By Jenny Brown
Pictures: Ross Coffey
These Packed To The Rafters co-stars and real-life friends tackle life with a wicked sense of humour.
It’s a modern family dilemma — grown-up kids who can’t or won’t leave home. Now Logie winners Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson highlight the problem in new TV drama Packed To The Rafters.
Off-screen, Rebecca, 43, admits she’s a “cream puff” in the hands of son Zac, 4, especially at home on the Tasmanian farm she shares with her production designer husband Richard Bell.
Meanwhile, former All Saints favourite Erik, 41, reckons parenting one-year-old Eilish is still a “day-by-day proposition” for him and his actress wife Caitlin McDougall.
Playing exasperated mum and dad Julie and Dave Rafter, the New Zealand-raised stars have more than their Kiwi connection in common. They both have small-town backgrounds, happy marriages, and a wicked sense of humour.
**Are the Rafters the sort of people you admire?
Erik:** Yes, I guess so. They’re quite human. They’ve got their flaws, but at the end of the day they love each other and they love their children.
Rebecca: Family comes first!
Erik: They battle all the obstacles that any Australian family does these days, including money worries. More and more grown-up children aren’t moving out, and it’s how you negotiate that and compromise…
Rebecca: The Rafters are happy but, having said that, they still have serious issues. Every episode is told from the perspective of a different character, which hasn’t been done before.
Erik: Not this year, anyway!
Packed To The Rafters will premiere on Tuesday, August 26, at 8.30pm on the Seven Network.
Main picture: Rebecca wears Zambelli Donna jacket, (02) 8565 7575. Erik wears Zambelli shirt and jacket (02) 8565 7575, Mavi jeans, (02) 9699 2118.
For more of this interview, see this week’s 60th anniversary issue of Woman’s Day (on sale August 18).
Your say: Are you happy to be packed to the rafters, or are your kids overstaying their welcome? Have your say below…
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