Rachel Ward, celebrated for her iconic roles in film and television, has swapped the glitz of Hollywood for the tranquillity of farm life. The British-born actress, now 68, resides in Australia and proudly identifies as 'a cow hand' while managing her 350-hectare property in the Nambucca Valley, New South Wales.
A New Chapter on the Land
She shares the farm with her husband, Australian actor Bryan Brown, 78, and the couple relish the lifestyle it affords. Despite the demanding nature of farming, Rachel feels a sense of freedom there, as revealed in an upcoming episode of Australian Story. A key motivation for establishing the farm was to produce organic meat, adopting a paddock-to-plate approach to address environmental concerns associated with cattle farming.
'You can go, "I like the way they're treating their animals, I like what they're doing with their land",' Rachel told the program. 'You can buy that meat that has come through a system that you approve of.' She added, 'In the cities, we're so disconnected from where our food has grown and how it's grown that we've just put the blinkers on and we've stopped looking.'
From Depression to Dedication
Rachel revealed that a bout of depression following the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020 spurred her concerns about climate change and the world she would leave for her grandchildren, prompting her commitment to sustainable farming. She lives at the Nambucca property full-time, while Bryan, still working as an actor, commutes back and forth.
Bryan told Australian Story that while life on the farm is a change of pace, it is by no means slower. 'She's bloody loving it and fully involved,' he said. 'I can't get over how much she does, but she loves it. That's all that counts.'
Letting Go of Glamour
The actress, who now only occasionally appears in film and television projects, says the glamour of her acting career is of little concern. Earlier this year, she spoke out against age-shaming critics on social media after being subjected to cruel comments about her grey hair and wrinkles.
'I'm so past caring about what people think about one's appearance or age,' Rachel said. 'All I want to hear is, "Actually, Rachel's cows are looking pretty good".' Responding to a fan who defended her, she wrote: 'I just feel sorry for those poor souls who fear ageing so much. They will learn that it's ultimate freedom as a woman to let youth and beauty go.'
In an interview with Daily Mail, she added: 'Women fear being judged and criticised for ageing naturally. They feel they have to hang on to their youth and are resorting to rather drastic ways of doing it. But let it go! And much bounty will come from it.'
