Susie Porter talks about ‘Puberty Blues’

Puberty Blues is more than a work of fiction. Released in 1979, and read by Australians in their thousands either as part of the school curriculum or at home, the book was an real eye opener in its day. Not to mention anyone who remembers the movie version in 1983, most will recall the controversy at the time. It was a glimpse into a world of what it meant to be accepted as a teenager in a beachside suburb.

But those times have changed, and in TV everything old is new again. So comes to our big screens a new series of Puberty Blues, with a stellar cast, and content that is as relevant today as it was back in the 1970’s. The show follows the lives of two 13-year-old girls from the lower middle class Sutherland Shire in Sydney.  The girls attempt to create a popular social status by integrating themselves with the "Greenhill gang" of surfers.

Set in 1979, the makers of this new reboot plan to stay true to the original novel’s themes of acceptance, pressure and teenage angst. The cast includes Claudia Karvan (The Secret Life of Us), Dan Wyllie (Animal Kingdom), and Rodger Corser (Underbelly). Playing the mother of one of the lead characters is Susie Porter, one of the hardest working actresses in the country.

Fresh from her stint on Ten’s ‘Bikie Wars’, Susie Porter is enjoying revisiting the 1970s and spoke to CityWest's Darren Hallesy from the set of the show being filmed in New South Wales.

Porter is best known for her work in RAN, East West 101 and numerous Aussie films like Two Hands, Mullet and Idiot Box. But its ‘Bikie Wars’ that has put Porter back on our screens in a big way. “I'm not surprised by the success of ‘Bikie Wars’, if I wasn’t in it I would have watched it anyway, and when you’re making it you never know how any show is going to be accepted.

“I've done so much work on ABC and SBS that I've learnt to not worry about ratings, but in saying that it was nice to be involved in a really big show. I had worked with the director on East West 101, so it was easy for me to get involved in Bikie Wars,” Porter said.

Her involvement in Puberty Blues was also an easy decision, with John Edwards and Imogen Banks at the helm, the people responsible for Offspring, Love My Way and The Secret Life of Us, joining the production was a no-brainer for Susie. “You could easily do a dodgy remake of Puberty Blues, but when I heard John and Imogen were involved I was all over it. The quality of the work that they produce is amazing, and that was the reason I had no hesitation in joining the show. “TV has definitely gone through a renaissance in this country, just like America has in the last few years. TV is now so good, while movies seem to be stuck in remakes of bad 1980's movies.

"I think more people are staying in and watching TV together more now than they are going to the cinema. “You only have to look at Packed To The Rafters, Offspring or Underbelly...these are shows that have made people stay in for a reason. I know that the attitude is that Aussies don’t go to see home grown movies any more, but they are out there.

“For me right now, the majority of work for me is coming from TV, not cinema. It seemed a few years ago you were either a TV or a movie actor, now there's no difference.” So how does the forty year one old feel about going back to the 1970’s which has been meticulously recreated for the show? I was born in 1971, so I was only eight when this is set, just a little before my time but I still remember lots of things. Its funny being on set and we are in this fantastic 1970's house, with a sunken lounge room.

“It just reminds me of the sun soaked kitchens of my childhood, it has really taken me back to when i was little. All the stories in Puberty Blues are universal, its the same for kids of any era. Its about coming of age, the pressures of smoking, trying alcohol, sex...all these things that normal teenagers do are the same. But back then there was no internet or social media, and I’m so glad I’m not a teenager today, I wouldn’t get anything done. I’m glad I grew up when I did.

“The gap between 1979 and 2012 is just massive. I still think that I need to go to the library and get a book out if I want to read it, its a habit I never got out of. I’m not in that ‘I’ll download it instantly’ mentality yet. I think that there was an innocence in that time. We seem to know more today because of things we see online, but honestly I am convinced life was much simpler in the 1970’s

 “When you talked to a friend, you actually met them and talked. Or things like going to the bank on a Friday to get your cheque cashed. I don’t want to sound cynical but the influence of the Kardashians for example with their brand names and big handbags, I find strange. It was an era which was so far removed from all those external influences. When I'm filming I think the combination of the wardrobe and what the art department has done is pretty amazing, so it just comes naturally putting yourself in that period.”

Porter remembers being a teen in the 1980’s, and feels no different about her time as teenager those depicted in the show.  “I think again, it’s a universal theme. We all remember getting up to mischief and hiding it from our parents, and that still resonates today. I’m not sure if there will be the same controversy as 1983 when the film came out, as most parents (lets be honest), don't know what their kids are up to.

“I wasn’t into drugs, I didn't shoplift but I smoked and went out, and my parents smoked so it wasn't such a big deal for me. I guess in 2012, this show will either take parents back to that era and recapture their youth which was a really difficult time for most people as a teen, or it will scare the pants off parents. The cast is pretty amazing with this show. Just to work with Dan Wyllie again was great, we did a play together last year, and he's one of the funniest human beings I've ever met. We did a production of ‘Summer of the Seventeenth Doll’. I love theatre, I really do, but I've been getting a bit nervous doing shows in front of a live audience.

“I'd like to do more live theatre, but I am particular in what play or what character to play. It does make you work harder, you have to hone your skills and you get paid alot less, but its not about the money. You are doing it out of love in many ways, and yet you work so much harder.”

Puberty Blues begins Wednesday August 15 on Network Ten.