Although the majority of Australians have not left its shores for more than a year, multi-faceted performer Courtney Act has jetted from her base in the US to London to Sydney and back to London.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The soon-to-be published author now has a new string to her bow as interviewer for ABC TVs One Plus One.
"During COVID there was lots I missed out on. A TV show I was supposed to do got cancelled, but I didn't miss out on the opportunity of writing a memoir, which I was supposed to be writing before but hadn't had a clear schedule," the perfectly groomed and made-up performer says.
"I had a fascinating year of writing. I arrived in Australia on November 2nd, [2019], and on March 17 [in lockdown], I started to write."
She ended up with 220,000 words, which had to be trimmed back to 100,000, and late last month, she delivered it to her publisher.
"It's about my journey of identity and sexuality. I poured my heart out. [My publisher] Lex Hirst was like my therapist ... she guided me through the first few months. It was a deeply fulfilling experience."
It was also during this time, Act realised another of her long held ambitions - to be a one-on-one interviewer.
For this season of One Plus One, Act interviews five diverse personalities. After kicking off with friend Lisa Origliasso, this week she chats with Nat's What I Reckon..
"It was challenging - more than I thought. I've known Lisa for so long and as a friend I would have asked more questions. But I had to think 'we're on television'. There is a level of ethics where you can see this person doesn't want to talk about this. The nice thing about the ABC is, it's not about the drama and the conflict. I'm used to story producers and people trying to exploit things but this was the opposite to that."