Kate Box has been part of many Australian small-screen favourites – Rake, Wentworth and this year’s homegrown TV hit Deadloch among them. Her latest gig is the lead role in an episode of the SBS anthology series Erotic Stories, which sees her character dive into the brave new world of dating app hook-ups after a divorce.
Whatever the project, the Nida graduate has a somewhat retro way of learning her lines. While her colleagues may be going digital, she stubbornly sticks to printed-out pages and a packet of highlighters. Here, she tells us why she will never relinquish that method, as well as sharing the story of two other sentimental possessions.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
My dad is a really beautiful artist. He’d balk at the suggestion he was an artist at all but he has no right of reply here, so there it is. His wit also ranks high on the dad humour-meter. When we were kids, my sister, Sal, and I were given hand-drawn birthday cards with some brilliant sketch and some lame joke. They were very loved.
During the first lockdown he started sending my kids sketches. The wild joy of a letter addressed to them arriving in our letterbox. Sketches of our cats wearing masks, Bluey and Bingo washing their paws, the babies dressed up as their favourite superheroes, fruit and vegetables with attitude. The walls of their bedroom are now papered in his humour and his heart. I’d grab these if I had the chance.
My most useful object
Highlighters. All the colours. I’m a luddite – I don’t own a computer, I’m unable to make peace with the Google calendar, my email account is still Hotmail.
I’m also incapable of absorbing information without it being written down and lit up. My scripts are held in my hand, doused in fluorescent hues and marked illegibly. Time and time again, I’ve been pep-talked into the world of iPad script notation programs but I just can’t seem to make the move. Or get the iPad off my kids. So I highlight.
I highlight my lines, I highlight our ridiculous work/life calendar, my babies highlight their nails. I live within walking distance of an Officeworks.
The item I most regret losing
My mum’s voice messages. Mum passed away a couple of years ago. My heart left my body for a while there. She had a voice like a hug. I don’t know what happened to her messages. I went to check my phone one day and they were gone – all bar one. In it, she sings me happy Mother’s Day and reminds me that one day my kids will be old enough to bring me a cuppa in bed. She was pretty sick at this time and her voice was croaky but I can hear her smile. It’s had a pretty hefty rotation, this message. But the others? Yeah, I regret losing those.
Kate Box stars in SBS Original drama series Erotic Stories, available to stream on SBS On Demand now
