Article: ABC Brisbane

Actor and author William McInnes
Last Update: Tuesday, August 8, 2006. 1:51pm AEST

Actor William McInnes is best known for his roles in Sea Change and Blue Heelers, but he also starred in Look Both Ways, a film which won the prestigious Discovery Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

William McInnes grew up at Redcliffe in south-east Queensland with his brother, three sisters, his father Colin, and his mother Iris.

He recalls an era when tropical fruit would drop onto tin roofs, cane toads bounced around on the wet grass, and backyards had concrete incinerators. "Recliffe is still a world of its own, because it's a peninsula that's bound by water and mangroves," he explains. "It's great because it's connecting strip to Brisbane is the long, thin bridge. We were always told at school that the Hornibrook Highway was the longest, unbroken bridge in the southern hemisphere," McInnes says.

"The Bee Gees came from Scarborough and they played at the Speedway. It was a place that had a rural feel. There were three CWA Halls. It still retains a particular character of its own," he says.

William has written the book A Man's Got to Have a Hobby about his childhood in Queensland. His memoir is a humourous and witty homage to his family, in particular his father Colin. The book is about the importance of family and the best ways to let go of the past.

William learnt a lot about life in general by playing cricket with his dad. "His big thing was, play more sport," says McInnes. "He wasn't much of a batsman... when he did deign to play it was a lot of fun... He used to call it the game of life - you think you're doing nothing, and nothing's happening, but what you're doing, you're taking part in this game, and you're watching people and you're listening to them... You think you're idling away the hours, and all of a sudden you'll see someone do something: play a shot in a certain way, or look in a certain way, and you'll suddenly go, that's what that guy's about. It's not just about the game, it's about them, too... You've got to look out for moments like that because they can really be something you can learn from, and you remember and they can be really moving."

That's one of the reasons that William's always loved cricket. "Because nothing happened, then all of a sudden, you're in the middle of it. Or if you're in the outfield, listening to the sounds of the neighbourhood, then the ball suddenly comes out... and it's like, 'I've got to do something!'...
"I really enjoyed the conversation you'd have... The more garrulous the gang the better I liked it - [it was] that sort of conversation about nothing that men do really well. There's some sort of code in there, and if you can actually pick the code, there's something being said."

The Australian actor is now working on his second book about cricket. He lives in Melbourne with his wife, film-maker Sarah Watt, and their two children.