The Secret Life of Us: 'We're Just Friends'

Cate Shortland directed 10 episodes of the Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us from 2001 to 2003.

This excerpt from Series 1 Episode 19, A Friend Indeed, features actors Claudia Karvan (as Dr Alex Christensen), Sibylla Budd (Gabrielle Kovich), Deborah Mailman (Kelly Lewis) and Samuel Johnson (Evan Wylde).

Alex and Gabrielle discuss relationships in this warm and intimate scene.

Prior to Secret Life, Cate had worked with a lot of non-actors on her short films (for example, Flowergirl, 1999) and she credits her collaborative experience on the TV series with making her more comfortable directing actors.

Cate's other television directing credits include four episodes of the comedy series SMILF (US, 2019), the TV movie The Silence (Australia, 2006) and four episodes of Bad Cop, Bad Cop (Australia, 2002–03).

Her television writing credits in Australia include The Kettering Incident (2016), Deadline Gallipoli (2014), Devil's Playground (2014) and The Slap (2011). 

This episode was first broadcast on Network Ten on 5 November 2001.