Asher Keddie in her producing era but isn't quitting acting

Perth Now

14-05-2025

When watching a comedy movie or TV show, you may wonder if the actors struggle with trying not to crack up when reciting their lines on set.
For one of Australia's most adored actors Asher Keddie, becoming hysterical mid-line is something she is very good at.
These latest crack-ups came when playing Evelyn Jones, the lead character in Strife, which follows the modern imperfect woman and publisher on her journey from a blogger to a force in digital media with her startup Eve Life.
After the first season in 2023 became Binge's biggest original series premiere of all time, the second season premiered on May 8 and sees Keddie's character exploring the complexities of womanhood, relationships, dealing with the threat of a new rival women's website, and tackling nasty trolls — all the while keeping up just the right level of lighthearted gags.
'This is the sort of show that incites so much mischief and laughter,' Keddie says on a phone call from Sydney.
'The whole ensemble is always engaged in shenanigans and humour and, you know, so much fun behind the scenes. It's about creating a certain level of hysteria when you're doing comedy drama, I think.'
It's something the actor, who also serves as executive producer on the show, always encourages 'to the point of being probably the most unprofessional of the lot of them'.
'I'm terrible when it comes to hysterical laughing in the middle of a scene,' she says.
'It's not my strong point, put it that way. if I'm amused by something, I find it difficult not to respond in the moment, and this cast is incredibly amusing, so we've had such fun together.' Asher Keddie as Evelyn Jones. Credit: John Platt
In among the comedy, of course, is the importance of telling authentic female stories.
After all, the series is a fictionalised adaptation of Mia Freedman's 2017 memoir Work Strife Balance, about her experience of leaving magazines to launch women's lifestyle website Mamamia.
'It was just so incredible listening to the stories at the beginning that Mia had of her experiences throughout, and the challenge of presenting her ideas online and putting them out there and using her voice no matter what the consequences were, and sometimes the consequences in the cost to her were huge,' Keddie says.
'We explore in the second series trolling, which became a really big thing around the time that Mia started up Mamamia, so that's a really interesting storyline.'
The Offspring star says viewers need to see women's vulnerabilities on screen.
'What I want to see is not to apologise for getting it wrong and failing sometimes and not being able to achieve that kind of elusive perfection that we put on ourselves all the time,' she says.
'I think those themes that we explore in the show, particularly in the second season, are the things that I really want to lean into as a woman and a viewer, so I'm hoping that other people feel the same way.' Asher Keddie attends the 2025 AACTA Awards. Credit: Dan Peled / Getty Images for AFI
The Melburnian reunited with Bruna Papandrea, whom she worked with for roles in Nine Perfect Strangers and The Lost Flowers Of Alice Heart, to produce the show.
Keddie found it helpful rather than challenging to be a producer as well as an actor.
'Being able to produce and being in conversation about how we can write it, how we're going to perform it, where it's gonna be, all the different millions of choices that you make on the entirety of a production, it's so involving for me that it's almost easier to be a bigger part of it in that way than it is just to deliver a performance,' she says.
Despite loving the production side of things, Keddie isn't stepping away from acting.
'Oh no, I'm not gonna give up my day job,' she says.
'I love acting. I always have. I enjoy it more now actually than ever so no, I still love what I do but I just like combining the two.'