For the first time in 17 years, Kiwi star Ellie Smith is returning to New Zealand theatre. Her solo show, Life on a Loop, is fresh from a sell-out season in London. Written by and starring Smith, 75, the play was inspired by her experiences of singing in rest homes in southern England. The award-winning actor’s career spans pioneering local TV, theatre roles in the UK in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Chicago, UK television appearances, and leadership and starring roles in Wellington and Auckland theatres.
What is your earliest memory?
An awful time. I was coming down our street from school, I must have been about 6, and the doctor’s car was parked outside our house. I ran so fast, terrified my mother was ill. Which she was. I suppose that’s why it’s stayed with me.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything specifically. From the age of 10 or 11, all I wanted was to be an actress. Luckily for me, a teacher at my school, Judy Treloar, was a brilliant actress and took an interest in me. She became an incredible mentor.
When were you happiest?
When I learnt I was pregnant with my daughter, Madison. I was 40 and had never imagined having a child. The happiest bit was after the actual birth experience. It just got better.
What makes you unhappy?
Missing friends. So many of my dearest friends live in New Zealand and I miss them every day. I’ve known them for more than 40 years, been back in London off and on for 20, but still regard them as the best people on the planet.
What’s your greatest fear?
Drowning.
What trait in yourself do you least like?
Impatience. I think I managed it better than when I was young, but I still watch people who can stay calm in waiting and I envy them so much.
What trait in others do you least like?
Meanness in spirit and action, having no understanding of generosity in all things.
What characteristics do you most value in your friends?
Humour, kindness, loyalty. All of those qualities are there in my most-treasured friends.
When is it okay to lie?
I don’t like people who lie, but I guess if it means hurting someone less or saving them from embarrassment or humiliation then it’s excusable.
Apart from any property, what’s the most expensive thing you have bought?
When I was in New York for my birthday one December decades ago, it was cold like I’d never experienced so I bought a really good coat. I had to sell my old car to pay for it when I got home. I still have the coat, though it’s in the loft and could be full of privileged moths.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?
In the 1980s when Aids was devastating lives, there were many people trying to find all kinds of ways of helping. I performed several concerts to raise money for organisations doing the real work.
What is your most-treasured possession?
A stunningly beautiful, totally handmade quilt my mother made for my 50th birthday. It took her about a year and every time I look at it, I am amazed. It’s huge, all white and every stitch made with love.
Heroes and villans
What is the last book you read?
Juice, by Tim Winton. A terrifying read.
Who are your favourite writers?
Toni Morrison, Hilary Mantel, Colm Tóibín and Margaret Atwood.
What book do you recommend?
The Mirror and the Light by Mantel. I’ve read this book twice and am in awe of the years of research Mantel did, the huge cast of characters she created and the giant scope of the work. A truly wonderful novel. What a loss to the world of literature her death was.
The title of your autobiography would be …
Where Was I?
What words or phrases do you over use?
You know what I mean?
What is your favourite word?
Daughter.
Do you have a quote you live by?
From Ulysses, by James Joyce:
But it’s no use, says he. Force, hatred, history, all that. That’s not life for men and women, insult and hatred. And everybody knows that it’s the very opposite of that that is really life. What? says Alf. Love, says Bloom.
Seen & heard
What is your favourite museum/art gallery?
The National Portrait Gallery, London. It is such a buzzing place, architecturally stunning and although it’s always full of young and old people, it has a feeling of serenity. The constantly changing portraits are phenomenal.
What is the artwork you could look at endlessly?
Automat by Edward Hopper. Well, anything by Edward Hopper, but this painting has so many stories to imagine. At first look, I thought it was incredibly sad, a portrait of a desperately lonely woman, but now I see expectation and the possibility of love. I can keep changing the story forever.
What is your favourite film?
Breaking the Waves, by Lars von Trier. A desperately depressing film but with performances I can only aspire to. This film still has a profound effect on me.
If a movie was made of your life, which song would be played over the end credits?
The Party’s Over, sung by Elaine Stritch. She was one of the funniest actor/singers ever and could break your heart. The words of the song were changed for her one-woman show, At Liberty, and they just feel right to me: “Now you must wake up, all dreams must end, take off your make-up. The party’s over, it’s all over. Thank god, my friends.”
What has been your most enjoyable live music show?
My friends and I hadn’t been able to get tickets to the opera house in Madrid where Plácido Domingo was performing, so we sat with others in the gardens outside to watch the performance on screens. At the curtain call, Domingo came out on to the balcony and sang just for us for about 15 minutes. It was so thrilling and generous.
What are your favourite music genres?
Jazz, baroque and Stephen Sondheim, who should be a genre in his own right. A genius who understood and wrote songs for women like no other writer in the history of musical theatre.
What song always gets you dancing?
Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Queen).
What is a streaming series/TV show you recommend?
Peaky Blinders. It blew TV drama wide open. A new kind of hero, breathtaking violence, and a soundtrack and costumes that developed a whole new culture.
If you weren’t an actor what would you be doing instead?
I’d be Shirley Valentine. Running a bar in a Greek village on the most beautiful island I could find.
Skills and thrills
Where is your favourite place in New Zealand?
Wellington. There is a soul in that city that I have never found anywhere else.
What is your favourite place outside Aotearoa?
London. For me, those famous words of Samuel Pepys are the reason: “There is in London all that life can afford.”
What can’t you resist on a restaurant menu?
Pasta, pesto and rocket salad.
What is your guilty pleasure?
More than one vodka martini.
Ellie Smith performs her show Life on a Loop at Q Theatre, Auckland, November 11-16. See Qtheatre.co.nz