More to Mauboy
A singer, film actor and now TV star, Jessica Mauboy can prove she really is a triple threat with her starring role in new series The Secret Daughter. She tells DANIELLE McGRANE why working on the show has surpassed her expectations.
It’s no secret Jessica Mauboy is talented. She can certainly hold a tune – she’s been a favourite in the ARIA charts since Aus
tralian Idol propelled her to fame in 2006.
And in 2014, she was the first artist Australia sent to the Eurovision Song Contest, paving the way for the country to legitimately enter the competition the following year.
Mauboy isn’t afraid of the camera lens, either – she’s had starring roles in the films Bran Nue Dae and The Sapphires.
And she will soon be seen starring in her first TV series, The Secret Daughter, which has exceeded her expectations.
“It’s the most amazing experience I’ve ever encountered,” she said.
“This is something that, in the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to do as a personal goal, visually, culturally and musically.
“I still wake up and go, ‘I’ve done it, I really did it’.”
In The Secret Daughter, Mauboy plays Billie Carter, a part-time pub singer in a small town who takes on a new identity to save her father Gus (David Field).
She pretends to be the secret daughter of someone else, a wealthy Sydney hotelier who comes to town, to try to get some money to dig her real father out of trouble.
It takes her on a journey of self-discovery as she leaves for the big city to pretend to be someone she’s not.
“The story is about a young girl who is from the bush. She doesn’t know any better, has a small family, grew up on the streets and is just trying to find herself, really,” Mauboy said. “She’s soulful and spiritual.”
Mauboy shares a love of music with her character and served as executive producer on the soundtrack to the series, which features original and cover songs.
“We really wanted to connect and balance the show so there’s everything from Cold Chisel to Primal Scream … things that really related to the storyline of The Secret
Daughter, and young Billie Carter growing into a wom- an and who’s fighting challenges and obstacles to get her father out of the ditch and protect him,” she said.
“These are moments when we find her at her most vulnerable and in disbelief, and she has to connect with music to make herself believe again.”
They share musical talent, but Mauboy says there is one major difference between her and her character.
“Billie struggles to believe in hope and faith,” she said.
“She hopes that maybe something good will happen, but it never does so she wonders why she should keep hoping and believing. She has that kind of doubt internally, whereas I know in my heart that if I do it, that it will happen.
“I think that’s our only thing that we disagree on.”
Billie has been on her own with her father most of her life. Her mother died when she was young and, while she’s trying to find her way in life, she’s held back by the feeling it’s her responsibility to get her dad out of trouble.
Ultimately, this is what leads her to pretend she’s somebody she’s not.
“What she’s doing is very naughty but that’s all she knows. She’s very streetsmart but she doesn’t know any better,” Mauboy said.
But there’s something else the singer shares with her character: her heritage.
Billie, like Mauboy, has indigenous heritage on her mother’s side and she tries to connect with that.
“We can see on the inside she’s trying to find that identity and she’s working on it,” Mauboy said, adding she is fascinated by her own background and has been on a journey of discovery to find out more about where she comes from.
“We’re always going backwards to rediscover more information and to reunite and unite with family we didn’t even know was family, so this is really happening in reality.”
Discovering more about her family is something about which Mauboy is passionate. “We’re continuously trying to find more information about our tribe, the language and culture,” she said. “We know our tribe originates from Cooktown … it’s just the beginning and very exciting.”
Billie is at a much earlier stage in her discovery and Mauboy thinks she needs to work on her relationship with her father before she can really connect with anything else.
“There are a lot of things they need to work out, and they need to be straightforward with, but at this point they’re just mucking around and going around in circles,” she said.
For Mauboy, working with Field was like attending an acting tutorial every day on set – she even took notes on the advice he gave her. “I was being lectured at the same time as well as doing the work and acting,” she said.
It was an experience she valued, particularly at this new point in her career.
This avenue, it seems, is one Mauboy is keen to explore further.
“It’s my first lead role and my expectations were just so little, and now I look at it and it’s beyond anything I expected,” she said.
“It’s taken me on a journey and taken a lot of courage to be able to put myself out there to play Billie. There’s a lot of realness and rawness about this show that will really touch people’s minds and hearts, so I’m looking forward to being able to share that.”
Mauboy: ‘This is something that, in the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to do.’