Claire van der Boom

Today I'm going to be learning about Claire van der Boom.  She plays Grace on Rush. Though when I was looking on IMDb to get her name, I saw she's only on thirteen episodes.  I'm guessing maybe she's killed off. Or maybe her character just moves? Or she resigns from the police force?

Right now, van der Boom is one of the main stars of the show. I wonder why she left. Was it a writer/director decision, or her decision?

Tim and I have started watching Doctor Who, and yesterday we started wondering why Christopher Eccleston is so quickly replaced by David Tennant. Was he fired? Quit? And why? 

I should actually go look that up now. While I have it on my mind. 

Well, Lord Wiki says it was a quitting thing. There were all kinds of rumors—one being that Eccleston feared being typecast and another that he was exhausted.  But it seems in the end, it was a simple case of not liking the work environment. That happens sometimes. 

Anyway, I should get back to Claire van der Boom. Maybe later I'll find out why she left Rush. I doubt she feared being typecast. But exhaustion and dislike of the work environment are definitely possibilities.

Before I start my research, I feel compelled to comment on Claire van der Boom's name. It's funny. At least, I think so. It's especially funny when I say it out loud. But I like it, because it reminds me of Bree van de Camp. I guess I'll have some amount of fondness for anyone with a van der/de name. Although if they're something like...a genocidal maniac, I'll just like their name, and nothing more.

Okay. I'm going to start with IMDb.  I think I'll look at her bio page first.  Van der Boom was born in Broome. Tim and I have both felt interested in going there. It's expensive to fly there, though; I mean compared to other towns and cities. I think our interest in Broome came from seeing Bran Nue Dae. Though I also think I read about it in a novel. Maybe a Patricia Shaw one? 

Claire van der Boom graduated from NIDA, as most Australian actors seem to do.  

IMDb says she went to Presbyterian Ladies College for her secondary education. It's located in Perth, unless they also have one in Broome?  I wonder if she went as a boarding school student? Or maybe her family moved to Perth sometime in her childhood. 

The other thing IMDb says about van der Boom's life is that she's been dancing on stage since the age of three. I wonder if she did ballet, or something else.

There are some quotes here. 

Apparently van der Boom needs breakfast or her low blood sugar puts her in a difficult mood.

Van deer Boom talks about working on an American project in Australia—The Pacific. She talks about how it was big budget. And it seems she enjoyed being able to do a big budget American thing while not having to leave Australia.

She learned how to use a gun for Rush. What attracted her to the show was John Edwards. I don't blame her. He creates a lot of good stuff.

Van der Boom says Melbourne is very friendly.

Now I'm looking at the Claire van der Boom filmography. 

Her first screen thing happened in 2003. She was in a TV movie based on Robert Drewe's book The Shark Net. I think I read that one. Is it the one about the serial killer?  

Yep. I just Googled and saw that it is the serial killer thing. It's partly autobiographical, so Robert Drewe is actually a character in the movie. 

The serial Killer (Ed Cooke) was played by Dan Wylie from Love My Way.  

I just found van der Boom in the credits. Her character doesn't have a name or title. It's just blank. It's like she was indescribable. 

In 2007, van der Boom was in seven episodes of season three of Love My Way. I still can't remember if I watched any of the third season of the show. I do know I watched a little bit of the show's finale. That might have been it. Or maybe I watched the beginning of the third season before quitting?

Van der Boom played a woman named Billie. I'm looking at episode descriptions on TV.Com. It looks like Billie was romantically involved with Tom. I think Tom was Claudia Karvan's housemate... And boyfriend at one point...AND brother of her ex-husband. That show had some strange relationships.

I can't remember them ever explaining why Claudia Karvan's character moved in with her ex-brother-in-law. It just seemed a bit unusual to me. But maybe they were really good friends?

I'm going to skip a few other 2007 things and move onto 2008.  

Van der Boom starred in a crime drama called The Square. Her co-star was Joel Edgerton, and it looks like one of his relatives directed the film. Nash Edgerton. Father? Maybe his brother? 

IMDb has the answer. They're brothers.  They have some Star Wars stuff in their family. Tim might be interested in that. He's been very into Star Wars lately.  

I'm confused by what IMDb is saying. I've had to read it three times already. I think I got it now. Joel Edgerton was in Attack of the Clones.  Then Nash Edgerton was the stunt double for Ewan McGregor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is supposed to be exciting because originally Owen and Obi were supposed to be brothers. But later that idea was abandoned.

And why did I spend so much time trying to understand that when this post is supposed to be about Claire van der Boom?

Anyway...here's a trailer for The Square. I recognized the other main star of the film (David Roberts), and saw he played Phil D'Arabont on Offspring. And he has the same name as one of my cousins.

2008 is when van der Boom did Rush, the show I'm currently watching her in. IMDb actually has her in only eleven episodes. For the last two (which would make thirteen) she's credit only. I think that means she's in the credits but not really on the show. My guess is she's killed in the 11th episode.  

I'm tempted to find out what happens to her, but I think I'll just wait and watch. Though I might accidentally run into the information when doing research for this post.

In 2010, van der Boom was in a with Ryan Kwanten—Red Hill.  It's a western type thing.  

Here's the trailer.  Kwanten plays a police officer who tries to get away from the big city by moving to a small country town. It's kind of like what would happen if you combined both the Aussie shows I'm watching lately (Rush and McLeod's Daughters) 

I think van der Boom plays Kwanten's wife. I wonder how she adjusted to moving to a rural town. I mean not van der Boom but her character. Today, on my McLeod's Daughters episode, there was the opposite situation. Rural Claire and rural Alex went to Melbourne and had to adjust to that. Though they weren't moving there. They just went for a visit.

2010 is also the year van der Boom was in The Pacific, the American HBO thing. I think Tim watched that.  Van der Boom was in the episode called Melbourne.  She played Stella. Lord Wiki's cousin says that Stella was a love interest for someone named Robert Leckie. 

The story sounds kind of sweet. Leckie sees her on a train. I guess he finds her attractive. He tries to find her, trips, and ends up in a position that looks like he's proposing. So then Stella jokes with him about that.

Stella's family was Greek, but they escaped to Australia when the country was attacked by the Turks.

Oh...this is sad. Stella dumps Leckie. Why? She's afraid he'll be killed. And her mother has lost so much already. She doesn't want her mother to endure another lost.  I guess because the mother was becoming attached to him? And I'm sure Stella was also worried about her own potential loss as well.

Van der Boom did three other projects in 2010. One was a short film, which I often ignore. But since this one is available on YouTube, I'll watch it and write about it.

First, let me look at the long stuff.  

There's a TV movie called Sisters of War.  It looks like sisters refers to nuns. Van der Boom's character name is Sister Berenice Twohill. Lord Wiki says the movie is based on a true story about a nun and a nurse who were prisoners of war in Papa New Guinea.  Like many prisoners of war, the nun and nurse didn't have an easy time.

Here's a trailer for the movie.  It looks very intense. Some humans are so incredibly awful.

Thinking about it, though...it kind of gives me hope. Right now we have folks in the Middle East causing a lot of violence and grief. Back in the 1940's, it was Japan.

And look how well we get along with the Japanese now. They use to be seen as the enemy, and now they're these wonderful people who give us Sushi and anime. I mean not that Japan can be defined in such simple terms. And the Middle East currently gives us much more than violence. But if someone asked me what's the first thing I think of when I think of Japan, it probably would be sushi or anime. OR even more likely...Nintendo. And if someone asked me to provide terms I associate with the Middle East, I'd probably say things like Falafel and Arabic numbers. But if I had to say the FIRST thing that came to my head, it would probably be terrorists. Unfortunately. Hopefully, that will change eventually. I think it will. Not just my mind will change, but the events in the news that make my mind think in that way.  

The other full-length project van der Boom did in 2010 was an American tv-movie. It was a Tennessee thing called Tough Trade. I wonder how van der Boom ended up in America. Did she come here seeking work? Or did the job find her before she traveled to the US?  

The movie is about the Nashville music business. According to this article, it was supposed to be a TV series, but that didn't work out.  

Okay. I just remembered to do what I always forget to do—scroll up on IMDb to see if there are any TV series. IMDb places series in the filmography at the time of the show's ending, or current season.  It makes things a bit confusing for me. 

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So I almost missed another 2010 thing. That's Hawaii Five-O, which would maybe explain why van der Boom was in America in 2010. Or at least it gives indication that around that time, she was trying to get American work.  

Van der Boom played Rachel Edwards in eight episodes of the series.  She appeared in the 10th episode of the 1st season.  

You know what. I have to confess something here. I'm struggling with the whole thing of writing out numbers or just using the actual number. I know you're supposed to choose one and be consistent. The problem is I can't decide! Sometimes I want to use the actual number, and sometimes I want to write it out. So, sorry about that. 

Back to Hawaii Five-O. Van der Boom was in six episodes of season 1 and two episodes of season 2. 

According to Lord Wiki's cousin, Rachel Edwards is the ex-wife of Danny, one of the show's detectives.

I wonder if she used an Australian accent or an American one. 

Here's a fan video made about Rachel and Danny And there a few others. I guess Rachel and Danny were a pretty popular couple. I guess, though they're divorced, there's still some love there. Well, Lord Wiki's cousin says they have an affair...while she's married to someone else. 

Lord Wiki's cousin talks about Rachel being in the third season. Maybe IMDb missed that? Or maybe she's talked about in the third season but not actually shown. 

Now I'm going to watch the Baby Cake, the short film.  It's about lesbians and gay men wanting to have babies.  

There's no dialogue so far, and I've watched the first two minutes. The two gay men and the two lesbians are in a room together. One of the men and van der Boom take off their shirts. Then they start kissing. Maybe they're going to try to make a baby the natural way. With the other two watching?  Unless someone is horribly repulsed by opposite-gender sex, maybe it's easier to make a baby that way rather than using doctors and/or turkey basters. 

The man in the baby-making project is struggling to take off Van der Boom's bra. Why? I mean why does he need to remove her bra to make a baby?

Then Van der Boom tries to give the man a blow-job, and he's repulsed. So they have the other man come in to try to arouse him. That's a good idea. 

But I guess he'll need to stay aroused to do the baby-making part. That might be a problem.

Ah....they're going for the turkey baster now.

I guess these people fall into the category of being repulsed by opposite gender sex.  It would be better project for people who are able to swing both ways. But maybe that would be a less interesting movie.

You know what would work. If only the female was homosexual. She doesn't really need to be aroused for the baby-making. The man does. So if there is a lesbian who wants a baby and doesn't want to use the turkey baster or a clinic, and she finds a straight man who's willing to donate. Well, they can do the sex thing and make a baby that way.

In 2011, van der Boom was in an Underbelly movie called Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away.  It was about David McMillan a drug smuggler who managed to escape a prison in Thailand. 

Van der Boom played Clelia Vigano.  According to this website, she was the daughter of a restauranteur and one of McMillan's partners in crime. She died in a fire in the prison.  

Here's the trailer. And I think that's Tom from Love My Way!

The other thing van der Boom did in 2011 was three episodes of City Homicide. She played Juliette Gardiner in episode 3, 4, and 5 of season 5.  This page on IMDb says Gardiner was an investigative reporter. She was gunned down in a car park. Yikes. 

Here's something sort of interesting  In 2013, van der Boom was in a short film called Record.  IMDb lists it as an American film. I looked at the director—David Lyons. He's Australian. Maybe some Australians got together in America to make a movie together?  

There's another Love My Way star in it. Damon Herriman. He played Claudia Karvan's work friend, and I think maybe he was also in love with her.  

I'm thinking van der Boom moved to the US. Her next thing is American too. It's a TV show called Masters of Sex.  She was in one of the episodes.  I'm skimming through a long description of the episode, and I don't see van der Boom's character (Shirley) being mentioned, so I'm going to assume it was a small role.

Van der Boom is in a movie that's due to be premiering tomorrow at the Toronto International Film Festival. It's called Ruth and Alex, and it stars Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman.  They play a married couple who decide to move from their New York apartment. That might not sound like a big storyline, but those who have lived in New York will understand that real estate there is usually a huge drama.  It's quite a drama anywhere, really. But I think New York might be high up there on the crazy scale.  

I just looked at IMDb to see who van der Boom plays. She's the younger version of Diane Keaton's character. 

It looks like the rest of the stuff on Claire Van der Boom's filmography is stuff that hasn't been released yet.  I'm wondering if any of it's Australian. Or is she sticking to American projects now?  

Here's an Aussie thing. Well, it's Australian-Indian-British. It's a romantic reincarnation thing called The Lovers.  And it's a little bit American as well, because the main star is Josh Hartnett. IMDb says he was born in California. 

Here's the trailer. I think it looks really good. But sometimes looks can be deceiving. I just had a Freudian slip, and wrote conceiving rather than deceiving.  If looks were conceiving, those couples in Baby Cake could have skipped the blow jobs AND the turkey baster.  

I didn't see van der Boom in the trailer, so I'm not sure how big her part is. 

Here's another Australian project. I can't tell if it's a TV show or movie. It's called Love is Now, and Anna Torv is the star. 

I thought this project (Low Life) was an Australian thing because it's a comedy about depression. I thought, hey those Aussies made a really great comedy about Alzheimer's/dementia, they'd probably do well with depression as well.  But no. It's American. I wonder if it will be good. 

I don't think it's a bad idea to make a comedy about depression. Though depression is depressing, if you turn it into a comedy, maybe it will kind of normalize it. Sometimes depression is seen as a shameful illness that effects defective people.  Maybe it's better if we see it as something that effects normal people. It's part of the human experience. Not for everyone but for most. And yeah. Some people have it much worse than others. But I think almost everyone has it a little bit.  

Oh! Here we go. Although the film is classified as a USA thing, it's directed by an Australian (Luke Eve)

The production company is called More Sauce Productions. It's Australian. So why is it classified as an American film?  Maybe that's a mistake?

On their website, Low Life is listed as a web series. And they have the episodes. I'll watch one later. I'll see if it makes me laugh. Or offends me. Or gives me deep insights.   

So I was wrong about the rest of the stuff on van der Boom's filmography being unfinished. Or I think it's more of a case of IMDb not being updated. The show is classified as being in post-production. But since it's up on the website for our viewing pleasure, I'd say it past being post-produced.

Another project on the Claire van der Boom filmography listed as being in post production is Broke. This one also has Love My Way stars. I feel haunted by those people today.  

The movie is about a sports star having a bad time with things, and one of his fans helps him.  It has its own YouTube page with lots of endorsements from sports people.  One of the videos is a message from van der Boom. I'll watch that.  

She's talking about pledges. So I guess it's one of those crowdsourcing things. They're trying to raise money for the movie. That's cool.  

In 2015, van der Boom is going to be in an American comedy-drama called A Year and Change. A guy falls off his roof on New Years, and then decides to quit drinking. Van der Boom plays the love interest of the protagonist. 

Here's a local news report from Maryland, where the film was being filmed.  I mean it's about the movie...not just a random news report from Maryland.  

The last thing on van der Boom's filmography is Chronic. It's about a home care nurse who works with the terminally ill. I'm not sure if it's a movie or TV show. Kiefer Sutherland's daughter is in it.  

I found an article about it. It's a movie. The plot: a depressed nurse works with people who are dying. That sounds fun and uplifting.  I'm being sarcastic. But who knows. Maybe it will be. Well, I doubt it will be fun. But maybe it will be uplifting. Or maybe not. Maybe it will be one of those dark and depressing things.

Now I'm going to read Lord Wiki's entry on Claire van der Boom. He says she was born in 1983. So, she's about 32 now.  

And now I know what happens to her character on Rush. Well, Lord Wiki doesn't provide the exact details, but I do know that what I thought happens does happen.

Van der Boom also did a bit of music. She did vocals for a song called "Do What You Want".  I think this is the song.  I think it's pretty cool.  

Now I'm going to watch the first episode of  Low Life, the depression comedy.  It's only six minutes. 

The depressed protagonist works at a pharmaceutical company that makes mood stabilizers. I was about to say that's ironic. But maybe it's not.  It would be like saying it's ironic that a person working at an oncology center ends up getting cancer.  

Or maybe he doesn't work at a pharmaceutical company. Maybe it's an advertising company with a pharmaceutical client? I'm not sure, actually.

I can't say I really liked that first episode. It didn't offend me anyway. But I also didn't find anything amusing, insightful, or uplifting. I thought it was a bit blah.

I'm going to watch one more episode. I guess I WANT to like this. So I'm going to give it one more chance. 

The theme song of the show...or at least the song in two episodes is Happiness is Just a Chemical. I definitely don't agree with that.  I might like this line in the song. Because love is just a lazy generalisation that we use for 100 different feelings and as many situations.  I don't know if I agree with that or not.  It's an interesting idea, though.

The theme of this episode is a depressed person being cheerful around other people but then turning off once they're alone with their partner.  What about instances where it's not like an on/off switch but instead the outsiders act as a kind of mood-lifter?  Let's say someone is in a bad mood with their partner. Then his sister meets them for dinner and the unhappy man is suddenly very jovial. When the sister leaves, the man remains jovial almost as if the sister was the needed anti-depressant.

I guess what I'm wondering is whether it's always about masking depression. Could it be that some people make us happier than others? One person might make us tense and bored while another makes us feel relaxed and amused.

There are uncomfortable (and kind of boring) moments of quietness in this show. I'm not really into that type of stuff. But I think some people like it.  Or at least appreciate it.

Back to what I was saying before. I think there are two ideas. One is the idea that we are rudest to those we love,bo because we feel the most comfortable around them. We relax our inhibitions and let our shit out. I think there's a lot of truth to that.  The other idea is that we get really sick and fed up with the people we live with, and we crave change. We sometimes get in a state where everything about them annoys us. Just seeing them, and having to talk to them, puts us in a shitty mood.  And they probably are feeling the same about us. Then someone outside our circle comes along who's not sick of us. They appreciate us. They think we're attractive and hilarious. They laugh hysterically at our jokes. They make us feel worthwhile, and our mood lifts.

Here's an interview with Claire van der Boom.  It's on a website called Billabout. It's Australian. I'm trying to figure out if it's a blog. I think it is. Sort of....

Van der Boom describes herself a bogan.

For breakfast (during the interview) she eats granola with milk. I don't picture granola as being a bogan breakfast.

What WOULD be a bogan breakfast?

At the time of the interview, she had been living in the US for three years. Though I don't know when the interview was. I don't see a date.

Van der Boom considers herself a bogan because she talks about body parts, bowel function, and she likes swearing. If that's what makes a bogan, I think most of my family would qualify. I'm not sure we talk that much about body parts; probably more about bowel function.

Van der Boom says her interest in acting came from doing a monologue in school.  She was really into the monologue, and the teacher encouraged her to pursue acting. That's very cool.

She says when she first moved to the US, she shared a house with a bunch of other struggling Australians.

I think what Van der Boom says here is insightful. She's asked about the difference between working in America and Australia. She says, In Australia you’re kind of always apologizing for being an actor and you’re not allowed to be a wanker about it. In our Aussie nature, we work really hard and we’re willing to have a real go, but then we’re not willing to celebrate it or publicize ourselves, and unfortunately that’s a lot of the way that you become a success in America.

I think Australia has rubbed off one me, because I've grown intolerant of bragging. And I'm more conscious of doing it myself. Or I think I'm more embarrassed about self-promotion.

There has to be a balance. You really don't need to put out a Tweet every ten minutes linking to your book and quoting some praise it's received. Nor do you need to Retweet every nice thing someone says about you.  But it's probably okay (and helpful) to promote yourself every so often.

But I used to be very much like van der Boom's vision of Americans. I made t-shirts with my blog address on it. I was so proud of it. I thought it was so cool. Now I look at them and totally cringe. I'm embarrassed. Though I still wear them (at home), because they're really comfortable.

Then I have this Australian friend. She's living in America now. And I feel she kind of self-promotes a lot. So maybe the opposite happened to her.

I guess my feeling is we should self-promote a little and promote other people a lot. It feels nice when people say nice things about us.  And I think it also means more when we hear the promotion coming from someone who didn't actually create the...whatever.  What I don't like, though, is that in the self-publishing world, there seems to be a practice of let's-all-promote-each-other-like-crazy-even-if-we-haven't-read-each-other's-books. I hate that. It's bullshit.

Back to the interview. Van der Boom says she deals with audition nerves by imagining the producers sitting on the toilet. I should try that more often. Sometimes I sit there amazed by the idea that celebrities I like, admire, or envy, sit on toilets and take a shit. Like JK Rowling poops. It's hard to believe.

Or think about someone you once had a crush on. Imagine them on the toilet.

I can kind of picture Claire van der Boom on the toilet. I wonder if she reads.  Or does she take her phone in there with her? We discussed this at the lake house last weekend. Well, not Claire van Der Boom's bathroom habits. But we talked about whether or not people bring their phones in with them. Some said yes, and I wanted reassurance that they put the phone down before wiping and didn't pick it up again until their hands were washed.

But what about cases were the sink is not near the toilet. I worry that people will wipe, get their hands dirty, pick up the phone, bring it to the sink with them. Then they wash their hands. But their phone is already filled with germs.

So gross.

Van der Boom is asked about actresses she admires. She says Julianne Moore and Kate Winslet. One of the reasons is they don't have nannies. She says,  They’re at a level where they can get nannies and it would be so fucking easy, but they want to raise their own children.

But I think you can have both. I think if someone's wealthy enough, it doesn't make them a bad parent to get help. Or they don't have to become a bad parent just because they use a nanny sometimes.  I have only one child, and I didn't have a job. So I was able to give my child a lot of attention and also have time for myself.  Even then, though, I still felt really stressed at times. But all in all, I think I was okay without a nanny.

If someone has more than one child and/or they have a job, and they have the money, I kind of think it's a good idea to have some help.  Why not? It doesn't mean you have to become the woman who jumps around from nail appointments to Botox treatment to charity luncheons. You could become the mom who can take her three-year-old on a nature hike while the nanny stays at home with the sleeping baby.   Or once a week, the nanny watches your little ones, so you can work out or go to lunch with friends or occasionally indulge in a beauty treatment.

I know some people are absolutely disgusted by mothers who hire nannies. But then they think it's extremely important that their toddler attend preschool. Personally, I think it's better for the child to get one on one adult attention. But...that's just me.

I think the last thing I'll do for this post is look at Claire van de Boom's Instagram.

Her most recent photo is of herself at the Grand Canyon. That's from two days ago. I wonder if she's still there now.  It looks really pretty. I should maybe go there one day.

From this photo, I learned she was in Colorado for a film festival.  I guess she turned the excursion into a road trip.

I think maybe this is her boyfriend. Or husband? Partner?  Or they could just be friends. Here's his Instagram account.  He's an actor named Eamon Farren.

Four weeks ago, she was in Sydney.

I LOVE the blue in this photo.

I'm a little jealous of this photo.

This is funny.  It's a book that looks like it could have been written by Martin Dibble.

Well, that's it for now.

Adios.

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