Aussies in Hollywood

Cinematographer Dean Semler is one Australia's greatest exports to Hollywood. From 'Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior' to 'Waterworld', 'Dances with Wolves', 'Maleficent' and 'Apocalypto,' Academy Award winning Dean is a true master of his craft. Jenny Cooney sits down with Dean to celebrate his career; from humble beginnings in regional South Australia to riding in Learjets, becoming best friends with Hollywood's finest and going back to his roots to share the learnings. Dean's story is about seizing the opportunities as they present, always being up for the next challenge and having a great time along the way.

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Actor Teresa Palmer looks back on her first years in Hollywood coming from Adelaide at only 19 years of age. She's had a lot of false starts that felt like one step forward, two steps back but now she's finally hitting her stride with roles in Mel Gibson's Oscar-nominated "Hacksaw Ridge" and "Berlin Syndrome". Jenny Cooney catches up with Teresa to talk about how all of the struggles helped shape her to be in the best place of her life; working on projects she loves, having the family she always wanted and squeezing in lots of side projects, with a little help from Jenny herself.

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Luke Davies is a poet, novelist and screenwriter who is a later starter to Hollywood. After a career spanning over 20 years as a writer, he is now making it in Hollywood with an Academy Award nomination in 2017 for Best Adapted Screenplay for 'Lion' and more work to follow. Jenny Cooney speaks to Luke about his past battles with drug addiction; the road to Hollywood and how his recent success is guiding his next steps.

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Jenny Cooney was the journalist who outed actor LaPaglia as an Aussie from Adelaide, not the American he purported to be. Prior to that, LaPaglia had been attending auditions pretending to be a New Yorker. Regardless, Jenny and Anthony have continued to be great friends for over 30 years. In a very honest, open and rare chat, Anthony reveals how he missed on the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO blockbuster 'The Sopranos', how the TV show 'Without A Trace' ended up being a very unexpected hit with a very unexpected ending, and how hard work and good work has kept him grounded through the ups and downs of Hollywood.

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The star of the Netflix breakout hit for 2017 '13 Reasons Why' has had a rapid rise from studying acting in Perth to a Skype audition for a new show yet to go into production, to scrambling to quickly get a working visa in time. Jenny Cooney speaks to Katherine about learning the craft of acting growing up in Perth, her connection to the Ledger family and how she intends to approach her work from here.

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Yvonne landed her first gig 3 days after landing in Hollywood on the NBC show 'Chuck', but that meant she was never sure when the work was going to end. Yvonne tells Jenny Cooney about living her early Hollywood years out of a suitcase, her TV and movie work with Keifer Sutherland & Robert De Niro, her desire to keep pushing herself with challenging work, and about her latest work on Hulu's highly acclaimed 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

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From Geelong theatre to Muriel's Wedding to new world of TV drama, Rachel Griffiths has made her place in both Hollywood and Aussie drama. Rachel tells Jenny about her steps from stage to big screen to TV, her near death experience giving birth to her third child while also working on 'Brothers & Sisters', and how she manages her new working life between the US and Australia.

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