Stories in safe hands
Set in a family violence legal centre, SBS thriller Safe Home doesn’t shy away from hard truths. Siobhan Duck speaks with star Mabel Li about her role in the groundbreaking series
MABEL Li is acutely aware of the impact she is having with each and every role she takes on. From her Logie-nominated performance in New Gold Mountain – a series which spotlighted Chinese prospectors’ experiences on the gold fields in the 1800s – to her latest role as a hardworking lawyer specialising in family violence in Safe Home, Li has consistently chosen projects which defy stereotypes and challenge viewers to think about taboo topics.
While there is still a long way to go, her recent work has made Li feel optimistic about the changes unfolding in the Australian entertainment industry.
“It makes me quite emotional to think about,” she says, her eyes welling with tears as she reflects on how a new generation is growing up to see far more diversity on screen.
“I hope I can be just one small part in the tapestry of Australian creatives who are finally being given the chance to take up space.”
Li immigrated from China to Sydney – via New Zealand – when she was three years old. Back then, casual racism was commonplace. And she recalls her discomfort at watching people patronise her parents because of their accents. Compounding the growing feeling of being different was the fact that she did not see many faces that looked like her own on screen.
“I didn’t really reflect on the impact of that until I was in high school,” she says.
“It was really hard. That thing of not seeing anyone that looks like you [on screen] and then seeing my parents and our family being othered a lot. And being discriminated against when I was little, on top of that.
“So, there was this erasure [in the media], but then also, in real life, this pointing out of how different we were and how people that look like us didn’t belong in Australia.”
Naturally shy, Li found her passion and a sense of belonging through drama at high school.
“When I did drama, it made me realise that all my worst fears of being embarrassed were actually fine,” she says.
“But then it took me a long time to realise that I could love it enough to do it as a job. And then when
I felt that wanting within me, there was a lot of denial.
“It seemed impossible. And I would say it to myself, ‘How can you even attempt to do this when I don’t see anybody who looks like me doing this or being given the space to do it?’”
Because there has always been such a dearth of well-rounded characters on screen who were from an Asian background, Li couldn’t believe her luck when she read the script for New Gold Mountain.
Here was a chapter of history which was being not only told from a Chinese perspective but that offered characters who were
“full and complicated”.
“I think a lot of the time they [producers and scriptwriters] can be like: ‘Oh, because we are doing representation for the first time, we have to make sure all the POC [people of colour] characters are very nice and palatable’,” she explains.
“And it makes sense [that they’d want to do that] because for so long people like me have been portrayed in very kind of dehumanising and one-dimensional ways.
“But it was nice that they didn’t want to shy away from her being flawed and ruthless.”
It was New Gold Mountain that put an end to any lingering concerns her protective parents felt about Li trying to make a career as an actor.
“I could see this sort of push-andpull within my dad,” she says of her move into acting.
“He was so supportive but then he would pick me up from the train station, when I was at drama school, and he’d be like ‘I looked up the salary of an orthodontist today’.
He would just drop things like that into conversation. So subtle [hints about choosing a safer career path].
“When he saw New Gold Mountain, that was a moment there for my parents (and especially for my dad) where they were like: ‘Oh wow, Chinese people on Australian TV, that is wonderful’.”
Her latest project, Safe Home, is also groundbreaking. Set inside an underfunded legal centre, it spotlights the challenges faced by people – from all walks of life – who are affected by family violence.
Like New Gold Mountain, Safe Home doesn’t gloss over any uncomfortable truths.
“It’s a confronting show and there’s part of me that’s so proud that Australia has greenlit this show,” she says.
“It really shines a light on a system that is really hard to navigate.”
To prepare for her role as dogged young legal aid worker Jenny, Li spent a lot of time talking to lawyers who have worked within the system.
“Just to fill the gaps in my knowledge and to prepare for what everyday life would be like for my character and the different clients you’d come across,” she explains.
“It just really illuminated to me how tricky that system is. It wouldn’t be easy to navigate as a person of colour for whom English is their second language and who doesn’t have a lot of money.”
There were times on set when Li became overwhelmed by emotion and wanted to burst into tears.
“I hope it starts a conversation about how we got here and how we can move forward to better support victim/survivors of domestic violence,” she says.
“How is it that in Australia, approximately one woman a week is killed by her current partner or former partner? Why is this happening?
“I am also aware that the legal system is the end of the line. So, what are the things we’re putting in place to educate and to prevent this from happening in the first place?”
Safe Home, streaming, SBS On Demand
For support, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.
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