Magda’s change of heart
Magda Szubanski gets personal for new ABC series Magda’s Big National Health Check, using her trademark humour, warmth and honesty to explore how all Australians can begin leading healthier lives, writes
FOR as long as she can remember, Magda Szubanski has wanted to make people’s lives better. And over the years that has manifested itself in different ways – from her passionate campaign for marriage equality, through to making people laugh with her iconic performances in Babe, Fast Forward and Kath & Kim.
“All my friends are in the community aid sector – legal aid workers and things like that – that’s what my friendship circle is rather than famous people,” she explains.
“I mean, of course, I know famous people. I’ve been around forever.
“But my dad wanted to be a doctor. The war ruined that for him. His mother was a nurse, and my own mother was very nurturing in lots of ways. And having gone to a convent school, there’s a big element of social justice that comes from that as well.
“So, wanting the best for people and wanting to help, I don’t think there’s anything more satisfying than that.”
Of course, Szubanski also draws a lot of satisfaction from performance. And she counts Babe’s Mrs Hoggett and Kath & Kim’s sports-loving optimist Sharon as her proudest comedic creations. Not just because they are the best known, but because of the joy each has brought to so many people.
To this day, the warm and gentle humour of Kath & Kim finds new fans – many of whom were not even born when the permanently permed Kath (Jane Turner) and her sullen daughter Kim (Gina Riley) had their first verbal stoush – on the streaming platform Netflix. While for those who grew up with the characters that Szubanski, Turner and Riley created almost 30 years ago on their sketch comedy series, Big Girl’s Blouse,
Kath & Kim is a nostalgic reminder of simpler times, like getting a warm hug from an old friend.
Later this month, Channel 7 is airing two specials to mark the 20th anniversary of Kath & Kim’s debut. It will feature material that never made it to air and a collection of special guests. While delighted to have spent time with her old pals, Szubanski emphasises that there is no hope of their happy TV reunion extending into a new series. Szubanski doesn’t want to try to recapture lightening in a bottle and risk tarnishing the enduring legacy of the show, which still means so much to its fans.
“A young woman came up to me recently, brimming with health, and said: ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but I had cancer last year and when I had to have chemotherapy my boyfriend bought in Kath & Kim for me to watch just to make me laugh’,” she recalls.
“So, first of all, it was that thing about assumptions; you don’t know what is going on in people’s lives.
And secondly, our little comedy show helped this poor young woman get through chemo. And every comedian I know has a similar story.”
Before she discovered her talent for comedy, Szubanski also flirted with the idea of becoming a doctor. And, that strong desire to help others coming to the fore again, she spent time volunteering at a women’s refuge as a teenager in the 1980s.
“They didn’t even believe domestic violence was a crime then, so it was just terrible,” she says, incredulous.
“It was very traumatic. And I was probably too young, to be honest, to be doing that sort of stuff. And then I ran away to comedy before coming back to where I started, in some way.”
Szubanski’s latest crusade involves improving the entire nation’s health and wellbeing.
As the host of the new ABC series Magda’s Big National Health Check, Szubanski investigates the mental and physical health challenges facing Australians with her trademark honesty and humour.
And that means also putting her own health under the microscope. In the first episode of the series, Szubanski talks frankly about the conditions which have blighted her own health, including osteoarthritis, anxiety, migraines and sleep apnoea.
She also undergoes several tests on camera, becoming quite emotional when she is told that she is on the cusp of developing diabetes and concerningly, high cholesterol levels. Thankfully, despite her understandable concerns about her heart – due to her weight and the fact that her father suffered a heart attack around the same age – Szubanski’s ticker is in pretty good nick.
“It just shows you can’t judge a book by its cover,” she smiles.
That’s the thing about this show and why Szubanski was so eager to host it. It’s not all doom and gloom. Yes, the series presents some pretty sobering statistics about Australians’ health – including the fact that children as young as 11 are showing signs of heart disease and half the population is struggling with chronic health problems – but it also offers some simple solutions.
“It’s only three episodes, so it’s not going to provide all the answers,” she says.
“But to become more educated and understand what’s going on, even just with those statistics around the amount of chronic illness, [will hopefully help people].
“The wellness movement can impact in some ways, but we’ve also got to look at other things like where you live – that is what suburb you live in – and economic factors really affect things enormously.
“The other thing is hidden sugars and one of the things that the show pushes for in later episodes is mandatory labelling.”
Above all else, Szubanski believes Magda’s Big National Health Check will spark a necessary and overdue conversation and hopefully make people feel less alone or daunted about taking control of their health.
“Because we are all in this together,” she reassures.