Not all women have their father in the delivery room, but Aussie acting legend Bryan Brown has been a hands-on grandad right from the start.
“I was sitting behind Matilda and patting her on the head and everything,” the 74-year-old says of his second eldest daughter, who gave birth to his first grandchild, Zan, in 2019.
“When I was pushing Zan out at the end, Dad was stroking my head and Mum was cheering me on, crying, saying, ‘Come on, Til! He’s so close!'” recalls Matilda, 35.
“[It was] pretty special that both my parents got to be with me through such a monumental time in my life,” she says of Bryan and her actress mother Rachel Ward, 64.
Bryan with his daughter Matilda.
(Image: Getty)
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Matilda, who went on to welcome her second child, daughter Anouk, with husband Scott Gooding in February 2021, often shares snaps of her famous parents doting on her kids at her home at Whale Beach on Sydney’s Northern Beaches or on the family farm the whole Brown/Ward clan share near the NSW Mid-North Coast town of Scotts Head.
“When we go there we just slow down, switch off and forget that life exists outside of it,” Matilda says of the idyllic property, which the family rents out as an Airbnb named Little Farm.
Australian film royalty, Bryan and Rachel – who also share eldest daughter Rose, 38, and son Joe, 30 – split their time between Little Farm and their waterfront cottage in the Inner West Sydney suburb of Birchgrove.
Next year, the couple will celebrate 40 years of marriage after meeting on the set of TV miniseries The Thorn Birds in 1982.
“It’s not true that showbiz marriages don’t last very long, we only write about the ones that don’t… I reckon they’ve got as much chance of lasting as any other marriage.”
(Image: Getty)“It’s not true that showbiz marriages don’t last very long, we only write about the ones that don’t… I reckon they’ve got as much chance of lasting as any other marriage,” says Bryan of their enduring union.
In a refreshingly honest way, UK-born Rachel admits the pair “can take each other for granted” after nearly four decades. “It’s obviously a successful marriage because here we still are,” she clarifies.
Needless to say, becoming grandparents has only brought the devoted duo closer.
“I was a bit worried about this grandfather business. Everyone said, ‘You’re going to love it and everything.’ And I said, ‘Well, let me work that out,'” Bryan admits. “Then [Zan] came a long and just like everyone else, I went goo goo and grabbed him and wanted to be with him all the time. Life’s like that!”
“It doesn’t take a lot to make my dadda happy. A brownie, a coffee, a grandson,” Matilda sweetly reveals of her famous father, adding that Bryan “couldn’t be happier in his latest role as Grandpa Brown”.
When he isn’t playing the doting dad and grandfather, Bryan is still acting.
(Image: Getty)“Mum’s so hands-on while Dad is much more chilled out,” Matilda, who also writes and directs, shares. “He loves to come and visit them.”
When he isn’t playing the doting dad and grandfather, Bryan – who arguably became one of Australia’s first homegrown Hollywood heroes, thanks to roles in box office smashes like Cocktail and Gorillas In The Mist – is still acting.
He’s filming his next project, mystery miniseries Darby And Joan alongside Aussie actress and friend Greta Scacchi, 62.
Despite decades in the biz, Bryan’s retained the down-to-earth charm that’s made him a household name.
“I wouldn’t think I’m a national treasure,” he says.
“I think I’m becoming an old rock, still around because they haven’t kicked me off the planet yet.”
