Kat’s (kind of) in the cradle
Michael Lallo.
As a young girl, Kat Stewart would return from school and mimic her British classmates. Sometimes she was a Cockney lass, dropping her H’s like Eliza Doolittle. Then she’d switch to an upper-class accent, with its bias against vowels. (Notice how a posh Englishwoman blows her nose on a ‘‘hndkrchff’’.)
Stewart spent her first seven years in Bairnsdale, 300 kilometres east of Melbourne. Then her parents took the family on an adventure. Basing themselves in Britain, they explored Europe in a campervan. For a few months, she attended school in London. ‘‘Coming from a small country town, it opened my eyes up,’’ says Stewart, who plays Billie Proudman in the hit drama Offspring.
A year later, the family came home. But Stewart’s fascination with language persisted. It all seemed like a bit of fun: observing the way others spoke, then imitating them in private. In fact, she was unwittingly training to be an actor. Since her days in the ensemble of Red Stitch, an independent St Kilda theatre, critics have praised her faultless accents. American newsreader, aristocratic Londoner, Aussie battler – she’s perfected them all.
In 2008, her star rose with her portrayal of Roberta Williams in Underbelly. However it was Offspring that made Stewart famous.
On a cold Tuesday in Melbourne, she rehearses her final scenes of the new season. We’re in the Union Club Hotel, a 160-year-old pub with a main bar untouched since the early 1970s. To Offspring fans, it’s simply ‘‘The Union’’, the location of several pivotal events. Kim (Alicia Gardiner) gave birth on the pool table. In the dining room, Billie married Mick (Eddie Perfect). Today, Nina (Asher Keddie) enjoys a sweet moment with daughter Zoe.
Stewart stands to one side, clutching a flute of soda water with a splash of Coke. (It looks just like champagne on screen.) After a freighted conversation with another character, Billie has a moment of clarity. Her eyes mist over, but no tears are shed.
Describing this in detail would ruin the finale. It’s safer to discuss the first episode, with Billie in Melbourne and Mick in London. ‘‘It’s tricky, because he’s the love of Billie’s life,’’ Stewart says. ‘‘She’s walked over broken glass to be with him. They’re leading separate lives. That’s a big thing for Billie to deal with.’’
The week prior, Stewart and I have lunch with two castmates: Keddie and Alexander England, who plays Nina’s boyfriend Harry. I fish out Stewart’s first magazine cover, published nine years ago. ‘‘You’re just a baby in that photo!’’ Keddie says.
Afterwards, Stewart reflects on that time, when she co-starred with Shaun Micallef in the SBS satire, Newstopia. Then Underbelly became a cultural phenomenon. In Victoria, the show was slapped with a suppression order, so as not to prejudice a related murder trial. ‘‘It was different for the actors living in Sydney,’’ she recalls. ‘‘Up there, they felt the full force of [its success]. It took a while to happen here. In retrospect, it was a real turning point. But it didn’t feel that way at the time.’’
Not least because Stewart isn’t one to be swept up in hype. Compared to most of her characters, she is soft-spoken and low-key. In 2013, she declined to reprise her role as Williams in Fat Tony& Co, which focused on the hunt for Tony Mokbel. Instead, Hollie Andrew took the part.
‘‘There wasn’t much footage of Roberta at the time; maybe a couple of interviews. Six years later, we knew so much more – how she walked and talked; more of her story. I did an interpretation. To play her again, I’d need to include that new information. I felt it should be someone new.’’
Besides, Stewart had plenty on her plate. In addition to Offspring, she had starred in the drama Tangle, then the crime-comedy GIOVANNI LOVISETTO Mr& Mrs Murder. Guest appearances include Peter Helliar’s film It’s a Date, and an upcoming episode of True Story with Hamish and Andy. Somehow, she still finds the time for live theatre.
In Year 2, her teacher ran a drama session for her class. A spark went off inside the 7-yearold. ‘‘It felt right in my bones. I was very shy, but not when I was acting. I never thought it was a career option, though.’’
Stewart studied arts and marketing at Monash University, then got a job as a publicist for Penguin Books. Yet her desire to act remained, and she enrolled in a night course at The National Theatre.
‘‘I was hoping I’d grow out of it,’’ she laughs. ‘‘I knew it wasn’t a great bet in terms of financial security.’’
Her hunch proved correct – at least early on. After some decent gigs, she endured ‘‘tumbleweeds’’ for 18 months. ‘‘There weren’t as many guest roles in those days. You’d do Blue Heelers and Stingers and Neighbours. That was it.’’
Joining Red Stitch changed everything. As an ensemble actor, she stretched herself in a variety of meaty productions. ‘‘I probably care more about what [the other performers] think than anyone else,’’ she says, ‘‘because they know my work so well.’’
Early on, she played an abused woman who haemorrhages to death. ‘‘That’s when I learned that classic thing of not judging your character.’’
This served her well in Offspring. The series rarely offers up its characters as role models. Nor does it slot them into a ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad’’ column. Instead, it makes them interesting.
Consider Billie, always throwing herself into a new selfimprovement project. Often she makes a hash of things. ‘‘And I love that!’’ Stewart says. ‘‘But I also love that she just keeps pressing on. She’s got a heart and she’ll do anything for the people she loves.’’
In season two, Billie tried IVF and suffered a miscarriage. Stewart was 38 at the time, married to actor David Whiteley since 2008.
‘‘We’d always said, ‘One day, we’ll have kids’. But that storyline made me think, ‘We can’t just assume it will happen’.’’
By the end of that season she was pregnant with their son, Archie. Last year, she gave birth to Georgia. Not bad for a relationship that wasn’t meant to happen.
Stewart had a ‘‘no actors’’ dating policy when the pair met in 2002; both part of Red Stitch’s ensemble. It wasn’t long before their characters became romantic.
‘‘Our first kiss was a pretend one, on stage,’’ she says. ‘‘Then I was just a bit strange around him for a couple of years. We didn’t get together until 2004.’’
Last year, Billie began looking after Brody (Shannon Berry), the teen daughter of an estranged friend. Now, Brody has a newborn son.
‘‘I love that Billie can explore having children and babies in her life, without actually having her own baby. You don’t see that very often.
‘‘Our characters screw up, they hurt each other... but no one is reactionary or bigoted. Offspring is a really generous show. It celebrates family – not just in the traditional sense, but the family we choose.’’ – The Age ● Offspring screens on Wednesdays, 8.30pm, TVNZ1.