Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982), Wednesday 30 July 1969, page 12


STARS IN DIANES EYES

. Diane Craig, the unknown drama student who got the role of Maggie in the film "Ned Kelly/' is taking her won-derful luck calmly - except for the stars in her eyes.

DIANE, 19, and deli-

cately beautiful, was a second-year student at the National Institute of

Dramatic Art, playing in "Hamlet" at the University of New South Wales, when she was asked to contact the

film company making "Ned Kelly."

Marianne Faithfull, who was to have played Maggie Kelly to Mick Jagger's Ned, had collapsed and been taken to hospital.

Shooting was well under way in the Bringend ireQueanbeyan area of N.S.W. when I met Diane at her Queanbeyan motel.

She had returned from a 12-hour stint on the set -a reconstruction of the Kelly homestead - about six miles

out of Bungendore, and had just had her hair washed and

set.

(Kate, Ned's other sister, is being played by petite, blonde Australian actress Susan Lloyd.)

Wearing a long, oldfashioned orange dress, draped with a red shawl, her long, fair hair falling loosely around her shoulders, Diane looked the part of Ned's pro-tective sister, Maggie.

She is Irish - she came

to Australia ten years ago

from Belfast.

"I still have to close my eyes every now and then to convince myself this is really happening," she said. "One minute just a student and

By GLORIA NEWTON

then all this. Unbelievable,

isn't it?"

How did it happen?

"Well, one day, before they started shooting, Mr.

Richardson watched rehearsals at NIDA and asked our principal if he would let me take a bit part in the film. But he was told it wasn't possible, I would miss too much of the term.

"I was disappointed. But then this happened, and, of course, I was allowed to take

it."

Diane told me they had been filming Ned Kelly's homecoming from prison that day. It had gone "mar-vellously."

"Mick Jagger is wonder-ful to work with. He is quiet, very polite, and a marvel-lous actor. With retakes he

spent a lot of time going up and down a hill, but he did it all like a trouper.

"He looks beautiful now his hair is shorter, and with the beard he is really very like Ned Kelly.

"Clarissa Kaye, who plays Ned's mother, was wonder-ful today.

"You see, this scene where Ned comes to the house, we see him first and shout and make a lot of noise. She calls to us to keep quiet, and, as she walks out she sees her son.

"Her meeting with him

was real emotion.

"Everyone who was watching it was moved. I think many felt like clap-ping."

No "roaring"

Diane said the experience of working for the first time before cameras with a direc-

tor like Tony Richardson was the opportunity of a

lifetime.

"He is a gentle director. He never loses his temper or roars at you if a retake has to bc done. Rather, he explains patiently why it is necessary, which, of course, is a great help.

"He is courteous to every-one; very formal when we are not working.

"But he knows exactly what he wants and how to

get it, how to get the best out of every actor and actress on the set.

"The whole cast is great

fun to work with. There are

no prima donnas.

"When he is not working, Mick Jagger likes to sit down and play some music he taped when he was in Melbourne. And when he appears each day, he says a quiet 'hello' to everyone.

"It is very hard work. We have to leave here each day at 7 a.m. so that we will be dressed and made up by 9.

"Even if you are not appearing in a particular scene on a particular day you still have to be there.

"That is the hardest part - just waiting around.

"But it is hard work that I love."

And her future? "Oh, I

can't think. I used to do

nothing else but plan it when I was at drama school, but now I just don't know what will happen to me."

Fellow members of the cast

told me Diane was turning in an excellent performance.

One said, "With no pro-fessional experience, she is giving her role a youthful, spontaneous approach which

is beautiful to watch."

They agreed with Diane that Mick Jagger was good

to work with.

"I think," said one, "he has two personalities. One for the public and one for the people he can relax with.

"He can join a group and just become one of us."

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