7 Questions With Brooke Satchwell of FX’s “Mr Inbetween”

Brooke Satchwell © Mr Inbetween Pty Ltd/FX Networks Credit: Mark Rogers/FX

In Mr Inbetween, FX’s gritty half-hour drama premiering tonight, Brooke Satchwell plays Ally, a good woman who falls for a bad guy. To be fair, just because Ray (Scott Ryan) is a hitman doesn’t mean he’s evil.

Satchwell’s character, however, works for the greater good as an EMT.

“What appeals to Ally is his integrity,” she says. “That unspoken resonance — you know that they are your kind of person.”

When the two meet at a dog park, the electricity is undeniable. “Those kind of moments are so isolated and out of the norm,” Satchwell says. “In the early stages of meeting someone, you are reflecting on your own response to that person, and it is interesting to see, if and when, in future moments, his personality come to light.”

Since the show is set in her native Australia, where she grew up on a farm, Satchwell was initially worried that Americans might not get the Aussie vernacular.

“Just this morning I was getting hair and makeup done, and we were talking about things we ran into, and I ran into a tow bar,” she says and waits a beat for recognition that is not coming. Americans might be more familiar with a tow bar being called a trailer hitch.

Like so many Down Under actors, Satchwell got her start on the soap opera Neighbours. She was about to face her first North American press conference at the Television Critics Association when she chatted with us to answer our “7 Questions.”

  1. What were a few of your first jobs before you got into acting?

I worked for a medical software developer as his girl Friday. I decided to take a step away from acting, and I have a high-functioning OCD. I was not qualified as a receptionist. Every morning I would put on a costume of what I would wear to an audition for an office person. I also worked in milk bars, twice; they’re sort of a general store. I was saving to buy my first Walkman, and I bought it and a big box of Ferrero Rochers and the Phantom of the Opera book.

  1. What are three foods you must have in your fridge or pantry?

No matter where I am in life, you can get me out of the house if you are cooking sausages; my favorite are the Tabasco, honey and beef. Chocolate and cheese.

  1. What is your most treasured possession?

A teddy bear I had in the humidity crib [incubator] and two other bears that have cataracts for eyes from having been in the dryer. They sit in a very specific order. I make sure I pack them in a specific place so they can breathe.

  1. What movie can you watch repeatedly?

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Labyrinth, The Wizard of Oz, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Mary Poppins.

  1. If you could invite a handful of people (dead or alive) to a dinner party, who would they be?

Meat Loaf — he sang the national anthem at the Australian Football League and destroyed it. Alan Alda and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

  1. What was your biggest splurge?

I worked on a soap opera and bought a snakeboard — it’s a skateboard with two moving portions. I was a bit heartbroken, and I would take it to work and would put on the Walkman and skateboard on the corridors of this giant walk.

  1. When were you starstruck?

Last night I met Cat Deeley, and there’s a rock ’n’ roll singer, Suze DeMarchi — I sat next to her.

Mr Inbetween premieres tonight on FX