BELINDA SIGNS ON AGAIN
The Beautiful star of Sons and Daughters has been signed on for another six months

When Belinda Giblin first joined Sons and Daughters, she had a six-month contract with a six-month option. After only four months in the soapie, the Seven Network has picked up her option.

Belinda was surprised but thrilled that network executives had decided to extend her contract so soon.

"When I first started on the show, I thought six months would be fine, because I was concerned about going into a soap for any great length of time. But I'm enjoying myself and the time seems to have gone so fast," Belinda told TV WEEK.

"I have been really busy and that's how I like to live - I don't get too much time to think about myself."

One of the reasons Belinda loves working in Sons and Daughters is that it's the first contract work she's had in a series in her home town - Sydney.

Any previous contract work she's done has been in Melbourne and, as she's lived in Sydney for many years, that meant she was continually commuting.

During her 12-month starring role in The Box she flew to Melbourne at the start of every week and came home for weekends. The same itinerary applied when she worked for seven months in both Skyways and The Sullivans.

"I left The Box because I wanted to do other things but also because I was only home weekends. I had a boyfriend at the time so it was fairly traumatic. If I had been living in Melbourne I'd have gone on," she said.

"Now I'm working in Sydney, I can't tell you how nice that is for a change. I've got more time for my daughter and I don't have to drag her around the country."

Belinda's Sons and Daughters character, Alison Carr, is mercurial.

"One minute she's writing someone off and the next she's either being hurt or being terribly kind," said Belinda. "She's up and down and I'm enjoying playing her.

"A soap will always be a soap but Sons and Daughters is different. It's sophisticated. The scripts are now better than they were."

Belinda lives in an inner-city three-bedroom house on a double block. By inner-city standards she has a big garden area - a priority for her when buying the house.

When Belinda has a day off work she loves getting out in the garden in her gumboots.

"I love gardening because I love being outdoors. I grew up in the country and I love trees, flowers and a lot of space around me.

"I need space but I also love the buzz of the inner city. I think if you're going to live in the city you may as well live right in the city," Belinda admitted.

Belinda's love of trees and flowers goes back to her childhood. One of four children, Belinda grew up in Tamworth where her father was an obstetrician and, until she came to Sydney to attend university, she enjoyed the wide-open spaces of the country.

As well as spending her spare time in the garden, Belinda is helping her husband, Alex, a stage director and former architect, with some home renovations.

"It's all cosmetic stuff," said Belinda, "like knocking down walls, turning windows into french doors and putting in skylights.

"All that's right up Alex's alley. It's fun for me but I don't know how helpful I am... probably hopeless... but I'm there with him.

"I'm the type to get involved in anything and when I apply myself to something I become obsessed by it. I'm a pretty hard worker by and large. I'm not a lazy person.

"I tend to find both of these activities relaxing because the pressure involved in TV sometimes makes me feel like a wound-up clock."

 

By: Marie Usher
Source: TV Week
Date: 14 September 1985