Jeanie Drynan: Where is the mum from Muriel’s Wedding today?

Jeanie Drynan rose to fame as Betty Heslop from 1994 hit film Muriel’s Wedding. In an exclusive interview, she opens up about the film’s lasting legacy.

Australian actor Jeanie Drynan has played many characters over her 56 years in the industry. But her role as downtrodden Betty Heslop from 1994 hit film Muriel’s Wedding is possibly the most beloved and well-known.

In this exclusive chat with Stellar, the LA-based actor discusses her recent return to this country, her comeback film with her screenwriter-director husband, and why the characters of Betty, Muriel and Rhonda are still so close to our hearts almost three decades later.

You won many fans across the world for your portrayal of Muriel’s mother Betty Heslop in 1994’s Muriel’s Wedding. It’s been 27 years since the film – what are your thoughts on it now?

[It was] a wonderful role. I came home to do it and just loved working with PJ Hogan and that brilliant cast. It meant a lot to me and all these years later, people will still stop me in the street and tell me why the film resonated with them.

Drynan with Toni Collette in Muriel’s Wedding.

Do you still see much of the cast?

Sometimes we cross paths; it’s fantastic when we do – I do love them.

You and your husband, Australian screenwriter-director Antony Bowman, live in LA and haven’t been home in quite a long time. Now you’re both here in the northern beaches of NSW. What was the two weeks of quarantine like?

It was actually very scary. After being tested constantly [up until] three days prior, we were really lucky to be able to get on to a flight back to Australia. We got on board to find everyone wearing huge protection masks. The plane was half empty.

We landed in Sydney, and were put on to a bus that Antony labelled “the prison bus”, where we sat for over an hour on the tarmac. When we finally started to move, Antony boldly asked where we were being taken, only to be told, “Sorry, can’t tell you, sir.”

“People STILL stop me in the street all these years later.” (Picture: Paul Suesse)

We ended up at the Marriott, which was fine, and were told in no uncertain terms we wouldn’t be able to leave our room at all for two weeks [otherwise] we’d have to start the 14 days all over again.

How did you cope with that?

No fresh air and a wave of claustrophobia. We soon came to the harsh reality that we couldn’t leave this small, sealed room for two weeks. In the end the hotel was OK and very efficient, with a nurse checking up on us every day. The food was ordinary so we lived on croissants and coffee. Oh, and wine!

It truly made us realise more than ever how lucky we were to have each other. I can’t imagine going through that alone.

Jeanie Drynan and husband Antony Bowman at their home in Sydney. (Picture: Paul Suesse)

How is the rest of your family?

We’ve recently welcomed into the world our first grandchild, Leo. He’s just eight months. We have one beautiful daughter, Ella, and a marvellous son-in-law, Adam. They live in LA so obviously we’re missing them all terribly. But we FaceTime regularly so it’s all good.

Antony has an amazing mum who, would you believe, is 99 years old yet acts and looks like she’s in her 70s. She’s an artist and still lives on her own in her apartment [in Sydney].

You’re back in the country thanks to a film script your husband has written especially for you called Arrivederci, which you’re set to shoot in rural NSW and Europe this year. How did the film come about?

I said to Antony that I wanted so much to go back to Italy and home [to Australia], so please write me a movie where I can do both. So he did!

Jeanie Drynan features in this Sunday’s Stellar.

So what’s this comeback film all about?

[The title] is Italian for “goodbye”. It’s dramatic, for sure, but it’s not depressing. [Drynan plays a farmer’s wife who loses her husband, and after refusing her children’s plan to move her into a retirement home, she embarks on a life-changing trip to Europe, where she meets an Italian opera singer, played by Isabella Rossellini.] It’s uplifting and fabulous. Best of all, I’m playing opposite a genuine movie legend.

Not only does this movie bring us back to our spiritual home, it’s a dream come true for Ant and I to work together again [Bowman will direct their fourth film together, following Relatives (1984); Cappuccino (1989) and Paperback Hero (1999) with Hugh Jackman and Claudia Karvan] and to work with the incredible Isabella.

We went to meet her in New York to see if she’d be part of this. Well, she totally connected with the script and couldn’t wait to be part of it. I’m more excited about this project than any other in my career.

So it’s fair to say you and your husband enjoy working together?

We love working together and love each other’s company. We met on the set of a TV show called Chopper Squad [in 1978]. He was the first assistant director, I was the actress. We’re inseparable. It’s been that way ever since.

Originally published as Jeanie Drynan: Where is the mum from Muriel’s Wedding today?