Renée Brack, the 443rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, has a story that is crazy but true: notorious gangster Chopper Read pointed a gun at her face, pulled the trigger … and she lived.

Renée was an investigative reporter at the time, and the first TV journalist to interview Chopper. With a crew, she recorded observational-style footage in Tasmania, which involved several guns and alcohol. Chopper had promised to show her how he’d been able to play games of Russian roulette yet somehow win each time. At one point during filming, Chopper whipped out a revolver, held it to his temple and pulled the trigger. Then, he pointed the gun at Renée and did the same.

Chopper insisted the gun was loaded: he may have been telling the truth, because he believed, if you prepared the bullet in a certain way, you could be certain where the loaded chamber would come to rest when you spun the cylinder. But it’s also possible the gun was not loaded, Renée said, given that Chopper was a compulsive liar with a dark sense of humour.

Renée had a surprising superpower during her years as an investigative reporter, which was a naive innocence. Before moving to Sydney for university, Renée had grown up in an extremely safe small town, which had made her very trusting. Many of the people Renée interviewed were hard-bitten types who were used to being suspicious of others and being regarded with suspicion; so when they met this odd woman who took much of what they said at face value, they would be charmed and disarmed, and open up to her.

After more than three decades in TV, Renée is now a lecturer at the SAE University College and a filmmaker. One of her films, Ticketyboo, which was released in 2022, tells the story of her father’s struggle with dementia and the stigma around the disease. She’s currently working on several other projects. 

Renée is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met: she’s led a rich, adventurous life and has many tales to tell. I’ve heard only a fraction of them, so I look forward to catching up again and hearing more.