Beauty within, released
Jacinda BARRETT’S transformation from international model to regular on “The Real World: London” to a leading lady in a big-budget feature has been slow and steady. And that suits the 32-year-old Australian actress just fine.
“I definitely can’t complain,” says Barrett, who plays the compassionate wife of a Baltimore fireman (Joaquin Phoenix) in “Ladder 49.”
“Every role has been a little step up. It’s kind of nice. It doesn’t get overwhelming that way. I can’t even fathom if you are 20 years old and it happens to you and you are trying to work out who you are. How difficult it must be to deal with that.”
Barrett, who appeared last year in “The Human Stain” and will be seen next in “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” and “Mr. Ripley’s Return,” was familiar with the world of firefight- ers -- her dad was an airport crash and rescue fireman in Brisbane.
“When I first got the job I didn’t know how different it would be from the firefighting world that I knew through my dad and my dad’s colleagues,” she explains.
“But once I got the part, I went to Baltimore and spent time with the firefighters and their wives and saw that there is something so similar to the cultures even though it is a continent away. The thing I saw in common that my dad had and a lot of these guys have is a real strength and generosity and courage, but they have this real quiet dignity.”
Barrett acknowledges she was never afraid of her father’s dangerous occupation. “I don’t remember growing up having fears,” she says. “I think my parents protected us from all of that.”
Frustrated with modeling by the time she did “The Real World” in 1995, she decided to try her luck at acting. “As a model you are selling an image and a mood rather than exploring your vulnerability,” she explains. “In acting, when you are in front of the camera, you have to be willing to let everything out, especially your imperfections and vulnerability.”
