The Australian Women\'s Weekly - June 2018

82 The Australian Women’s Weekly | JUNE 2018

Celeb

HAIR AND MAKE-UP BY JULIE PROVIS. LISA WEARS LEE MATHEWS TOP AND KATE SYLVESTERSKIRT. SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS MELBOURNE.

L

isa McCune is tucked away in a

cosy corner booth, sipping a latte

in a bustling coffee shop on the

edge of Melbourne’s picturesque

Royal Botanic Gardens, savouring

a rare moment of quiet in between

juggling rehearsals for a new play and

the demands of teenagers currently on

school holidays.

Heads turn ever so subtly as patrons

recognise the familiar face in their midst,

but Lisa is oblivious to the fuss as she

chats enthusiastically about the joys of

spending much of the last year largely

out of the limelight.

“I had a year of self-imposed retirement,

my own gap year!” she grins. “I spent

my time doing very ‘Nana-ish’ things

After time away from the spotlight, Australia's

golden girl of the stage and screen is back

brighter and braver than before. And, as

she tellsSue Smethurst, she’s making no

apologies for how she chooses to live her life.

like learning how to bake bread, reading

books, I’ve cleaned out my cupboards,

managed basketball teams and fallen in

love with gardening,” she says, beaming

broadly as she describes a late summer

bloom of hellebores and stephanotis

that have brought her garden to life.

“I’m happily erring on the side of

becoming a recluse! I’m even reading

books about reclusive people,” she

jokes, “stuck in my garden conversing

with the plants and birds and I loved it,

I couldn’t be happier, I’ve been doing

all of the things that I’ve wanted to

do for a long time and not had time.

It was heaven.”

After a year of taking life relatively

slowly by her standards, the much-

loved actor is about to return to the

spotlight again, taking on two leading

roles in the Melbourne Theatre

Company’s performance of the

Broadway hit Gloria.

Gloria, which was nominated for a

Pulitzer Prize after its debut in 2016,

is a very dark comedy with scenes of

graphic mass murder, set inside the

toxic ofice of a high paced Manhattan

magazine; it has been described as

“jaw-dropping”.

“It will challenge the audience,”

Lisa says.“It’s violent and confronting

and at the end of the irst act, I’m not

sure if anyone will move from their

seats. I probably won’t be taking the

kids along to see this one.” →

brity

“I’ll live

my life

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PHOTOGRAPHY by ALANA LANDSBERRY • STYLING by BIANCA LANE

Lisa

McCune

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