Why Aussie actor Jack Thompson always comes home to Sydney

Australian screen legend Jack Thompson shares why he would never leave his home town of Sydney and what he thinks of Fairfield, where he filmed his latest movie On The Ropes.

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Australian screen legend Jack Thompson shares why he would never leave his home town of Sydney and what he thinks of Fairfield, where he filmed his latest movie On The Ropes.

Q What is your favourite childhood memory of Sydney?

I was born at Fairlight near Manly and then my early childhood was in Narrabeen and Collaroy. Coming across Sydney in the Manly ferry — I just loved it.

I used to love it when there was a lot of big swell when it got near the Heads and the ferry just rode up and down the swell and I thought I was a captain at sea.

Q Sydney is a very different city to when you were growing up in the 1940s and 1950s. What has changed the most?

Without a doubt the skyline. It’s become skyscrapers and high-rises. The CBD has become a lot more vital with restaurants and entertainment and the suburbs have grown.

Australian actor Jack Thompson loves his home town of Sydney. Picture: John Appleyard

Q What parts of the city do you like to show off to your visiting family and friends?

Not surprisingly, it starts with the harbour because I think that is the jewel in the city. A friend of mine has a boat, so we either go out on the boat or simply take them on a ferry around the harbour.

Your view of the city and suburbs from there is just fabulous.

Q What is your favourite place to get a coffee?

There was a wonderful little coffee shop that I used to go to when I was in my late teens and early 20s and it’s still there at the Cross, The Piccolo. It’s tiny, as the name implies, but it still serves really good coffee and it has a wonderful jukebox.

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Q What is your pet peeve about Sydney?

If there’s anything I don’t like about the city, it’s the traffic in peak hour but that happens in every city in the Western world, it’s no worse in Sydney than anywhere else.

Q What is your favourite restaurant in town?

Actor Jack Thompson in 1974. Picture: Supplied

I love Beppi’s in Darlinghurst and Lucio’s in Surry Hills.
Beppi’s has been there since I was child, I can even remember by father taking me to it.

Q What do you miss most about the city when you are away?

I miss the galleries, the theatre and I miss quite a few of my friends. But I’m never away for so long that I don’t come back to the city that I was born in and the city that I love.

I renew my acquaintance, although I don’t live here all the time, I always come back.

Q Your new film, On The Ropes, was filmed in Fairfield. What did you think of that region?

My impression prior to shooting the film was pretty vague. I had driven through there on my way out to the west but it wasn’t until we came into Fairfield that I realised it’s a really bustling area of suburban life.

We filmed at the Croatian Club which is a social centre and I became aware of a whole thriving community.

It’s away from the harbour and the beaches that were a part of my childhood but it has its own charm.

Q Have you ever considered moving overseas permanently?

No, never. I’ve been in some interesting and attractive places but I’ve never contemplated living there forever rather than Sydney.