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Also nominated this year are Andy Lee, Julia Morris, Larry Emdur, Robert Irwin, Sonia Kruger and Tony Armstrong. As the only actor in a group of comedians and presenters, Keddie is buoyed that the Gold category is so diverse: “Entertainment is entertainment, in whatever form,” she insists.
“And all my fellow nominees are exceptional entertainers.”
While their boys will be at home in Melbourne, Fantauzzo will be by Keddie’s side when she walks the Logies red carpet in Sydney tonight. She’s grateful to have the five-time Archibald Prize finalist as her wingman at any event because “he’s much more sociable than me,” she admits.
“We both really want to be able to share our achievements and celebrations with each other. It is really important to us, so I always want to involve him.”
Due to work commitments, Keddie hasn’t attended the ceremony in several years. However, she’s looking forward to catching up with co-stars from Lost Flowers and Strife.
“The Logies is such a great, celebratory, exciting evening,” she says. “It always is, even when you feel like you’re under pressure. I’ve had moments where I felt that pressure was a lot, back in the Offspring days, but I don’t feel that pressure now. I just feel really celebratory about it.”
Keddie will be taking a similarly relaxed approach to what she wears. A regular on best-dressed lists, she explains, “If you feel fabulous, you will generally look pretty good. This year – and this is probably down to age as well, and having done it so many times – I don’t feel the pressure to look a certain way, or as what everybody else wants me to look like.”
Having just turned 50, the actor has also reached a stage where comfort factors into her wardrobe choices. “I mean, I’m not going to sit there in a corset anymore,” she declares. “Been there, done that.”
She learnt this lesson the hard way at work (yes, admitting to a moment of method-acting madness). Inspired by a real-life obstetrician who wore Louboutins to every delivery, Keddie decided her Offspring character, Nina Proudman, should follow suit and always be in heels.
“My Achilles didn’t thank me,” she says with a laugh.
“I’m done with wearing very high heels all day … I don’t know how I did it for all those years on Offspring. That’s why I chose plenty of fabulous sneakers for playing Evelyn in Strife. It’s much easier.”
Keddie hastens to point out that being cosy doesn’t have to mean slouching on style, and notes that winning the 2013 Gold Logie in a stunning Yeojin Bae gown was “the most comfortable I have ever felt in a dress that was fashion”.
As an experienced red-carpet regular, Keddie has her Logies preparations down to a fine – and fun – art, and there’s always a “hell of a lot of laughs” with her glam squad in the hours before hitting the red carpet.
“It’s got to be relaxing and low-key for me before the event, and it always is with my team,” she tells Stellar. “We get ready, we get fries and club sandwiches
and fizzy drinks.
“It’s the same routine every time, and it’s usually fairly short. I’m not one for sitting in hair and make-up for a long time. So everyone works very efficiently.”
Win or lose, Keddie isn’t planning to kick up her (sensible) heels until the wee hours, as she’s due back on set at 6am to continue shooting her starring role in the second season of Strife, which is set to air on Binge next year.
And she’s not remotely tempted to take the Karl Stefanovic approach and roll straight into work from the afterparty.
“That’s not my vibe at all,” she says, laughing. “It’s more about sleep for me at this point, I’ve got to tell you.”
The 2024 Logies are on Sunday. See the full interview with Asher Keddie inside the latest issue of Stellar. For more from Stellar, click here.
Originally published as ‘I don’t feel the pressure to look a certain way’: Why Gold Logie nominee Asher Keddie refuses to wear heels on red carpet
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