The Wilds: Rachel Griffiths on Australian TVs lack of diversity

Rachel Griffiths believes Australian television networks have struggled in the past to tell authentic stories that accurately portray the audiences they serve.

Rachel Griffiths believes Australian television networks have struggled in the past to tell authentic stories that accurately portray the audiences they serve.

The Aussie actor and director, who has enjoyed a successful career both at home and in Hollywood, drew a line in the sand and said the long-held tradition of telling the stories of “privileged white people” is behind us.

“The days of making a show just about privileged white people (are over) — not only because they’re bad, the content that is really working is not that content around the world,” Griffiths tells Insider.

“Inclusive screen worlds are compelling you,” she says. “Stevie Payne was that breakout star of Ride Like A Girl — I wasn’t box-ticking, it’s because he exists in this universe and he is the most wonderful, compelling character.”

Rachel Griffiths. Picture: Josie Hayden

Race, gender and identity are hot topics in the film and television world globally. Minority groups have been under-represented on our screens for decades and only in the recent past has any real effort been put into correcting those inequalities.

Australia has not been immune to that history, Griffiths laments.

“I think it’s the big challenge in our country because our networks have not been reflective of who we are as Australians,” she says.

Amazon Prime Video’s new drama series The Wilds, in which Griffiths stars as a mysterious scientist, appealed to the Brothers And Sisters star because it wasn’t a gratuitous box-ticking exercise.

The 10-part series, which dropped in full on the streaming service yesterday, follows a group of girls stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes en route to a wellness retreat.

There’s a bit of a Lost meets Lord of the Flies vibe as the stories of the troubled teens are unravelled through flashbacks. And it soon becomes clear the crash isn’t a horrible accident, but part of a wider conspiracy in which Griffiths has a leading role.

The girls, who come from all walks of life, have rich characters and backstories that penetrate deeper than the superficial, anghsty tropes so often played out in tales involving teens.

Griffiths in a scene from Amazon YA drama series The Wilds. Picture: Matt Klitscher

Griffiths admits when she’s rummaging through the pile of scripts that get sent by her agent, she’s more often than not hoping they won’t strike something within her as taking on new projects ultimately means leaving behind her family for extended periods of time.

Unfortunately for the wannabe homebody, The Wilds was too good to ignore.

“I’m pretty choosy about my content — you can probably guess from my bio which jobs I did for the money,” she laughs. “Anything long-running, anything you’re gonna give possibly five or seven years to, has to tick a lot of boxes”

“I pretty much have to leave my family in order to do what I do to create or make work and to contribute to our creative industries so, it’s really hard to do that unless you’re highly motivated.”

The girls stranded on the island are a lesson in diversity — diversity of race, religion, sexual orientation and socio-economic backgrounds.

In and of itself, casting a much more representative cross-section of actors could be seen as ticking boxes. But Griffiths says it needs to go further than that.

“It’s not just about casting, it’s not about ‘oh, we’re gonna have two African American girls and a First Nations girl’. How does the content get to authentic beyond just the casting?” she asks before throwing the question to showrunner Amy Harris.

Harris, who was a producer on Sex And The City and creator of its spin-off The Carrie Diaries, says it’s important that the diversity begins with a show’s writers.

Griffiths couldn’t pass up on The Wilds. Picture: Matt Klitscher

“What we did on Sex And The City, that I think is why it really resonated, was we were telling really specific, intimate, raw, emotionally naked stories,” she says. “And I think what we have hopefully done in this show as well, is bringing in unbelievably talented writers who have come from many different walks of life telling really authentic, specific stories.”

It’s that depth and breadth of experiences in the writing room that can let Australian productions down, Griffiths says. While there are the big issues around gender and race on screen, even location can be overlooked.

When travelling through regional Australia to promote Ride Like A Girl, Griffiths says she was often approached by locals who felt what they watched on TV was far removed from their own lives.

“There is a sense in the country that we’re very city-centric in the content we make,” she says.

“That many television writers are middle class and urban. So I think we just always need to be asking that question: are we telling stories for everyone and are we including everyone in the stories that we’re telling.”

* The Wilds is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video