Shane Warne was a cricketing legend, a feared spin bowler who changed the game forever. He was also a true Aussie icon, loved by millions, and his death in 2022 at the age of 52 left a nation in shock.
โHe was so true to himself,โ Alex Williams, who plays the character of Shane in two-part drama Warnie, tells TV WEEK.
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โHe was so true to himself.โ
(Image: Supplied)โEven with all the fame and being the best in the world, he still felt like that genuine guy who might walk into your living room and have a tea and chat with you and your mum about whatever.โ
Warnie, which is inspired by real events, begins Shaneโs story when heโs a teenager with a mullet living in the Melbourne suburb of Black Rock and dreaming of playing football for St Kilda in the AFL. Alex says Shane is โpretty one-eyedโ at that point in his life.
โHe loves St Kilda,โ Alex, 32, tells TV WEEK. โAll he wants to do is play football. Him being rejected by the club, I think sets up the start of someone who is going to work incredibly hard to be very, very good at something.โ
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โI think because heโs so honest about who he is.โ
(Image: Supplied)Shane takes on a string of jobs, including delivering beds, before turning his focus to cricket. Success doesnโt come immediately, but when he makes the Australian team and dismisses Mike Gatting with his very first ball against England in 1993, heโs suddenly world famous.
โI think because heโs so honest about who he is, and so real, it doesnโt bother him too much,โ Alex says. โHe probably enjoys that period.โ
By then, Shane has already met the woman who will become his wife, Simone Callahan. From the moment she offers him a beer at a celebrity event, the pair hit it off.
โThereโs an immediate sense of familiarity between them,โ Marny, 29, who plays Simone, tells TV WEEK. โThey recognise something in each other.โ
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โSheโs the most incredible mum.โ
(Image: Supplied)Alex says Shane is โabsolutely besottedโ with Simone.
โI think heโs in love with her very, very quickly,โ he says. โAnd it remains that way for a long time.โ
Simone and Shane have three children in the space of four years. Itโs tough for Simone, with Shane away playing cricket so much of the time.
โSheโs the most incredible mum,โ Marny says. โThat just shows what sheโs made of, her strength and her ability to put her kids first.โ
At the height of his fame, Shane makes some serious errors of judgement. Thereโs the time heโs photographed smoking, despite having made a lucrative deal to give up cigarettes. Thereโs the incident with him accepting cash from a bookmaker. Then thereโs the diuretic he takes, which leads to him being barred from cricket for 12 months.
The ban could have been the end of Shaneโs career, but heโs determined to play for his country again.
โHe uses that one-eyed mentality to get back on top,โ Alex explains.
Over the years, there are stories involving Shane and other women. Simone canโt ignore them, especially when they tell their stories to the tabloids. It comes to a head when Simone moves with the children to England to be with Shane, just as another sex scandal breaks.
Soon, journalists and paparazzi are camped on their doorstep.
โThatโs the big crescendo,โ Marny says. โFilming it was intense, even just pushing my way through that crowd. Simone is a private person and that would have been really difficult.โ
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Playing Shane was a thrill for Alex.
(Image: Supplied)Later, thereโs another serious relationship for Shane โ with British model and actress Liz Hurley. Itโs a dream come true for the tabloids.
โSheโs one of the loves of his life and itโs a really exciting time,โ Alex says. โItโs post-cricket, but thereโs a lot of the media circus that comes with that, so they deal with that in their own way.โ
For Alex, a lifelong cricket fan, playing Shane was a thrill.
โFor me, it all came from a place of love and affection,โ he says. โI just hope that people enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.โ