As Kelly, the bubbly flatmate with a heart of gold in the hit series The Secret Life Of Us, Deborah Mailman brought to life one of our most loved TV characters.
But while Deborah bid farewell to Kelly many years ago, she happily confesses a secret of her own – she’s expecting her second child in just a matter of weeks!
“I’ve been very busy getting the house ready for the next baby,” she reveals. “I’ve had a good pregnancy, but these last few weeks have taken their toll on me. I’m getting more exhausted and a bit more uncomfortable. As the time gets nearer, I’m starting to really feel it.”
These days, 37-year-old Deborah’s life is a world removed from the one she inhabited during her high-profile stint on The Secret Life of Us and in films including the acclaimed Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Now blissfully settled in Wollongong with her marketing executive husband Matthew Coonan and their son Henry, almost three, Deborah concedes she doesn’t miss the glamour and glitz of the showbiz industry one little bit.
“We love it here,” she enthuses, adding, “It’s such a beautiful part of the country. We’re so happy. The lifestyle is idyllic and we’re right near the beach. I can’t believe we didn’t do it sooner.”
In fact, the performer explains she and Matthew hope to make the move a permanent one. “We have no desire to go back to the city,” she says. “In Sydney, we had a tiny little place with no backyard and now we have a backyard and a beach.
“Secret Life does feel like 100 years ago. That’s when I was fancy-free and single and didn’t have to worry about family life.
“So it’s been a real shift in terms of where my focus is, but I love just chilling out and being with my son and my husband. But I’ve always been a homebody and I’m far more suited to this life than to the red carpet.” Deborah reveals she has opted not to find out the sex of her unborn baby.
“I’ve got no idea what I’m having,” she says. “We’re going to keep it a surprise this time around.” But one thing’s for sure in Deborah’s mind – little Henry will make a “beautiful big brother” to his new sibling. Deborah, who in 1998 became the first Aboriginal actor to win an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in the film Radiance, also has no doubt that being a mum is her favourite role yet.
“I’m very content living in motherland,” she says. “This is everything I’ve always dreamed of, so it’s great to be creating my own family.”
Admitting she can’t imagine her life any other way now, Deborah clearly harbours no regrets about putting acting on the backburner. “I’d been working so long and hard for close to 18 years. Before having Henry, it was all about work. So I’m really happy to be going in a different direction and concentrating on being a mum.
“I just love the playfulness. There’s a simplicity to my day now – even though it’s constant and it’s evolves around my family, it’s just an absolute joy. If it’s not colouring in, it’s watching something on ABC for kids. If it’s not that, it’s having a swim in the ocean. So my days are filled with really beautiful joys.” Having met Matthew four years ago, Deborah confesses they’re yet to leave the honeymoon phase of their relationship.
“He’s just been extraordinary in supporting me and attending to all my whims and crankiness,” she chuckles. “What’s really great is that he’s such a beautiful human being. He’s such a gorgeous soul and that’s what makes our relationship work and makes me fall in love with him every day.”
That said, Deborah was prepared to tear herself away from her loved ones for just a few days to direct the short film Ralph, which she co-wrote for the ABC1 as part of the program The New Black, a collection of short films featuring compelling Indigenous stories.
“I’d never really thought about directing before,” she says. “I was out of my comfort zone for the whole time, but it was such a great challenge. “Eventually, there will hopefully be a time where there will be more opportunities for me to come back into the workforce and, when it does, I’ll be back with guns ablaze!”
Deborah couldn’t help but feel a little maternal towards the young actors in Ralph – Madeleine Madden and Stephen Carr. “They were great kids – really enthusiastic,” she says. “They embraced the whole experience. As a director, it was a dream situation. I just wanted to create an environment where they felt supported and nurtured. I was being the mother hen.”
Meanwhile, Deborah confesses she may not be done with adding to her own brood just yet. “I’d love to have more,” she says, adding with a laugh, “but I’m getting on now. It may not be up to me!”
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