#Actor simon baker how to#

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morningīaker delves into both sides of his family tree and each branch yields amazing stories. When I watched certain episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?, I felt a connection to that person – and with that, you don’t feel as alone.”

#Actor simon baker how to#

The initial desire when I was young was about connecting with people, the idea of seeing someone in a story on a screen that you could identify with, and it could help you understand feelings inside you that you didn’t necessarily know how to articulate. “I’m pretty shy … But there is a kind of psychological reason in why I became an actor. Revealing the story of his parents was “challenging”, he says. “But the truth is, families have many different forms and I think if you can look at your own past and the past of your ancestors with compassion, you can carry that forward with you with a little bit more wisdom.” Photograph: SBSīefore he went on Who Do You Think You Are?, Baker “looked back at my immediate family as this sort of mess,” he says. But the truth is, families have many different forms’ … Baker and his mother, Elizabeth. ‘I looked back at my immediate family as this sort of mess. It was a phenomenal childhood in that regard – but the personal family life was difficult.” “I felt a really strong sense of belonging in that place and still do. “It was a small community and back then it was an idyllic place to live,” Baker says.

I’ve struggled with that.”Ī reunion would take place when Baker was 18 years old, but in the meantime, the family moved to the northern NSW beach community of Lennox Head, where Baker became an avid surfer.

Baker had contact with his father, but as he reveals on the show, “I didn’t know he was my dad. In the show he summarises the family’s brief time there: “They went on this incredible adventure – and they didn’t come back together.” “And soon after, my parents moved to the highlands of New Guinea, with two kids, to a remote area,” he says. She was just 19 when Baker was born, the second of the Bakers’ two children. His father, Barry Baker, was a mechanic and school caretaker, and his mother, Elizabeth, was a high school English teacher. The trailer for the 13th season of Who Do You Think You Are?īaker was born in Launceston in 1969.