Quotes by Deborah Mailman

About Deborah Mailman:

Deborah Mailman is an Australian television and film actress. She was the first Aboriginal actress to win the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She is well known for having played the character "Kelly" on successful Australian television series, The Secret Life of Us. She is also well known for her current role as Cherie in the successful Australian drama series Offspring.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Because I've got an AFI award, I feel there is a certain expectation when I walk into a room, you know, that 'That Deb Mailman must know something!' But I'm just as nervous with every experience. I still doubt whether or not I can pull something off....

Deborah Mailman

People understand about family; people understand about being in situations where you have to be brave. People get falling in love.

Deborah Mailman

I'm not a hugely social person. Obviously there's a big part of the job that requires that as actors, but it's not the most comfortable for me. I'm a homebody. I don't go out. My life is work and family. There's not a lot in between. That's how I lik...

Deborah Mailman

Behind my door at home, that's when I'm relaxed, and that's when I can allow the emotions or whatever - to feel just what I want to feel - so a lot of people don't know me in that respect. I need a bit of space, a bit of a place to come home to and n...

Deborah Mailman

Both 'Mabo' and 'The Sapphires' have been significant roles because it's about my people. They are celebratory stories, on top of allowing people to understand our history.

Deborah Mailman

Dad passed away in 2000, but he visits me all the time. He comes to me in different ways. So I have that connection with him, and that comforts me, to know that in time I can come back and still have that with my kids. It's not unfamiliar to me, that...

Deborah Mailman

I have worked with a lot of really great women directors: Ana Kokkinos; Cate Shortland, who just recently directed a film called 'Lore;' another director, Rachel Perkins - she's an Aboriginal director, and I've worked with her three times now, and sh...

Deborah Mailman

My school friends thought I was outgoing and bubbly, but that masked a lot of insecurities, and maybe that's the reason I chose drama - to build a bit of self-confidence. I had a great teacher, and I won a few speech and drama competitions and just f...

Deborah Mailman

About Grade 9 and Grade 10, I had a fantastic drama teacher, and it was one of the first subjects I actually felt that I was good at. I wasn't a mathematician. Didn't like science, any of those subjects. English and Drama were the two subjects that I...

Deborah Mailman

I like solitude. I'm very good at being disconnected. I do a lot of disappearing. People who know me go, 'Oh yeah, Mailman, she's gone into her cave again.' I'm like that, a bit of a hibernating bear. Like that crocodile that just sits there in the w...

Deborah Mailman

Some people think that there aren't many Aboriginal actors around, and if there are, they're not that good. It's stupid. There's such an incredible pool of talent out there, and they're still coming out of drama schools. People just need to take a le...

Deborah Mailman

If I look at the one thorn that is in my side, of all my life, it is my weight. I fret about it, I'm anxious about it, being an actor on television - it drives me insane. It just seems to be something that plays a central part in waking up in the mor...

Deborah Mailman

I'm not a girly girl, never have been. I really admire those who love to frock up.

Deborah Mailman

I guess there's this mind shift that happens once you're on stage. I don't know, chemicals, something happens and you just... I just become completely in control of where I am. And it's all about trusting the people that you're on the stage with, lis...

Deborah Mailman

There is that idea of seeming crazy when you're seeing spirits or you're seeing dead people, you know what I mean? There's a certain sort of stigma, a sort of kookiness, when it comes to that.

Deborah Mailman

If there's one thing I could wish for right now, it would be to have one of those horses from the merry-go-round - they were the most exciting thing to go on as a kid.

Deborah Mailman

I grew up with horses and cattle, running around on dirt hills with this real sense of space. We didn't have neighbours - well, the nearest ones were kilometres away.

Deborah Mailman

I was big as a kid, very overweight. That caused a lot of insecurities for me growing up, and on top of that, I didn't like the idea of big crowds. I found it quite frightening. I enjoy the company of people who I know, and I'm probably still like th...

Deborah Mailman

When I see a role I want, I fight for it.

Deborah Mailman

I never get used to the red carpets and premieres, to be honest, but when you're walking down the red carpet promoting stories such as 'Mabo,' it means everything to me.

Deborah Mailman

Author Bio

  • NameDeborah Mailman
  • DescriptionAustralian actress
  • BornJuly 14, 1972
  • CountryAustralia
  • ProfessionActor