australian television information archive

Bridie stays put

THE good news for McLeod's Daughters fans is that Bridie Carter is going nowhere.

While co-star Lisa Chappell is saying goodbye to Claire McLeod, and leaving the show's production base in South Australia so she can spend more time with her husband in Sydney, Carter is firmly entrenched in the role of Tess.

However, she confesses that life away from her home state of NSW can be physically and emotionally taxing.

The actor, who graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1994, spends most of her spare time in Byron Bay, trying to build her dream home with fiance, clothes designer Michael Wilson.

Carter and Wilson have been long-time acquaintances, but love blossomed two years ago when Carter was on holiday in Byron.

Carter, who recently accepted Wilson's marriage proposal, says commuting between Adelaide and Byron Bay can be tough.

"But this is one of the realities you take on when you decide to become an actor," she says.

"You have no choice but to travel where the work is. There is no question this is a hard job, but I love it and I wouldn't want to try to put a time on how long I'll stay.

"I'd be mad to walk away from a job while I find it so challenging."

Carter and her fiance try to catch up every weekend. If she can't travel to Byron Bay, he'll get to Adelaide.

The longer she's on McLeod's Daughters, Carter says, the more she loves playing Tess. While both actor and character are independent, can adapt to new surroundings and are endlessly resourceful, they are poles apart emotionally.

Tess, born at Drovers Run to her father's second wife Ruth, is the product of a doomed relationship.

Carter explains: "Both Tess's parents are dead. She never knew her father. People leave her and die. Tess is not very good when it comes to intimacy… she's terrified of it."

• McLeod's Daughters, Nine, Wednesday, 7.30pm

By Darren Devlyn
May 22, 2003
The Courier Mail