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TRANSCRIPT: Rachel Griffiths' Michelle Payne movie

SN TRANSCRIPT: Rachel Griffiths' Michelle Payne movie

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ANNOUNCER: Number 11. There you are.

(BUGLE PLAYS CALL TO THE POST)

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: Life's amazing the way the story kind of reaches out and grabs you by the throat and pulls you in and says, "This is going to be your life for the next two years. "Come on this journey."

MAN: Michelle Payne, we love you.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: (CHUCKLES) I wasn't looking for a horse movie! I wasn't looking to kind of get into the racing industry. But this story transcends all of that. It's going to be quite a ride.

MICHELLE PAYNE: It was an inspirational win to people and to women and to children, and that's something that I feel so proud of.

MAN: That was wonderful, with your brother as well, Stevie. Isn't it marvellous? Well done. Congratulations.

MICHELLE PAYNE: There's been a lot of times my whole career where you might be put down or said you're not good enough and you can't match it with the boys and all of that, and I felt that I could.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: I think Michelle's story is the great unmade Australian sport story.

MELISSA: This is the story about two very talented Australian women finding each other - Michelle Payne, our first female Melbourne Cup winner, and Hollywood actor
Rachel Griffiths. At first glance, it's an unlikely pairing.

MELISSA: When did you two first meet?

MICHELLE PAYNE: We met in Sydney.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: Yeah. At Randwick.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Yeah.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: I stalked Michelle. (LAUGHS) My friends... I was still trying to get Michelle's, you know, people to line up a meeting. And my friend Dominique in Sydney just said, "Michelle's going to be at Randwick this weekend." And I said, "OK, I'm gonna do it!" (LAUGHS)

MELISSA: Rachel's stalking plan worked. She had a proposal for Michelle - a movie about her life and that extraordinary Cup win. Rachel bought the rights to Michelle's story - a woman taking the ultimate prize in a male-dominated sport.

MAN: You right, Michelle?

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: What other sport in the world are women competing side by side with men?

RACE CALLER: About a length and a half further back in the field is Bondi Beach, Prince of Penzance and Grand Marshal...

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: Not in tennis, not in soccer, not in...in any other sport I can name. Even in sailing, they're separated. But...side by side! Yeah. And I think that's really, really inspiring.

RACE CALLER: Now Max Dynamite starts to charge home! Prince of Penzance from Max Dynamite! Prince of Penzance! It's history at Flemington! Michelle Payne! Prince of Penzance beat Max Dynamite!

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: It's an amazing story. I mean, it's National Velvet, isn't it? She's our National Velvet.

RACE CALLER: Don't worry about the start. Get off as fast as you can and then jump sure and clean. (BELL RINGS)

MELISSA: National Velvet was the hit 1944 movie starring 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor alongside Mickey Rooney.

RACE CALLER: Taken like a champion! That's a girl! She's not yet done, you know. That's a girl, Velvet! Hang on!

MELISSA: She played horse-mad Velvet Brown, who took on the boys and won. Sounds pretty familiar.

MAN: A girl wins the Grand National!

MICHELLE PAYNE: I just want to say to everyone else you can get stuffed, 'cause they think women aren't strong enough, but we just beat the world.

REPORTER: Go and have a quiet little moment by yourself in the jockeys' room and realise that you are now a part of Australian sporting history. Well done.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Thank you very much.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: It was probably the thing we as an audience least expected to hear in that moment. And, yeah, every woman around Australia kind of cheered. And my girls particularly were just really aware that history had been made.

MICHELLE PAYNE: I guess that a lot of people have asked me if I regret saying that, but definitely not.

MELISSA: Did it alienate anyone in the industry?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Um...oh, well, if it did, I don't really care, to be honest!

REPORTER: And you and Michelle, the two youngest members of the Payne family. You live together. You drew the barrier one for her.

STEVIE: Yeah.

REPORTER: What a proud moment.

STEVIE: Today's a great moment. It's a great win and a great ride. 10 out of 10.

REPORTER: And a great job by the strapper!

STEVIE: Thank you!

MELISSA: But it wasn't just Michelle who captured our hearts. There was her brother, strapper Stevie, who has Down syndrome.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: And the love between them. You kind of felt that there was this mutual bond that got them to the podium together in that moment, and Stevie's luck of pulling the barrier. You know, how he'd been handling and working with that horse. And the faith they had in each other. That was beautiful. It's family. It's against the odds. It's love.

MELISSA: Winning has shot Michelle into the stratosphere. An in-demand speaker, attending red-carpet events...

MICHELLE PAYNE: It's amazing. To be able to experience the things that I've been experiencing is just incredible.

MELISSA:..and meeting the rich and famous.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Like meeting Roger Federer and Prince Charles and Lady Camilla and Ronda Rousey. Those sort of things, you wouldn't dream of being able to experience.

MELISSA: Has it all panned out the way you expected it might?

MICHELLE PAYNE: As a jockey, you dream to win the Melbourne Cup, but you don't prepare yourself for what might happen after that, and that's an absolute whirlwind. So, um, yeah, it's obviously something that I'm still trying to work out the right balance. But I feel we're getting there.

MELISSA: You've got this whole new job description that has come from your Melbourne Cup win. Has that become bigger than the riding part?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Uh, in a way, sometimes it feels like that. And sometimes I think that this isn't what I signed up for, to do all that. But then I take a step back
and think about it and think, "Well, it's a privilege to be in this position," and you might not like it, but I try to embrace it and just be the best role model that I can be.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Do you want a photo?

FAN: Yeah, I did want to. Congratulations on the Cup.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Thank you.

FAN: Well done. Could we get an autograph?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Yeah, no worries.

MELISSA: Are you struggling?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Uh, sometimes, yes, mentally it's a bit of a battle, because riding's what I love and my passion and I want to do that as much as I can. And, um, yeah, sometimes all of the other stuff gets a little bit too much and a little bit overwhelming.

FAN: Oh, thank you so much.

MICHELLE PAYNE: You're welcome.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Hi.

FAN: How are you going?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Good.

FAN: Can we take a photo? I know you're probably gonna get sick of this today.

MELISSA: Do you ever fall apart?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Uh, there has been moments where it's got a bit too much for me. But I just keep reminding myself that it's a privilege to have this and take a deep breath and a step back. And I've had a lot of support from the other jockeys, and a lot of them say that they're glad it's not them - they don't know how they'd handle all of the attention. But I guess it's nice to hear them say that, because it just makes me feel a bit better with dealing with it.

FAN: Great. Good one. Thanks a lot, Michelle. Good luck today. All the best.

MELISSA: And there's probably nobody better than Rachel to hold Michelle's hand as she navigates her new-found fame.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: I've got a lot of empathy for Michelle's experience of just suddenly being famous, and I think 'cause that happened to me. My first movie, Muriel's Wedding, it was a hugely loved movie and...

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: I'm with Muriel.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS:..literally one Friday, nobody ever looked at me twice, you know, I wasn't rich, pretty or famous, and then on Monday, I had people double-taking. It's a very strange experience when you go from anonymity and privacy and you just go about your business, you know, doing your thing, and then all of a sudden, this, whoosh! - you know, stuff coming towards you really fast. I think it takes... it takes a couple of years to not be, kind of, thrown and intimidated by the incoming. It's a definite transition.

MICHELLE PAYNE: What about, do people recognise you down the street?

STEVIE: They sure do. The races, everywhere, all the countryside, town. They all know you. One or the other. (CHUCKLES)

MELISSA: And do they all want photos?

STEVIE: Well, yeah, definitely.

MELISSA: Selfies?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Do you like the photos?

STEVIE: Selfies. I love photos. They're good.

MELISSA: Since that November day, it's been an incredible ride for them both.

COMMENTATOR: And here we have the king and queen.

MELISSA: Crowned king and queen of Moomba, Melbourne's annual festival, Stevie's loving the limelight.

MICHELLE PAYNE: He loves taking in all the crowd and he's just...he's really getting them going, so it's just fantastic.

COMMENTATOR: He likes to strike a pose.

COMMENTATOR: He does.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Yep, he is. I think he was made for this.

MELISSA: I hope you wear those crowns with pride. Do you have it at home?

STEVIE: Yes, I do. When I came home that night, actually, everyone wanted me to wear it. Pub to pub.

MICHELLE PAYNE: He just wore it to the pub to get a free beer.

STEVIE: (BOTH CHUCKLE) Yeah.

MELISSA: And did it work?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Yeah, a couple of them. Yeah.

MICHELLE PAYNE: He is, yeah. He is, like, made to be famous, I think. He's definitely cut out for it and he's just loving every moment of it.

STEVIE: So much so, he could be the natural choice to play himself in the movie.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: He's a wonderful character. It may be the easiest casting to go. I'll have to really talk to Stevie about if it's something that he can see himself doing. It was Michelle that put him up. She goes, "Oh, you should get Stevie to do it!"

MELISSA: Would you do it?

STEVIE: Yeah. Why not?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Otherwise, who's gonna play you?

STEVIE: Yeah.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Special.

MELISSA: Do you reckon you need acting lessons? Or have you got this sorted?

STEVIE: I've got it sorted. (CHUCKLES)

MELISSA: Who should play Michelle?

STEVIE: Adam Sandler.I know he'll be into it.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Thanks!

MELISSA: While Stevie takes it all in his stride, for Michelle, there's simply not enough days in the week, and now there's a book tour to add to her growing list of commitments.

MELISSA: Tell me about your book and putting it all down on paper.

MICHELLE PAYNE: It was actually a really fun experience to talk about my life and go back through the times, all the hard times and the good times and talking about our family and all the funny stories growing up and my dad, he was... he did what he had to do to, sort of, get through it with 10 children.

MELISSA: Michelle's mother, Mary, died in a car accident when she was just six months old, leaving her father, Paddy, to raise his brood. With eight of the ten Payne children
becoming jockeys, it takes a lot to impress the old man.

MICHELLE’S FATHER: Yeah, I thought you was home here. It was an easy race, wasn't it? No speed.

MICHELLE PAYNE: No.

MICHELLE’S FATHER: Nah, it was good. Good result.

MELISSA: As the baby, Michelle and her dad have always had a special bond.

MAN: Are you gonna be a jockey as well?

YOUNG MICHELLE: Yep.

MAN: Your dad said you're gonna be the best of them all.

YOUNG MICHELLE: Mmm.

MAN: Do you think that's gonna be the case?

YOUNG MICHELLE: I hope so.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Obviously there were times where it was a bit crazy. But at the end of the day, he taught us the main things, and that's respect and to work hard.

MICHELLE’S FATHER: Yeah, she's good. She's keen and she gets out of bed early in the morning. She's a good little worker. And, uh, I think with a bit of practice, she'll get better at it.

MICHELLE PAYNE: And just have good morals. And I think that's the most important thing I've learnt growing up. And, yeah, that's what, basically, the story's about. And, yeah, I guess resilience and getting through the tough times.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: I think Michelle's story really speaks to resilience. You read her book and she's... ..you know, she's, like, five years old, she's just falling off. You know, fall after fall, breaking
her back, her neck, her vertebrae, and she gets back on the horse.

MELISSA: While winning a Melbourne Cuphas given her an international celebrity profile, Michelle is still a working jockey who needs to put in the hours that guarantee rides.

LLOYD WILLIAMS: He's not bad, considering.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Very nice horse.

LLOYD WILLIAMS: Yeah. He's not bad.

MELISSA: One of this country's most high-profile racing identities, Lloyd Williams, has seen the value Michelle brings to his sport.

LLOYD WILLIAMS: Just keep walking him down there. Got a nice action?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Really nice action.

LLOYD WILLIAMS: Yeah.

MICHELLE PAYNE: And he hadn't had enough. He was really strong through the line, so he's definitely got a motor in there.

LLOYD WILLIAMS: I don't think we've had anyone at all that's promoted the industry as well as that. You know, they can spend all the money on advertising they like, but, you know, you have an iconic person that's just won the Melbourne Cup, so, you know, it's a great advertisement for her. And then, you know, she gets off the horse and she's a wonderful promoter of the industry. So, you know, got a very well-rounded product there.

MELISSA: A breath of fresh air?

LLOYD WILLIAMS: Absolutely a breath of fresh air. You know, I'm thrilled for her. ..they said last year was the best rider in the world. Well, who beat Frankie Dettori in the Melbourne Cup? This young lady here.

MICHELLE PAYNE: To have Lloyd come on board and to show me full support has been fantastic, because he's given me some terrific opportunities. And I can't be more grateful than that.

MICHELLE PAYNE : Can you brush him?

STEVIE: You can do the... The hard work.

(BOTH CHUCKLE)

MICHELLE PAYNE: I'll hold him.

MELISSA: And while brother and sister wrangle over top billing...

MELISSA: Well, what are we gonna put up in lights when the movie comes out?

MICHELLE PAYNE: Stevie Payne. Yep.

MELISSA: You reckon?

STEVIE: Stevie and Michelle Payne.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Perfect.

MELISSA: Rachel reckons she's hit on her perfect working title for the movie.

RACHEL GRIFFITHS:: I'm loving 'Ride Like A Girl', because it's that great inversion that something that used to be an insult, running like a girl, riding like a girl, is a strength.

MELISSA: You guys have such a special relationship. You're lucky to have each other.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Yeah. Very lucky.

STEVIE: Definitely.

MELISSA: Is she your best friend?

STEVIE: Best friend forever. I can't live without her.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Can't live without me?

STEVIE: No.

MICHELLE PAYNE: Aww, that's nice. Can't live without you. (BOTH CHUCKLE)

RACHEL GRIFFITHS: A local horse comes in, 100 to 1, a girl on top. It's brilliant.