It wasn’t certain that Rachel Ward was going to get the role of her lifetime, as she starred as Meggie Cleary in the classic mini-series The Thorn Birds.
The British actress and model has had a long and varying career, spanning decades. Now, she’s settled in Australia with her husband, whom she fell in love with on set.
So what really happened on The Thorn Birds? And why did the mini-series become such a huge success?
This is Rachel Ward today, at 65.
If you were to debate which television series is the best of all time, you’d probably get a different answer from every person you talk to. Firstly, there are so many different kinds of series, and of course, we all like different things.
But usually, the most popular television series are those that aired for many years, broadcast on television with several seasons and many strong and independent characters.
Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, Friends, Sopranos or Twin Peaks. The answer to which one reigns supreme will probably never be decided, and to be honest, that is also one of the most fantastic things about television.
The Thorn Birds
There will always be a series that sticks closer to the heart than others.
Even though we have more established series that last for years, there are several examples of miniseries that weren’t meant to stick around long, but still reached cult status.
One of those was The Thorn Birds, starring Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, and Bryan Brown.
It was first broadcast in March 1983, and over 30 million people in the US watched the ten-hour miniseries, based on Colleen McCullough’s 1977 Australian novel The Thorn Birds.
The mini-series gained huge interest and was praised by both the audience and critics, winning several awards, both for its story as well as the actors’ performances.
Rachel Ward
Ten hours long and spread over five nights, The Thorn Birds is still to this day considered a classic that will live on for many years to come.
Rachel Ward starred as Meggie Cleary in The Thorn Birds, but at the time, it was pretty much a surprise when she got it. It turned out that the producers had difficulties in finding the perfect person for the role, but in the end, Ward was the perfect choice.
Not only did Ward get her big breakthrough by starring in the television mini-series, she also found the love of her life on set.
This is the story of Ward – and how she travelled the world to keep her passion for films and television series alive.
Rachel Ward – early life
Born on September 12, 1957, in Cornwell, Oxfordshire, England, Ward studied at the Hatherop Castle School in Hatherop before attending the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. However, at just 16 years of age, she left school to pursue a career in fashion.
Ward became a fashion and photography model, appearing on covers for Vogue, Cosmopolitan, as well as Harper’s & Queen. She slowly made her way into the acting scene after she was featured in several commercials.
Years later, in 1995, she would earn her Graduate Diploma of Communications and a Graduate Certificate in Writing from University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.
In 1979, Rachel Ward appeared in her first television movie, Christmas Lilies of the Field. In the years that followed she would have a number of smaller roles, but in 1983, she would become a well-known actress all over the US.
Casting ‘The Thorn Birds’
Stan Marguiles was one of the producers on The Thorn Birds. But casting the right people to appear in the show wasn’t the easiest task.
In 1982, he explained the difficulty.
However, when they saw Rachel Ward, they were sure that they’d found the right one for the role of Meggie Cleary.
“She has to go from 18 to her early 50s. From a rather naïve, overly romantic young girl to a bitter woman in her 30s, to a woman who finally understands where she took the wrong turn when she reaches her 50s. There’s an enormous range of emotions and colors,” he said.
“They first started to age me, it was kind of scary,” Ward recalled. “I had these endless double chins. I sort of had a body suit underneath the clothes, I remember liking it when I grew older, I liked the outfits, there was slightly more masculine than they were in the beginning.”
Over 200 women were considered for the role of Meggie Cleary, and a total of 40 actresses auditioned.
Speaking with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Ward recalled her audition.
“My audition was quite light and I had a sense of humor” she said. “I remember I was taking it seriously but I wasn’t acting with a capital A. It is so subjective, performances pieces, and I was probably spot on the first time. I got like 10/10 for looks and 4/10 for acting.”
Golden Globe nominated
They sent Ward to work with an acting coach, and it was a great match. Starring alongside Richard Chamberlain as Father Ralph, Ward became a beloved actress, praised by viewers as well as critics.
In 1982, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Chamberlain received a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television. The show itself won four Golden Globes, including Best Miniseries, as well as six Emmy awards.
“It was the absolute top of the heat of a soap opera,” Chamberlain said. “I am often surprised when I think about how it remains so successful, because there was one tragedy after another, after another, after another. Nobody came out on top of that show. It was so sad but had such wonderful characters”
Rachel Ward: “Felt terribly”
Ward wasn’t an actress that crafted her skills through school, but rather she learned as time went by. As the show aired, she saw herself as the weaker link. She suffered from insecurity for years after she received some negative reviews (The New York Times said she was “miscast”).
“I felt terribly like I’d disappointed,” she told Closer. “I felt that despite me it was a success.”
However, years later, her grown daughter watched The Thorn Birds, and told her mother, “‘Mom, you were fabulous,’” Ward recalled. “That was, for me, the most important response that I could’ve ever had.”
”It was soap opera. I think of it differently now,” Ward said. “Acting styles have changed and mine was always quite natural. And I think they tried to make me something that I wasn’t naturally. So that’s the excuse that I’ve made for myself.”
Her performance in the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds was of course a very important step for Ward, career wise. However, the production of the show became much more important for her, since she met the love of her life.
Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown
During her work on The Thorn Birds, Rachel Ward and Chamberlain’s characters Meggie and Father Ralph had great passion between them, which kept the viewers coming back.
Chamberlain recalled that it was difficult filming specific scenes.
“There’s a microphone hidden in the armpit… and you’re trying not to smear her lipstick,” he told Closer.
Even though Ward and Chamberlain were in love on camera, the great love story was actually when the cameras were turned off.
Bryan Brown starred as Meggie’s husband Luke O’Neill, and while shooting, they fell in love.
“What happened on screen was happening off it – that’s why our love scenes were so believable,” Ward told the UK’s Daily Express.
“Everyone on set realized they were falling for each other. “I’ve never seen two people more in love,” Chamberlain said, adding that Brown even helped Ward calm her nerves before shooting. “She seemed to get happier and happier and her work got better and better.”
Married months later
Ward and Brown obviously had “sexual chemistry” on set. She really fancied him, however, when asked who made the first move, she made sure to throw her beloved husband under the bus.
‘He as slow as a wet week. Really took forever. I think I probably did,’ she said.
Brown, however, insisted that he was just being a “cunning Aussie bloke” not approaching her at once.”
“And before they know it, they’re hooked!” the legendary actor joked.
Rachel Ward and Brown got married months after the filming of The Thorn Birds wrapped.
The couple went on to have three children, Rose, Matilda and Joseph.
So what happened to Ward following The Thorn Birds?
She and Brown moved to Australia, where Ward starred in several films and television series.
Rachel Ward – this is her today
In 2001, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television following her performance in the film On the Beach.
Her other credits include The Big House, Martha’s New Coat and television series Rake, Devil’s Playground and The Straits.
Ward also went into producing and directing,
Besides being an actress, wife, mother, and now grandmother, Ward also made sure to contribute to society.
Therefore, in 2005, she was awarded the A.M (Member of the Order of Australia for “raising awareness of social justice through lobbying, mentoring and advocacy for the rights of disadvantaged and at-risk young people.”
Work with daughter Matilda
Both Matilda’s parents were present when she gave birth, which was truly special for her.
“When I was pushing Zan out at the end, dad was stroking my head and mum was cheering me on, crying, saying, ‘Come on, Till! He’s so close,’” Matilda said. “It was pretty special that both my parents got to be with me through such a monumental time in my life.”
Just days ago, Ward got to see her newborn granddaughter, which she shared on her Instagram.
And on another note, isn’t Matilda just the spitting image of her mother!
Ward and her daughter Matilda both chose acting as their job.
However, when Matilda first said she wanted to become an actress, her mother wasn’t that excited.
Spitting image of her mother
“Mum definitely said ‘don’t be an actress,’” Matilda recalled. “She encouraged me to go to film school and get behind the camera, which I did and I’m very glad I did.”
In 2016, they teamed up in the film The Death and Life of Otto Bloom. Rachel and Matilda play the same character at different stages of her life
“We look alike so obviously there’s a great bonus in that we share physical similarities and mannerisms,” Rachel Ward said. “Plus, as we know, women over the age of 40 are basically invisible in the media and in film … It’s a treat when something comes along where it’s ok to be in your 50s.”
Rachel Ward was wonderful as Meggie Cleary in The Thorn Birds, and we’re so happy to see that she still is as passionate today.
A Boy Visited the Grave of His Adoptive Mother He Resented in Life, and Found an Envelope with His Name on It
13-year-old Stuart built walls around his heart, refusing to accept his adoptive mother’s love. His resentment for her followed her to the grave. One day, he found an envelope addressed to him on her tomb, bearing a truth that shattered his heart and brought him to tears.
The linoleum floor of the children’s shelter squeaked beneath five-year-old Stuart’s worn sneakers. His small fingers clutched a worn teddy bear, its fur matted and faded like a shield against the world’s indifference.
All the other children played joyfully in the background, but Stuart remained isolated. The surrounding joy and laughter felt like sandpaper on an open wound. He saw himself as “unwanted” and resigned himself to a life of loneliness.
A sad little boy holding a teddy bear | Source: Midjourney
His eyes, deep and weary for such a young soul, had seen too much. Countless potential couples had come and gone, but nobody showed any particular interest in adopting him. Either because he was too gloomy and shy, or perhaps because he simply didn’t fit the mold of the ideal adoptive child.
Then one day, a woman named Jennifer arrived at the shelter, and she was immediately drawn to Stuart. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him. She saw more than just a child. She saw a spirit wounded, and a heart waiting to be understood.
Her life had been a series of challenges: late-night shifts, financial struggles, and the weight of being alone. But something about this boy spoke to her in a language beyond words.
A woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
“Hi there,” she said gently, her voice soft as a whisper, careful not to startle him.
Stuart’s head jerked up, his body tensing. He thought it was going to be another potential disappointment. And another moment of hope about to be crushed.
He’d learned to read adults, their fake smiles, and their rehearsed kindness. His teddy bear pressed tightly against his chest, his only true companion.
“Are you another person who’s just going to look at me and then leave?” Stuart’s voice was small like a fragile growl from a wounded cub.
A sad little boy looking up | Source: Midjourney
Jennifer’s heart broke. She knelt down, moving slowly, understanding that sudden movements could shatter this delicate moment.
“No, not at all, sweetie. I’m Jennifer. And I promise you, I’m not here to just look and leave.”
Stuart’s eyes — those enormous, skeptical eyes — studied her. Years of disappointment had taught him that promises meant nothing.
“Would you like to come home with me?” Jennifer asked, her hand hovering just inches from his, respecting his space.
A battle raged in Stuart’s small heart. Hope versus abandonment. Trust versus heartbreak.
Close-up shot of a compassionate woman extending her hand | Source: Midjourney
“You really want me?” he whispered, tears threatening to spill. “Everybody says I’m a gloomy kid.”
At that moment, Jennifer saw beyond the frightened child. She saw a soul desperate to be loved and belong.
“More than anything in this world,” she replied, her eyes glistening. “More than you could ever know.”
Little did Stuart know that Jennifer wanted him more than he could ever imagine… not just as an adopted child, but as the very heartbeat of her existence.
The teddy bear seemed to squeeze a little less tightly now. A tiny, almost imperceptible crack appeared in Stuart’s protective wall.
A sad little boy with his eyes downcast | Source: Midjourney
Hope, fragile and trembling, began to take root. The adoption was finalized, and Stuart finally found a loving home. However, he refused to accept Jennifer as his mother, building a fort of reluctance around his heart.
She was hurt by his resistance. He wouldn’t even call her “Mom.” Just Jennifer. She hoped that time would heal the wounds.
But the years rolled by like a turbulent river, each moment a test of Jennifer’s love and Stuart’s wounded heart. The shield of isolation the boy had built in the children’s shelter grew taller and more fortified with each passing year.
A boy looking out the window | Source: Midjourney
But Jennifer didn’t give up, and she kept trying, hoping for a miracle.
Homework night was always a battlefield.
“I don’t need your help!” Stuart would argue. His backpack would sail across the room, folders and papers scattering like fallen leaves.
Jennifer remained calm, her hands steady as she collected the fallen papers. “I’m just trying to help you, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that!” Stuart’s eyes would blaze. “My real mother would have understood me. She would have known exactly what I needed without me having to explain! You’re NOT my REAL mother.”
The words were a knife, but Jennifer’s love was stronger than the boy’s hatred. She knew each harsh word was another layer of his protection, and another attempt to push away the love he desperately needed but was terrified to accept.
A heartbroken woman | Source: Midjourney
“Your algebra looks challenging,” she said one day, picking up a crumpled worksheet. “Want to talk about it?”
“No!” Stuart, now ten, turned away, his small shoulders rigid with ignorance. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re not—”
“Not your real mom,” Jennifer finished his sentence, a sad smile touching her lips. “I know.”
But her eyes told a different story. Each word he threw was a fragment of a heart trying to protect itself, a child desperate to believe he was unlovable because loving meant risking abandonment again.
A frustrated boy | Source: Midjourney
Later that night, Jennifer sat on the edge of Stuart’s bed. He pretended to be asleep, but she knew better. Her hand hovered over his back, not touching, but close enough to offer comfort.
“I might not be your real mother,” she whispered, “but my love for you is as real as any love can be.”
Stuart’s breath hitched just for a moment.
“Go away,” he mumbled, but there was less anger now. But more hurt. And more vulnerability.
Jennifer’s hurt burned within her. How she wanted to pull him into a hug. How she wanted to explain that her love ran deeper than he could possibly understand. But fear held her back. The fear of losing him forever.
“I’ll always be here,” she said softly before leaving the room. “Always.”
A portrait of an emotional woman | Source: Midjourney
In the darkness, Stuart clutched his old teddy bear — the one from the shelter. The one Jennifer had carefully preserved all these years. A silent witness to a love more complicated than either of them could comprehend.
The night absorbed their unspoken emotions… the love, the pain, and the desperate need to connect yet fear of being lost.
Years fleeted by like leaves on the breeze. Then one day, the diagnosis came like a thunderbolt, splitting Jennifer’s world into a before and after.
Stage four. Terminal cancer.
The doctor’s words echoed in the sterile hospital room, but Jennifer’s mind was anywhere but on herself.
A doctor in her office | Source: Midjourney
Stuart, now 13, sat across from her, his arms crossed, and a wall of teenage indifference masking the storm of emotions brewing beneath.
“I need to talk to you about some important things,” Jennifer began, her voice soft and loving. Her hands trembled slightly as she reached for a notebook comprising a compilation of life lessons, contact information, and love she wanted to leave behind.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Stuart muttered, turning away.
Jennifer’s heart ached. Even now, her son refused to let her in. “Please,” she said, “just listen for a moment.”
A teenage boy frowning in a hospital | Source: Midjourney
She began explaining practical matters — how to do laundry, basic cooking, and managing small household tasks. Each instruction was a love letter disguised as mundane advice.
“You’ll need to learn to take care of yourself after I’m gone, dear,” she explained, sliding the notebook across the table. “Insurance papers are in the blue folder. Emergency contacts are—”
“Stop!” Stuart’s voice erupted, tears threatening to spill over but never falling. “Stop acting like you’re already gone!”
A woman lying in a hospital bed | Source: Pexels
The room fell silent. Jennifer’s eyes were pools of infinite love and unshed tears.
“I’m trying to protect you,” she whispered. “I’ve always been trying to protect you.”
Stuart fled the room, fighting back tears. The thought of being left alone all over again crushed his spirit.
Then, a month later, Jennifer lost her battle with cancer.
At the funeral, Stuart stood like a statue. The world moved around him. People were whispering, crying, and sharing memories. But he remained detached like a marble figure carved from grief and anger.
A grieving teenage boy in a cemetery | Source: Midjourney
Jennifer’s best friend, Carol, watched him carefully. She remembered Jennifer’s final request… a promise made in quiet, desperate moments.
“Promise me you’ll help him understand,” Jennifer had whispered just two days before she died, her hand clutching Carol’s. “Promise me you’ll make sure he knows how much he was loved. Promise me you’ll be there for him and love him like your own.”
Sighing a deep breath, Carol turned to Stuart. His eyes were dry. No tears. No visible emotion. Just a profound emptiness that scared Carol more than any outburst could.
As the casket lowered, something inside the boy began to crack. Not visibly. Not yet. But a fracture had begun… tiny, almost imperceptible, but real.
Somberly dressed men carrying a casket | Source: Pexels
Carol approached Stuart after the service. “Your mother,” she began, “she loved you more than—”
“Don’t,” Stuart cut her off. “Just don’t.”
He returned home, enveloped by a grave silence. Jennifer’s voice, her constant, “Dinner is ready, sweetie!” calls from downstairs, and even the aroma of the pies she used to bake for him haunted Stuart. He walked around the house, tormented by the ghosts of memories.
The last thing Jennifer had written in her diary, tucked away where Stuart would eventually find it, was a simple message:
“My dearest Stuart,
I love you more than you will ever know.
More than words can say.
Always & forever,
Mom”
A diary | Source: Pixabay
Stuart threw the diary on the bed, refusing to cry. But beneath the anger, beneath the wall he’d built, a tiny seed of something had been planted. A seed Jennifer had nurtured with every breath of her life.
Nine days after the funeral, Carol looked frail as she nervously approached Stuart in his room. He was staring at Jennifer’s framed photo on the wall.
“Sweetie,” Carol called out. The boy approached reluctantly.
“Before your mother died,” she said, “she made me promise to do something.” Her fingers, now thin and trembling, gripped his wrist. “Nine days after she was gone, I was to place something at her grave.”
A boy facing the wall | Source: Midjourney
Stuart’s eyes widened. “What is that?”
“You should visit her grave, sweetheart. She left something there just for you.”
Stuart’s eyes filled with tears he forced himself to hold back. “For me? But why there… of all places?”
“Because some truths can only be understood when the heart is ready to listen, dear.”
Mustering the courage, Stuart hurried to the cemetery, his legs slowing down as he approached Jennifer’s grave. Tears welled up in his eyes when he found an envelope on her tomb.
It was pristine. Addressed to him in her familiar, loving handwriting.
An envelope on a tomb | Source: Midjourney
His hands shook as he opened it and began reading:
“From your biological mother.
My dearest Stuart,
The day I gave birth to you, I was a scared 19-year-old girl. Your father, a man who promised me the world, disappeared the moment he learned I was pregnant. I was alone, terrified, with nothing but a broken dream and a baby I loved more than life itself. My heart shattered the day I left you at the shelter’s doorstep.
Those five years you spent there broke my heart into a million pieces. Each night, I would cry, wondering if you were warm, if you were loved, and if you were eating enough. I worked three jobs, saved every penny, just to create a life where I could bring you home.
When I came to adopt you, I saw a boy who had been hurt. Abandoned. Rejected. And I knew I could never tell you the truth. Not then. Not when your wounds were so fresh.
So I became your adoptive mom… the woman who would love you unconditionally. Who would absorb your anger and your hatred. Who would wait patiently for the day you might understand and accept me.
I am not just your adoptive mother. I am your biological mother. I have always been your mother.
I loved you before you were born. I loved you through every harsh word. I love you still… from the beyond.
Forgive me. Please.
Your mother,
Jennifer”
An emotional boy reading a letter in a cemetery | Source: Midjourney
Warm tears splashed onto the paper. Time seemed to stand still as memories flooded back: Jennifer’s endless patience. Her quiet love. The teddy bear she’d kept all these years. Every little thing.
“MOM!” Stuart whispered, his voice breaking free of the emotions he’d been holding all these years. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
His fingers traced the gravestone. The wind seemed to wrap around him like a mother’s embrace.
“I love you,” he sobbed. “I always loved you. I just didn’t know how to show it. I was afraid of losing you. Of being abandoned again. I didn’t do it intentionally. And I… I didn’t know that you were my real mother. I’m sorry.”
A boy crying in a cemetery | Source: Midjourney
Silence surrounded him. Then, a gentle gust of breeze caressed his cheek. It felt like Jennifer was patting him. A small smile lit up Stuart’s face as he carefully tucked the letter back into the envelope. He leaned and planted a soft kiss on the gravestone, whispering, “Love you, Mom.”
From that day onward, Stuart visited his mother’s grave daily. Not out of obligation. But out of a love finally understood. A love that had waited, patient and unconditional, through every harsh word and every moment of rejection. A love that would continue… unbroken and forever.
A grieving boy holding a bouquet of white lilies in a cemetery | Source: Midjourney
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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