Cariba and her movie

Cariba Heine

as Caroline Byrne. Only 25 when she died, Caroline Byrne was in some respects still a child. That is, she retained a childlike trust in other people.

This is despite completing a psychology degree and working for a couple of years in that most cutthroat of professions, fashion modelling.

Intelligent, ambitious and aspirational, there was, nevertheless, something naïve about Caroline Byrne that inspired in her friends and lovers a desire to protect her. She was famous in her circle for being the girl who never swore.

What was it she saw in Gordon Wood? Did she love him? If she did why did she repeatedly reject his offers of marriage? And if she didn’t, why didn’t she leave him? Possibly it was because she shared his ambitions for wealth and celebrity. Possibly it was his dominant personality that both attracted and repelled her – she would always be his little girl, perhaps, never his true partner. Possibly it was the explosively good sex. A healthy girl with healthy appetites, Caroline loved being with Gordon in bed as much as she loved being seen with him out and about – she knew they made an eye-catching couple.

Like her father, Caroline Byrne had a deeply-rooted sense of right and wrong, and it is that, her moral compass, which brought about her downfall.



Cariba Heine

Cariba remembers hearing about the death of Caroline Byrne and feeling really sad.

“I do remember seeing photographs on the news, and thinking how sad it was and what a lovely person she seemed to be,” says Cariba.

Playing the central role of Caroline Byrne has been a great opportunity for Cariba but at the same time one loaded with responsibility to her family and the people who knew her so well.

“That sense of responsibility is in your mind all the time, it’s an extra pressure because you are never simply playing a role, you always want to respect the feelings of those who knew and loved Caroline,” explains Cariba.

Cariba describes the process of making the telemovie as one of continuing to learn, because they used locations where real events happened and they encountered people who had been around at the time.