Simon Baker reveals mom’s surprising reaction to his joining new show Scarpetta: ‘Nearly jumped out of her skin’

Simon Baker revealed that one of the biggest fans of his new TV show, Scarpetta, is his mother, who was so excited when she heard of his casting that she “nearly jumped out of her skin”.

The Australian actor shared on the Today show that his mom, Elizabeth Labberton, adores the Scarpetta book series created by Patricia Cornwell, which spans 29 books and follows the life of forensic pathologist Dr Kay Scarpetta.

“My mom’s a huge fan of the books. She’d read all of them. And so when I mentioned it, she kind of…she nearly jumped out of her skin, her voice went very high,” Simon recalled.

“I think since I’ve shot the thing, she’s read all of them again, which is kind of unbelievable,” he continued. “And she sort of quizzes me constantly about like, ‘Well, how are they dealing…’ and I’m like, ‘Mom, please.'”

The 56-year-old added that she was always supportive of his work and even gave notes on his projects in the past. “She watches it. I mean, she’s my mom,” he explained.

“The first job I ever did, the only critique she had was about the woman that played my mother in the show…she thought there could’ve been someone else that could’ve played that role better.”

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Elizabeth was just 19 when Simon was born, with the family residing in Tasmania before relocating to New Guinea when he was nine months old. She welcomed Simon and his older sister with her then-husband, Barry Baker, yet they split when their son was two, and Barry had scarce contact with the family.

Watch the trailer for Scarpetta below…

“They went on this incredible adventure – and they didn’t come back together,” Simon said on Who Do You Think You Are? “I didn’t know he was my dad. He was a family friend, Uncle Barry. I’ve struggled with that.” They reunited when the aspiring actor was 18.

“Families have many different forms, and I think if you can look at your own past and the past of your ancestors with compassion, you can carry that forward with you with a little bit more wisdom,” he added.

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Simon portrays FBI profiler Benton Wesley in the upcoming crime drama, alongside Nicole Kidman as Dr Scarpetta and Jamie Lee Curtis as her sister, Dorothy Farinelli. The Mentalist star adopted a Virginian accent for the show, which he said took plenty of time to finesse.

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“It’s reasonably hard, but it’s just practice. It’s like learning a song, you know, hitting certain notes and certain sounds, and it’s muscular, so it’s in your mouth,” he said on Today.

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He added that working with Nicole and Jamie had been “wonderful”, as they elevated the production to new heights. “You’re talking about consummate professionals. Jamie produced the show, Nicole’s company produced the show as well, everyone’s invested in doing the best work that they can do, so you get to work, and there’s absolute focus,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t have fun. It’s important to have a good time, it brings the best out in people, but it’s great, it’s really wonderful.”