Performing is in his blood

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 19

Performing is in his blood

Show business runs in the family in the case of 16-year-old Marc Gray, who plays teen-age tearaway Andrew Ryan in “Richmond Hill” (tonight at 8 on Two). Marc’s mother, Annique, is a singer, and she says that even as a two-year-old Mac knew he wanted to get “inside the TV.”

At nine, he wrote to an agent in Sydney asking if he could go on their books as an actor. With nothing more than a smattering of small appearances in school plays behind him, the keen youngster was taken on. “I’d never known another kid like him,” says his mother. "From the start, he knew exactly what to do. He was so determined, there was no stopping him. “At first I tried to push him towards the singing side of things, which he liked, but he was more interested in acting.” After the first letter, the rest came easily. Marc completed a six-month

acting course with the agency and made his debut in the children’s “Professor Poopsnagle” series. Then came a guest role as Dean Ross in “A Country Practice” and an appearance in the feature film “High Tide” with Judy Davis, before he was offered the role as Andrew Ryan in “Richmond Hill.” Although taking the

part meant leaving school at the bare legal minimum age of 14 years and nine months, Marc’s mother was right behind him. “Marc has been waiting for this opportunity to elave school since his first acting job, when he was nine, and considering he’s got the three Rs down pat, he should be able to make up his own mind and pursue his career, which, at the moment is acting.” Marc says he has not regretted his decision to leave school and join “Richmond Hill” in August 1987, although he does have a tutor on the set. "School was a drag. I can always get an education, but “Richmond Hill” was a million-to-one chance and I wasn’t about to let it pass by.” Marc’s mother agrees. “I think life is the best university,” she says. On the “Richmond Hill” set, Marc Gray is the baby, which means he gets a certain amount of

mothering from the rest of the cast. “Amanda Muggleston tends to mother me a bit, and Gwen Plumb (Mum Foote) gives me advice from time to time,” he says. Marc insists that, apart from his dislike of school, he has very little in common with his “Richmond Hill” character — a cheeky would-be con-man who is always getting into scraps. “Andrew, I think, is a little stupid. I don’t fall for the same things he does; he’s more bravado than brains.” Tonight in “Richmond Hill,” there are more problems for Andrew. His mother has dumped him at the police station after kicking him out of home, and informed them he is a minor. Faced with reform school, Andrew makes a quick escape, only to later become an unwilling observer in a shooting incident.