ONE BADASS MUM Gold Logie winner Rebecca Gibney fights fiercely for her sons—in real-life and on TV.
The Gold Logie winner, star and co-creator of ‘ Wanted’ fights fiercely for her sons— in real-life and on TV
A fter a season playing alternately tough and fragile Lola Buckley, a supermarket cashier on the run from underworld figures and law enforcement alike, Rebecca Gibney turns the tables in Season 2 of Wanted (premiering Mon., June 5, 8.40 PM; Seven). Now she’s pursuing the bad guys who have kidnapped her son, David (Charles Cottier)—all to the delight of her real-life son, Zac. “He was just like, ‘Yeah, Mum, you’re a badass!’” Gibney tells WHO with a laugh. “He said, ‘I’m so proud of you. That’s cool.’”
Cool for Gibney, 52, is getting a chance to
reveal more about Lola and her partner-onthe-run, accountant Chelsea Babbage (Geraldine Hakewill), in the series she created with her production-designer husband, Richard Bell, 53. “The truth of the matter is a woman’s son is taken and she will do anything to get her son back,” Gibney says. “I imagine it would be true that you could lift a car off your son if he’s underneath it because you find reserves of strength that you never thought possible. You do become fierce.”
A 2009 Gold Logie winner beloved for roles such as Packed to the Rafters matriarch Julie and forensic scientist Jane on Halifax f.p., Gibney delights in creating a new type of heroine: “I’ve got a lot of young women coming up who say, ‘I want to be Lola when I grow up.’ I want to be her, too, because she’s got that ‘I don’t give a rat’s’ attitude. To be honest, I think that’s just because she is a big part of me.”
But the biggest part of Gibney is being mum to Zac, now 13 and enjoying life in her and Bell’s native New Zealand, where the family moved at the end of May 2016 to shoot Wanted. “He’s so adaptable,” Gibney says. “But every new job that’s come along, we’ve said, ‘Mate, we don’t have to do this. We can go buy a smaller place in the country. You can go to a different school and we can stop. Dad can paint pictures and I can take a step back.’ But more importantly, he said he felt safe there.”
Of course, that also means Zac developed his independence early, such as making his own sandwiches when Gibney goes for a few days of business meetings in Sydney. “He’s quite a wise soul,” Gibney says. He wants to remain in Queenstown, where Gibney herself has had to adapt. “Everyone either cycles, or hikes or runs or skis or something,” she says. “If I want to keep up with that, I’ll have to join the throng!” Bell has no doubt his wife can balance it all. “Bec has an incredible ability to be fully immersed in every situation,” he says. “Without a doubt, Zac is one very lucky son having Bec as his mum.”
“I want to be her because she’s got that ‘I don’t give a rat’s’ attitude”