Five famous faces share the moment they became an adult
Maturity doesn’t necessarily kick in when we turn 18, get our driver’s licence or buy our first home. Five famous faces share the moment that marked their transition into adulthood.
Lifestyle
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MATT PRESTON, 57
DELICIOUS. COLUMNIST AND FOOD IDENTITY
“September 1, 2000. 11.34am. That was the exact moment that I felt I had finally become an adult.
First house, first car, first kiss, first beer — these were all just milestones on the road to that point.
For me, becoming an adult was when I finally had to take total responsibility for somebody else. For the previous 30-plus years, I’d pretty much done what and gone where I wanted. But suddenly everything had changed. My role was clear. It wasn’t selfishly all about me anymore (writing this is, in itself, an admission I wasn’t always the best boyfriend. Sorry all!).
My first son Jonathan (above) had been born on August 28 — during a particularly good episode of Friends my epidural-happy wife Emma remembers — and the momentousness of that event only kicked in when, four days later, we fumbled to strap the bassinet into the baby seat in the back of the family Commodore, and I turned the key in the ignition.
Suddenly, I was about to pull out into traffic with the lives of my newborn son and his mother in my hands. I hesitated. Looked back at him in all his gurgling, pale pink, fleshy, swaddled glory and across at Emma with the knowledge that as soon as I eased down on the accelerator, we were heading away from the safety and constant reassurance of the amazing staff at St Vincent’s and heading back home to be new parents, deep in unfamiliar woods.
I had to step up. Had I strapped him in right? Was the fridge filled with everything Emma had been missing during the pregnancy? (Soft cheese and sushi was high on that list). What if we crashed? What if? What if? What if?
Nineteen years later and that tiny little bundle is 194cm tall and I still feel trepidation for him and his siblings every time they face some new adventure or challenge.
While my feelings of responsibility have not quietened, I now know that being an adult is allowing — as safely as possible — for them to also face and achieve those milestones on their own. If being an adult was initially all about those instant feelings of care and protection, now it is as much about learning to let go — at least a little bit.”
SARAH MORRISON, 29
ACTOR, CURRENTLY IN HIT MUSICAL COME FROM AWAY
“After graduating high school at 17, I started taking the usual steps of becoming an adult — ticking boxes like getting my driver’s licence, falling in love, moving interstate and attaining a bachelor’s degree. The next step was taking my first overseas trip with a boy to Japan. Then, the proverbial hit the fan and he left. I was alone. The day he left Japan (“Bye, doll”) I travelled — in and out of fits of tears — a couple of hours from downtown Kyoto to a traditional Japanese onsen in the hills of Kurama (above). I had travelled alone before but this felt very different.
I felt scared, alone, small, invisible and vulnerable. It was painful but also spectacular. Moments like these remind me that I am enough, exactly as I am.
Shortly after I returned to Australia to play the lead role in (stage production) Ladies in Black, I embraced being single and ‘alone’. Playing a role like Lisa Miles in a truly feminist piece was a gift and it was the gateway to my own beginnings as an intersectional feminist.
I was drawn to feminist literature and eager to talk about it with my friends and family. I was surprised how little I understood of it considering I had attended an all girls’ secondary school.
I still don’t know if I’m a ‘real’ adult. I’ve spent most of my time in the past five years playing a 17 and 20-year-old on stage, keeping me very connected to a younger version of myself. After catching a nasty flu last month,
I was reminded how I will forever want my Mum or Dad when I feel poorly and I don’t think that ever changes, no matter how grown up you are.”
JANINE ALLIS, 54
BUSINESSWOMAN, SHARK TANK MENTOR AND AUSTRALIAN SURVIVOR CONTESTANT
“The first time I thought I was an adult — which is the same as everyone — was the age of 17. I thought I knew everything. I was wise while my parents didn’t have a clue and were so uncool (well, I thought at the time anyway).
Life teaches you pretty quickly that 17 is not the age when you grow up.
The next time I thought I was an adult was when I was 21. I put a backpack on and headed overseas (above). This was the first time I’d left home and I was on my own. I told my mum that I was leaving for three months — I returned seven years later with a two-year-old.
During that time, aged 24, I bought my first house in France and signed that very scary loan document. At 25, I had my first child and I knew that even if I didn’t want to, it was time to be a grown-up.
I believe we relate growing up with responsibility. It’s only when you truly grow up that you realise there’s no such thing. Ross Clarke-Jones, the big wave surfer, taught me on Survivor this year that you never have to grow up. Now in my 50s, I could have thought that I’m a grown-up — but grown-ups don’t sleep in the dirt on a Fijian island and do scary challenges.
You’re really only as young as you think, and I’m going to be that grey-haired lady who has a surfboard under her arm and who wants to continue to challenge myself physically, mentally and spiritually until my last breath. So, I’m not sure what I’m going to be when I grow up, because I’m never going to actually grow up. I never want to lose the spirit of the child as it allows us to have the freedom and fun that only the child can have.”
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TOMMY LITTLE, 34
COMEDIAN, CO-HOST OF FOX FM’S CARRIE & TOMMY AND THE PROJECT PRESENTER
I spent my childhood explaining ‘young people’ things to my parents. Like what Tazos are, how to keep Tamagotchis alive and how everyone at school will notice when I rock up wearing stud-up pants from the Queen Vic Market that have two stripes when authentic Adidas ones have three — which everyone else has, Mum!
So it was a real shock to me when Dad and I were walking through the city and he pointed to some young people and asked, ‘What are they doing, Tommo?’
I confidently turned, ready to explain, only to see a group of kids jumping off ledges and tumbling on the ground in three-stripe Adidas trackies. I was stumped. Not only did I not know what they were doing but I thought to myself, ‘They look ridiculous’ and shook my head with disapproval. The best explanation I could offer was: ‘They must’ve lost their skateboard and now they’re looking for it … athletically’.
I’ve since found out they were doing parkour, which is essentially an uncoordinated version of gymnastics, performed in the street, for kids who can’t afford better toys. For me, that was the moment that I realised I was no longer young. It was the first time that ‘the youth’ were doing something I didn’t understand and couldn’t explain. And if you find yourself reading this and asking yourself ‘What’s parkour?’, then I’m really sorry, but you’re a grown-up now, too.”
ANNIE JONES, 52
ACTOR, CURRENTLY STARRING IN CHANNEL 7’S SECRET BRIDESMAIDS’ BUSINESS
“My parents spoke fluent Hungarian but had limited English, so it was my responsibility from a very young age to help with translating whatever paperwork came their way — from bills and insurance to tax. It meant that, as a child, I was already quite accustomed to dealing with, and understanding, what needed to be done in an adult world.
I got my driver’s licence at 16, as you did in South Australia, and as a result felt very adult at that time. Although the term adult, I’m guessing, means being responsible for yourself, which is something I’ve been doing since leaving home and moving interstate at 18.
I put my purple Holden Gemini on the train from Adelaide and moved to Melbourne after deciding I wanted to be an actor. I lived in a share house with friends, only to get a job soon after on Sons and Daughters for six months, which was made in Sydney, and so off I went again, with my car on the train (because I was sure it wouldn’t make it if I tried to drive all that way) to Sydney.
The production put me up in a hotel for the first month and then I was on my own. Finding a flat, buying furniture, organising the phone, gas and electricity to be connected, learning how to shop and cook for myself — it all felt like very adult things to be doing. I got married at 22, and we are still blissfully together.
But I suppose the time that I truly felt like I had become an adult was while organising my parents’ funerals in my 40s. The realisation that I was no longer someone’s child anymore hit hard. I’ve been a proper adult ever since — or perhaps all along — but always young at heart.”