A Quick Chat With Genevieve Lemon

We catch up with the indomitable Genevieve Lemon, who joined the cast of The Mousetrap for its highly anticipated return Sydney season this month.

Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon

Most recently seen on stage in Belvoir St. Theatre’s production of Death of a Salesman, Lemon is well known for her portrayal of gritty dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson in the Australian and UK productions of Billy Elliot the Musical.

She is currently starring in the return Sydney season of The Mousetrap as the disagreeable Mrs. Boyle.

Agatha Christie’s iconic play The Moustetrap will transfer to Brisbane next and has been extended by one week thanks to a strong advance on ticket sales.

We Sit down for A Quick Chat with Genevieve…

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an actor-singer, or a vet. If you ask my 11 year-old now, she says exactly the same thing.

Who is the most important person in the world to you?

Well, my husband? My children? My Mum? The Queen? They’re all important in their own ways…

What animal best represents you and why?

The Japanese crane, that only does its very complicated dance on one day of the year. Don’t miss it when I do mine!

If you were a contestant on Deal or No Deal, how much would you need to be on offer before you walked away?

I don’t get DOND. Really, don’t get it. I would play any game in preference. Any game.

I love games. All games. Except DOND. So you wouldn’t have to pay me that much to walk away.

What was the first piece of theatre/film/TV you ever appeared in and how old were you? 

We did a play at school called The Devil and The Dog. Lord knows what that one was about. But I think it was written in a Dorset kind of dialect. I, however, went with Ellie Mae Clampett. I remember my first line too. It was (calling:) Yes, Fred?

I was 9.

Also used to trot out Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport at school functions at the drop of a hat. Poor teachers. Poor students.

Windows or MAC? 

Neither. Give me a home among the gum trees. Oh all right then, my iPad. And my iPod. That is all.

Favourite food? 

Sushi, spinach, chocolate, cheese. And Robert Alexander’s raspberry cake.

Who is the actor you would most like to work alongside? 

Dustin Hoffmann. Or Holly Hunter and Elizabeth Moss. And Julia Zemira.

What would be the first five songs you put a mix tape? 

Something by Bonnie Raitt, something by Jennifer Warnes, Willie Nelson, Regina Spektor, Ricki Lee Jones. Oh and probably ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, by the Beatles.

What is the best thing about theatre in Australia?

The new people, and the old people. The new stuff, and the old stuff. Colin Friels in Death of a Salesman, and the cast of The Mousetrap, coming to Brisbane very soon. Can’t get much older than that. Or have more fun.

What’s the worst thing about theatre in Australia?

That there isn’t more of it. The double bind about theatre in Australia is we don’t have the biggest theatre-going population, to support the number of practitioners that we have. Consequently, it is an expensive exercise, which in turn rules out a large segment of our audiences. If only it were cheaper, so we could get more people to come!

Name one moment when you looked around, breathed happily and felt content.

My Opening night of Billy Elliot The Musical in London, 2010. A very good night.

Where is the most interesting place you have travelled?  

Majorca. In Autumn. Warm enough to swim on the coast, but lovely cold inland up the mountains. Beautiful.

Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?

The Queen. Yes, they don’t come much more famous than that. Bonnie Raitt, Annie Lennox, Elia Kazan, Juliette Binoche, Billy Connolly.

What’s your life motto?

Find the good. In every one, in every situation. The worst situations are always the best teachers.

What’s your favourite post-show snack?

Cheese and wine. And Ben and Jerry’s.

What’s your biggest phobia?

Having to be entertaining in a moving vehicle. (I get very bad motion sickness.)

What is the worst date you’ve ever had? 

The first one. My boyfriend’s sister and her husband made us steal heavy potplants from someone’s balcony. Romantic.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Doing more of the same. But with tap shoes.

For more information visit TheMousetrap.com.au

 

Erin James

Erin James is AussieTheatre.com's former Editor in Chief and a performer on both stage and screen. Credits include My Fair Lady, South Pacific and The King and I (Opera Australia), Love Never Dies and Cats (Really Useful Group), Blood Brothers (Enda Markey Presents), A Place To Call Home (Foxtel/Channel 7) and the feature film The Little Death (written and directed by Josh Lawson).

Erin James

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