No matter how many times Deborah Mailman says she’s not interested in going into politics, people keep asking her to do it.
“I don’t know how many ways you can say no!” Deborah tells TV WEEK with a laugh. “It’s not happening! I’m an actor – I’m already doing what I love.”
“I’m an actor – I’m already doing what I love.”
(Image: Supplied)Even though Deborah has no plans to enter politics herself, her character in Total Control, independent politician Alex Irving, is inspiring other people to follow that career path.
“I actually met someone – a young black man – who, because of Alex and because of Total Control, is now pursuing a career in politics,” Deborah says. “The show has inspired them to see what’s possible. That’s fantastic.”
With the third and final season about to go to air, Deborah says playing Alex one last time was “bittersweet”.
“The last day was incredibly emotional,” she says. “I’ve loved every season of this show. I love Alex and everything about her, so I’m going to miss her deeply. But at the same time, I appreciate that the producers and writers just went, ‘OK, we’re going to do three [seasons] and three only.'”
Deborah and her co-star Rachel.
(Image: Supplied)Over the three seasons, Deborah and her co-star Rachel Griffiths – who is also the show’s co-creator – developed “a hell of a lot of trust of each other”.
“We’re really close,” she says. “We had to be; we had to make it work. I love Rach, I’ve loved her since right at the beginning of her career, and I really admire her skill and her brain and her passion for this project. I learnt a lot from her too, just watching.”
Deborah says she’s always had “fingers crossed” behind her back, hoping the way she’s played Alex has worked out: “I think more than anything I’ve just felt so bloody grateful that they trusted me with this,” she says.
Deborah, 51, has been one of Australian TV’s most-loved stars since she took on the role of Kelly in The Secret Life Of Us back in 2001. The character resonated with a lot of people, including her.
“I was living the same life as Kelly, being a twentysomething-year-old, dating disasters, falling in and out of love all the time, trying to figure out where my next job was coming from,” she remembers.
“To play a character who was a hopeless romantic, who was flighty, who wasn’t anchored in any sort of trauma or stress or anything… it was quite freeing as an actor to just go, ‘Oh yeah – I relate to this!'”
More than 20 years later, Deborah is still very much in demand. As well as starring in Total Control, she’s just finished filming a role in the movie Runt, with Jai Courtney, Jack Thompson and Celeste Barber. Before that, she shot the Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe, based on the 2018 best-selling book by Trent Dalton.
“I loved the book,” she enthuses. “I had such a great time filming that series up in Brisbane.”
She also keeps busy doing voiceovers for animated kids’ shows such as Little J & Big Cuz, which she loves.
Deborah in The Secret Life Of Us.
(Image: Supplied)“I can wear trackies and hoodies!” she laughs. “The stress level is low. I find it’s actually a really relaxing sort of job, but you still get creative.”
Deborah, who has two sons, Henry and Oliver, with her husband, Matthew Coonan, says when she’s not working, she just likes being at home.
“I go to the gym, I’ve got my dog, I go for a swim, I go for my walks… I lead a pretty simple life,” she says.
As for what’s up next, Deborah says there’s “nothing really cemented just yet”.
“I’m getting a little bit picky now!” she says with a laugh, adding that she never knows what kind of role she wants to take on until it’s put in front of her.
“I don’t have any plan. I don’t have a mood board or anything like that pinned up on the wall. It’s just like, ‘No, I’ll see what comes.'”
