DEBORAH MAILMAN Leading the next generation

With her latest role, the much-loved actress is not only feeling stronger than ever, but is also ready to pass the baton on to a new wave of talent.

- TIFFANY DUNK

It felt like a stroke of serendipity. Whipped by wintry winds as we hustle along the beachfront in Sydney’s Neilsen Park, Deborah Mailman wraps a protective arm around her newest costar, Lily Whitely. It’s the first week of July, the start of NAIDOC Week, and for 14-year-old newcomer Lily this is the very first time she’s been interviewed and photographed for a magazine.

We're here to talk about upcoming movie Kangaroo. This is not only Lily’s debut role, but she’s also the film’s leading lady. So to say the teen is nervous is an understatement. But for Deb, 53, who has had a long career on stage and screens both big and small, and who has faced thousands of inquisitive questions from journalists and finessed every pose, this is a chance to pass on what she has learnt to a new generation. A generation, she says, who are far more mature and confident than she was at their age.

“I’m doing this for Lil,” she says of what brought her out on this blisteringly cold morning, watching the girl who plays her onscreen daughter blossom in front of our cameras despite the inclement conditions. “I think it’s really fitting that we’re doing this shoot and having this interview during NAIDOC Week.

“The theme being The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy. For us mob who’ve been doing it for a while, it’s all about looking after the next generation and taking care of them. It’s our duty. I think all of us [working on the film] really wanted to make sure that Lil was kept safe. That she was looked after. And that she felt, as an artist, that she had the ability to do whatever she needed to do, knowing we were all looking after her.”

“The first time I met Deb,” Lily says with a smile, “she just gave me a big hug, and I just felt so comfortable with her already.”