Jackie Weaver on Holy Days, Hollywood and the Joy of Following the Unexpected 

In Nat Boltt’s feature directorial debut Holy Days, Jackie Weaver joins Judy Davis and Miriam Margolyes as three unconventional nuns who help a grieving young boy on an unlikely journey across New Zealand. Ahead of the film’s Australian release, Weaver talks to The Hollywood Reporter Australia’s Sean Sennett about first-time filmmakers, Hollywood, music and a career that’s taken her further than she ever imagined.

Congratulations on Holy Days. I really enjoyed it.

Oh, did you? That’s nice. It did really well in New Zealand, which is understandable because it’s such a New Zealand film.

I actually watched this one. I don’t watch everything I’m in by a long shot, but I watched this because I thought the little boy (Elijah Tamati) was so sweet. I found it very heartrending and also heartwarming.

The scene you share with him on the beach really stayed with me.

Oh, Sean, thank you. Isn’t he adorable? He’s so good. Really impressive.

The film feels incredibly authentic. It transported me back to 1974.

Especially the clothes… and the mores. It was a very authentic recreation of the seventies. One thing I thought the film did beautifully was show the grief of a child who’s lost a parent. That’s something that can affect someone for the rest of their life.

I thought they portrayed that little boy’s grief so well—not just in the writing but in his performance. The longing for his dead mother… and the adults not really knowing how to deal with it.

There’s no blueprint, is there?

No, sadly. There isn’t. What drew you to the project?

Natalie Bolt.

She’d spent ten years trying to get the film made. Independent films take forever to finance and it reminded me of David Michôd spending ten years trying to get Animal Kingdom made.

Then I met Natalie and just adored her. She’s the most endearingly upbeat, cheerful woman, but she’s also searingly intelligent.

She’s a performer herself. She wrote the script, optioned the book and had already directed television.

I love first-time directors. Sometimes they don’t quite know what they’re doing, but mostly they’re so enthusiastic that you just want to help them make the film they’re dreaming about.

Did the fact she was an actor help?

Absolutely.

Actors who’ve directed understand how vulnerable acting can be. Natalie trusted us. She was open to ideas and that always makes for a richer experience. She’d been on the other side.

And what about the rest of the cast?

I already knew Miriam Margolyes quite well because she has a house in Australia. I honestly thought she was going to buy one in New Zealand while we were there because she completely fell in love with the place. It’s magical.

Natalie had lived there for years, so she understood the culture completely and I think all of that found its way into the film.

When the movie opens here in Perth, we thought we might do a little Q&A afterwards. We might only get two people asking questions …but that’s all right.

Speaking of Q&As… I’m digressing now…

I went to a screening of the Bruce Springsteen documentary at the Academy Museum about eighteen months ago. My husband and I loved it. Afterwards there was a Q&A.

The interviewer was very good, but he asked one of those incredibly long questions. You know the sort. On Q&A, Tony Jones would’ve said, “I’ll take that as a comment.”

Bruce just looked at him for a moment and finally said, “How the fuck would I know?”

I thought, We’ve all been asked questions we have no idea how to answer, and we’d all love to say that… but none of us ever do.

It was such a joyful thing to hear Bruce Springsteen say it.

That’s fantastic. I remember asking Bruce years ago what Australian films he enjoyed. Without hesitating he said, “You’ve got to watch Animal Kingdom”.

Oh, did he? How fantastic! That’s made my day. I’ve loved Bruce forever. I’ve been in love with him since the seventies. I would’ve married him if he’d asked.

What sort of music were you listening to growing up?

Oh, the usual stuff from my era.The Beatles. The Stones. I saw David Bowie perform Ziggy Stardust at the Rainbow Theatre in London in 1972.

I saw The Beatles at Sydney Stadium. I saw Bob Dylan after he’d gone electric. People were furious, but I loved him. I’ve also seen The Rolling Stones many times and I’ve actually met Mick.

And… a girlfriend of mine slept with John Lennon.

Jenny Kee?

Yes. She’s very proud of it. She doesn’t mind anyone knowing.

I’ve heard you’re about to start work on The Rockford Files.

Yes. It’s not a film—it’s a reboot of the television series. We shot the pilot in Atlanta and now it’s been picked up. We’re hoping to make eighteen or twenty episodes.

We’re all hoping we can shoot it in California because it’s such a Californian show. It’s set around Malibu and we all live there.

Does it ever strike you how extraordinary your career has been? One day you’re working on Matlock Police …the next you’re attending the Academy Awards.

I never expected any of it. America was never part of the plan. My generation didn’t head to Hollywood. I was very happy with my career in Australia.

I didn’t make that many films, but I’ve appeared in more than seventy plays.

Theatre was really my life. Then… everything changed.

Would you ever move back to Australia permanently?

I still have my apartment in Sydney. I adore Melbourne. And I love Brisbane. I call Brisbane “the fragrant city.” It always smells beautiful at night.

But at the moment we’ve got two little special-needs dogs who probably wouldn’t survive the trip, so we’re staying where we are.

I wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about Derryn Hinch. (They married in 1983, divorced in 1996, remarried in 1997, and divorced again in 1998).

Thank you. It’s a long time since we were together, but we still texted each other quite often. In fact, he texted me not long before he died. I really thought he had another five years. He was planning his eighty-fifth birthday.

And Sam Neill.

That was tragic. Gregor Jordan had actually sent me a script that Sam and I were meant to do together. I suppose that won’t happen now. I didn’t know Sam particularly well…but he was an absolute sweetheart.

Jackie, it’s been a pleasure.

I’ve really enjoyed talking to you.

Holy Days is streaming now.