Think of any A-list celebrity and chances are Renee Bargh has interviewed them. From Clooney to Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston to Oprah, when the stars hit the red carpet, you could be sure Renee was there, prepped and ready, with microphone in hand.
“I don’t think I ever in my wildest dreams could have believed I would’ve worked in Hollywood,” the 35-year- old begins.
“To be in LA and surrounded by the people I was surrounded by and on the red carpets I was on, it took a long time for it to feel real. I just feel so grateful.”
As we chat the morning away at the stylishly renovated Avalon Beach bungalow she shares with partner, Andrew Lange, it feels a world away from the gleaming lights of Hollywood.
Looking at Renee in her element, dressed in a striking yet relaxed drop waist beach dress with bare feet, it’s also intriguing to think of the born and bred ‘beach girl’ grinding away in Tinseltown.
“It’s a pretty random dream for a kid that grows up in the country that is so far removed from the entertainment world. I remember growing up and watching commercials and thinking, ‘Gosh, all the people that work in McDonalds are really pretty’. I didn’t really know how it worked,” she laughs.
It was the Nine Network’s hit travel program, Getaway, that first sparked her desire to get into the television world, a drive she pursued from Byron Bay to the ‘big smoke’ of Sydney.
“From there, things kind of snowballed,” she explains.
“I went for an acting role in Underbelly, which couldn’t have gone worse. I realised I’m just not good at being at being anyone but myself. The casting director called my agent at the time and said, ‘Maybe she should get into presenting. Because she’s really great at chatting and we loved talking to her.’”
Cue stints hosting Channel 7’s National Bingo Night and Nine’s Surfari before Renee booked her ‘peak’ gig as a host on Australian TV music network, Channel V.
“I know a lot of people don’t like to hear this part of the story, but I got really lucky. I was in the right place at the right time and things just happened,” she says.
“I worked really hard, but I always had this deep belief of what I wanted to achieve, and I kept holding on to that.”
It was this self-belief that allowed her to overcome the heartbreak of upending her life and moving to the United States for a partner, only for the relationship to end shortly after.
“I just feel like I’m constantly guided to these places, because once I got to LA I got the job at Extra TV as soon as I landed,” Renee recalls.
“I never would have gone, had I not gone to be with him. It just showed me that was the catalyst that I needed to get me there.”
The next 10 years were a blur of red carpets, press junkets and movie stars, hustling ‘almost seven days a week’ to keep up with the Hollywood news cycle.
And while she relished working with household names such as George Clooney – ‘the quintessential movie star’ – Jennifer Aniston –‘so kind and cool’ – and John Travolta – ‘incredibly kind and gracious’ – she’s open about the ‘crazy frequency’ of life behind the limelight.
“When you’re working red carpets, you could be there for three to four hours and in LA, it’s boiling hot most of the time. You’re under the lights, you don’t get to eat, you’re in your heels and they squish you in behind the barricades with photographers and producers yelling,” Renee explains.
“I am so incredibly lucky, but I wish you could see the other side.”
Widespread critical acclaim and two Emmy Awards later, it took the global pandemic and a stint as the host of breakout Australian reality show, The Voice, for the young Aussie to take stock of her pace of life.
“I was meant to be back on a plane to LA and I was walking the Bondi to Bronte with a girlfriend and had an epiphany I just couldn’t go back,” she recalls.
“I was passing people, and everyone was happy and smiling. Just before I had left LA, we were in full blown lockdown. I hadn’t held another person in months. I’d lost a friend to COVID. It was very grim and sad and scary.
“I still haven’t even been there to say goodbye or to see friends or anything. But I think I just had to cut it like that. It’s kind of light a breakup, you need to go cold turkey and not see them.”
Since returning to home soil, Renee says the focus has shifted to work that ‘feeds the soul and spirit’ over ‘being that constantly busy working girl’.
“When I got back from LA, it probably took a good year to just completely decompress from that life. I finally feel like I’m at that place now. So, when the phone rings and work comes up, I’m excited about it.”
And as a recent semi-finalist on Dancing with the Stars, the current ambassador for streaming service, Stan, and with dreams of her own interior design business, that’s not to say this local talent will be taking a back seat any time soon.
“I guess how my life has gone, it has taught me to not think too far ahead,” Renee says.
“I never would’ve expected a year ago I would be living on the stunning Northern Beaches, and I never would’ve expected that I wouldn’t be hustling and running around. I’m living a much slower, quieter pace right now.
“I just feel like everything in my life has happened in a way that I could have never dreamed. So, I’m trusting my intuition and letting myself be guided.”
Renee’s top picks for what to watch on Stan
- The Great: “The dialogue is amazing. It’s so funny, witty, clever.”
- Becoming Elizabeth: “I’m not usually into those period shows, but it was fantastic.”
- The Thing About Pam: “It’s a crazy true story. Very quirky. It’s kitchy, but it’s really good.”
- Lazarus Project: “It’s kind of an Inception meets The Matrix-type vibe.”