“This is the work I want to do,” says actor Deborah Mailman, on the line from her Melbourne home, “because it’s about something that is important to me and to my people.”
The award-winning actor has just returned from the red-carpet premiere of her new film The Sapphires at the Cannes film festival.
A film and television favourite since The Secret Life of Us, as well as Rabbit- Proof Fence, Radiance and, lately, Offspring, Mailman has been part of The Sapphires since its original 2005 stage production. She remembers the play as “one of the most joyous theatre productions I’ve ever done”, she says. “There’s no other story where you have four indigenous women equally written in such light and shade and I really just wanted to go for it.”
A long-time friend of playwright Tony Briggs, Mailman has met the four women who inspired his story. For all their bravery, entering war zones and confounding the expectations of the day, their reasons were simple. “They just loved singing,” says Mailman. She plays Gail, the eldest sister and self-appointed “mama bear” between the four and director Wayne Blair. “It was a very intense process and we really did need to look after each other.”
Part of the shoot was in Saigon itself, which lent the film extra authenticity. “We felt like we were going through what our characters were going through, going to Vietnam for the first time and being part of something completely different.”
And yes, that is Mailman’s voice on the rousing soundtrack, even though she demurs to the talents of Jessica Mauboy, who plays lead singer Julie. “Jess is really the one, and that’s what the story is. It’s Julie who becomes a superstar within the sisters, and it’s about how the sisters try and deal with that knowledge.”
The other project she’s justifiably proud of premiered on the ABC recently. Mabo tells the very personal story of the man behind the landmark legal case recognising indigenous land rights.
Mailman played Eddie “Koiki” Mabo’s wife, Bonita, an inspiring figure in her own right. “She’s incredibly kind and funny [yet] you can see she’s got a lot of fire about her.” It’s an important film, says Mailman. “People read about Mabo, but to actually place it in the context of emotion, love and sacrifice, I think that’s where the production really soars.”
Later this year, she is set to appear in director PJ Hogan’s much-anticipated film Mental, as well as ABC’s mini-series Redfern Now. “That’s another landmark series to be produced by an indigenous production team, all indigenous directors, writers and actors, so for me, it’s what I want to be a part of, and I’m happy I get to do this particular work.”
Published in Vogue Australia September 2012
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