Noni Hazlehurst Playing By Heart
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|October 2018

Actress Noni Hazlehurst chats with SusanHorsburgh about sexual harassment in the 70s, empty nest syndrome, the joys of being single and finding the humanity in every character.

Noni Hazlehurst Playing By Heart

Noni Hazlehurst stands amid racks of exquisite 1950s cocktail dresses and lets her character’s stern façade crumble, distilling a lifetime of unrealised longing into a look and a few heartfelt words. Finding the heart in any character, no matter how prickly, is what Noni does best. This time, it is in Bruce Beresford’s new film, Ladies in Black, which is set in the summer of 195960, when post-war migrants were belittled as “reffos” and women hung on the approval of thoughtless husbands.

For Noni, who has spent the last six years immersed in the same era as formidable matriarch Elizabeth Bligh/ Goddard, in A Place to Call Home, it was the still-relevant themes of bigotry and sexism that drew her to the film.

We are moving forward on the equality front, she feels, but progress has been glacial “and the backlash has become even more vicious as some men seem to fearfully cling to their perceived superiority”, she says. “It just seems so ludicrous to me that we are still fighting for equality and that it is perceived as some kind of threat.”

Still, the current fight against sexual harassment was inconceivable in the 1970s, when Noni was starting out in show business. Looking back, she says, her sheltered “Enid Blyton upbringing” left her ill-equipped to combat the predatory behaviour of the time. “I was the quintessential young blonde,” recalls Noni. “I got locked in a dressing room and had to sort of scream my way out – things like that. There were auditions that I was told to come to in a bikini, which I didn’t.”

More than 40 years on, Noni is one of Australia’s most respected actors, with a CV that spans theatre, film and television. Cate Blanchett calls her “a national treasure”, while Bruce Beresford describes her as “probably one of the best actresses there is”.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2018 من Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2018 من Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZ مشاهدة الكل
PRETTY WOMAN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

PRETTY WOMAN

Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
Hitting a nerve
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
The unseen Rovals
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The unseen Rovals

Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
Great read
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Great read

In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.

time-read
2 mins  |
July 2024
Winter dinner winners
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
3 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE

Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START

Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024