Rebecca Gibney:

She’s been one of our best-loved stars for more than three decades. Yet as a young actor Rebecca Gibney was consumed by self-doubt and insecurities. Now in the best form of her life, she tells Susan Horsburgh about friendship, love and surviving in TV.

crippling self-doubt, my fabulous 50s and taking charge at last

Rebecca Gibney, who grew up with a mother she idolises and three doting big sisters, has always sought and savoured the company of women. Some of her happiest times have been spent with the women she loves best – usually in her “jim-jams”, wine in hand, mulling over life’s minutiae for hours on end. For Rebecca, female friendship is food for the soul, and she has nurtured so many strong bonds it seems she has a confidante for every occasion.

“My friendships mean everything to me because they can hold up a mirror to you,” says Rebecca, who counts actors Kerry Armstrong,

Jane Hall and Claudia Karvan among her best buddies. “I’ve got the friend I can go to for perfect advice, but

I’ve also got the friend who’ll just sit and listen and hold a tissue while I sob. I’m the worst fashionista on the planet, but if I need advice on what to wear, I’ve got a friend who’s the most incredible dresser.”

Rebecca insists she has never encountered any cattiness or rivalry among women, and seems sceptical that it even exists. “Maybe I’m just hanging out with the right girls,” she says. “I’ve never been jealous of other women. Maybe being the baby of three older sisters who adored me, I was never insecure about females

– I loved being around them. I’m just a girl’s girl.”

It’s no coincidence then that her latest project is a celebration of sisterhood – a vehicle for strong, nuanced female characters that are way more than just a man’s appendage. A kind of Aussie Thelma & Louise, Wanted is a drama series about two polar-opposite strangers who get mixed up in a murder and go on the lam, pursued by a cop and a hitman. It’s the first project from R&R Productions – the company Rebecca set up with her husband, artist and production designer Richard Bell – and when it aired on the Seven Network last year, it became the top-rating

“I’ve never been jealous of other women. I’m just a girl’s girl.”