‘I’M PROUD’ Deb Mailman keeps it real
Deborah Mailman on representing herself and her culture on screen
Over the past two decades, Deborah Mailman has become one of the best-known faces on Australian TV thanks to a varied career taking in everything from intense drama Mystery Road to children’s show Play School. Next up, one of her most challenging roles yet: Alex Irving in ABC drama Total Control, a single mother from regional Queensland who is given a senate seat by an embattled prime minster.
“She’s a fabulous character,” says Mailman, who has two sons, Henry, 12, and Oliver, 9, with husband Matthew Coonan. “There’s a lot about Alex that I admire. She’s gutsy, she’s unapologetic. She has a no bulls--t sort of attitude. And yet with all that, you think she’s a strong woman, but she’s vulnerable and filled with insecurity – she’s a walking contradiction.”
Mailman worked alongside Rachel Griffiths, 50, who plays Prime Minster Rachel Anderson in Total Control and doubled up as an executive producer. “Rachel is very much about wanting to create female characters that are deeply flawed and complex, and can make bad, humiliating choices,” the 47-year-old says.
Are you accepting quite different roles now compared to those in your 20s and 30s? Without a doubt. The roles I take on are absolutely defined by where I am as a person. The roles I was getting in my 20s and 30s, like The Secret Life of Us – which was fabulous and fun – were timely. Of course, I’m not going to be playing a 20-something woman, I’m a 47-year-old woman and mother now. There’s a lot of my personal life I can bring to roles that I couldn’t before.
Why is it important to show characters like Alex? In the framework of a political drama, it’s about democracy. It’s about showing anyone can make it in this world. No matter where you are, what sort of background you come from – the training, education, religious beliefs and sexual orientation shouldn’t matter. We’re just wanting to make sure our audience can see themselves on the screen – at least a story that’s relatable to them.
In one scene, Alex is referred to as a “black bitch”. Was it confronting to film that?
It was confronting because we don’t often see stuff like that. But we hear it all the time as black women in this country.
What would you tell your children if they were to experience racism?
I’d tell them to always stick up for themselves. More importantly, be proud of who you are. We are one of the oldest living cultures in the world. What they think of you, those names do not define you. And it’s never defined me. You’ve been acting for decades. Are sex scenes like the one you have in the first episode of Total Control awkward to film?
It’s a bit cumbersome in some way. Often, you’re meeting someone for the first time, but if you’re having to be intimate with someone you know really well and you’ve worked with over years, then that creates an ease. This is just a job; this is what we do, and we’ve got to pretend to make it look like that. There’s a real respect around making sure everyone’s coming in relaxed and comfortable. It’s a little bit fun, too! [Laughs]
Would you ever enter politics?
Oh, no! I’m happy where I am. I know what lane I’m in and I’m going to stay in that lane.
If there’s one message you could give to your children, what would it be?
Kindness. There’s something to be said about compassion and kindness. Believing in who you are and treating others with that respect. In life, there are always going to be complications. If you start with kindness, everything else should pay off.
Have your children seen any of your work? They’ve seen Little J & Big Cuz, which is an animation. They haven’t seen Redfern Now or anything like that, but they will eventually. I am really proud to show them my work.
Total Control starts Sun., Oct. 13, 8.30pm; ABC.
“I’m happy where I am. I know what lane I’m in”