Deborah Mailman admits she got emotional when she was told that she would be inducted into the Logie Hall Of Fame.
“I had a moment of choking up when it all landed, in terms of what it means,” she tells TV WEEK. “It’s a huge honour.”
Deb, 54, grew up in country Queensland, watching The Goodies and Astro Boy and Monkey on TV.
“We only had one television station at the time,” she remembers.
There weren’t a lot of First Nations actors on TV in the 1970s and 1980s, but when Deb did see them, they were an inspiration.
“Auntie Justine Saunders, Kylie Belling, Uncle Bob Maza, David Gulpilil, Ernie Dingo, all who were there doing it, that allows someone like me to come and get the opportunity,” she says. “So for me, this is also an acknowledgement and recognition of the people that have gone before me.”
Deb started out acting in theatre, then became a household name in the early 2000s when she starred as Kelly Lewis in The Secret Life Of Us, alongside Claudia Karvan and Samuel Johnson.
“It was just one of the best times I had,” she remembers. “It was a script that was relatable, we were all around the same age when we were filming that, I’d just moved to Melbourne… I’d never been there before, so to actually move and set up home in Melbourne was fantastic.”
Deb won two Logies for Most Outstanding Actress for playing Kelly, and then, after Secret Life ended, she went on to another hit series with Offspring.
In 2012, Deb appeared in two landmark dramas: Redfern Now and the telemovie Mabo.
“To have a show such as Redfern Now written, produced, directed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that’s the work that I want to be part of, and that’s the work that I’m incredibly proud of,” she says. “And to get that Logie and that recognition when we did was fantastic.”
In Mabo, the true story of activist Eddie Mabo and the High Court’s native title decision, Deb played Eddie’s wife Bonita. She says it was a great honour, but there was a lot of pressure to it.
“Thankfully, we had Mabo family by our side throughout filming,” she adds. “To meet Auntie Bonita was just a really beautiful moment. And to get that permission to tell their story, and that blessing, means a lot.”
Out of all the Logies she’s been to, Deb says her favourite memory is “when we got the award for Mabo and I had Auntie Bonita on my arm”.
In 2019, Deb starred as Alex Irving in the political drama Total Control. It was her first leading role in a drama series.
“I felt the responsibility of it,” she says. “But it was coming back to trusting the production team behind it.
“The scripts were brilliant, and I got to work with the likes of Rob Collins and Trish Morton-Thomas. I did my first film with Trish. It always feels like family working with Blackfella Films.”
The role of Alex won Deb her sixth Logie. Now, with her induction into the Hall of Fame, she has one more statuette to add to her collection.
Deb does find Logies night a bit stressful – “I’m not a frock girl, I’m not a high heel girl” – but at least she was able to bring her husband Matthew Coonan with her this year.
“I don’t often get a plus-one,” she says. “So it’s nice to have him because he’s never had the experience.”
This year’s Logies was a big one for First Nations actors generally. As well as Deb’s Hall Of Fame honour, there were plenty of First Nations actors among the Logie nominees, making up half the nominees in several categories, including Best Lead Actor in a Drama.
“How brilliant is that?” Deb says.
“Now, for young kids growing up, to see so many of our mob being represented through film and television, as well as theatre, they can see that representation, and hopefully be inspired by that.”
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