#simonshoots

“When we put too much pressure on something, everything gets a little clipped and we don’t feel like we’re ourselves,” he explains. “And I think the most important thing in our relationship is that we’re both able to be ourselves. I think it’s probably the most important thing in most relationships, isn’t it?”

Baker credits his wife’s honest opinions and no-nonsense advice for helping convince him to take on adapting Breath for the big screen.

She said, ” ‘Look, honey, there’s so many crap films made these days, so what if yours is just another one? Just go and make it,’ ” he recalls with a laugh. “She’s pretty great at taking the piss out of me and supporting me at the same time. Which is a real skill. One of her other great ones is, ‘You’ll be fine, honey, just don’t be yourself.'”

With their kids growing up — Stella is a Yale School of Drama graduate — Baker felt he could dedicate the time to make Breath, filmed on Australia’s west coast. “I feel really proud that we actually were able to pull it off,” he says of the movie, which has already earned him an Australian Directors Guild award.

Next on his to-do list? Some R&R with his family — “We live by the beach and get into the water most days” — and some free time to put into his new hobby: growing veggies.