MATTHEW Goode admits to being intimidated by the volatile single dad he plays in the new Australian drama Burning Man. But that wasn’t why he took his time signing on.”There are a lot of things in this film that I haven’t gone anywhere near before, but that was one of the reasons I was very attracted to it,” he says

It was the potential effect on his partner, Sophie Dymoke, of the raw nature of some of the material – including the sexually charged opening sequence in which he appears naked with a prostitute – that gave Goode pause for thought.  “Consideration for her and her well-being was part of why I met with (director) Jonathan (Teplitzky) a few times before I agreed,” Goode says.  Another potential stumbling block was the tyranny of distance. “Sydney is a f—ing long way,” the British actor says. “Unfortunately, I often find I am going off to the farthest flung parts of the world.”  He doesn’t wish to sound churlish – “Bloody lucky I am, too, to be working,” he says, “but sometimes you just wish things could be easier for your home life.”

The depth of Goode’s feeling may well be attributed to the fact he has just arrived back at the London home he shares with Dymoke and daughter Matilda, 2 1/2, from Nashville, where he shot the thriller Stoker with Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska.

Burning Man, which required Goode to be based in Bondi for three months, is Teplitzky’s follow-up to 2003 crime caper Gettin’ Square. The new film tells semi-autobiographical story about a man grappling with the loss of his wife.  “I didn’t take the work home with me and dare I say it, it was actually quite fun to shoot some of it,” says Goode, who is backed by a strong female cast including Rachel Griffiths.

Given the subject matter, the film contains a surprising amount of humour.  “That is how you know it was written by someone who went through it,” says Goode. “Cancer can become a joke to the couple who are suffering – it’s gallows humour.”  Still, the process of filming it took an emotional toll.  “I didn’t work for a year after that. Burning Man had taken a lot out of me,” he says.  Teplitzky is from a family of foodies, which is why he made Goode’s character a chef. The actor professes to being quite handy in the kitchen.  “It’s kind of my domain,” he says, confessing that when he and Dymoke first met, they had an argument over the Dolmio sauces she had in her fridge. “Apparently I am a bit of a stickler in the kitchen. I am not as positive as I should be.”

Now that Goode’s finally working in London – on BBC drama Dancing on the Edge – the pair might have to renegotiate kitchen duties.

Source: Adelaide now

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