Bryan Brown Hated English as a Kid. One Book Changed Everything
When growing up in Sydney, literature meant very little to Bryan Brown. Yet a long plane flight unexpectedly unlocked his inner storyteller, setting him on a path that would later surprise both himself and his fans.
From Reluctant Reader to Storyteller
In person, Bryan Brown is much as people imagine: rugged, charismatic, and known for his colourful language. Now 78, he remains instantly recognisable from decades of iconic roles—from the television era classics like The Thorn Birds and films such as Breaker Morant, to sharing the screen with Tom Cruise in Cocktail and Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist.
A New Chapter as an Author
These days, Brown has added “bestselling author” to his name—not as a celebrity memoirist but as a genuine crime fiction writer. His first book, Sweet Jimmy, a short story collection, came out in 2021. His debut novel, The Drowning, followed in 2023, and his third book, The Hidden, is being released this month.
The Journey from Disinterest to Inspiration
“I hated English at school,” he says. “Because we got things like Great Expectations to read…”
Brown now admits that Dickens’s classic is indeed a great novel, though not something likely to appeal to a sports-loving teen. As he puts it, “not when you’re bloody 12 and 14 and 16, and you want to play sport.”
Life and Work Today
We meet over lunch in Fitzroy. Though Brown lives in Sydney with his wife—actor and director Rachel Ward—he’s in Melbourne for a podcast appearance, cheekily adding,
“I’ve never listened to a podcast, ever.”
Author’s Summary
Bryan Brown’s unlikely path from a boy who hated literature to a celebrated actor and novelist shows how one chance moment can transform a lifelong relationship with storytelling.