“I find it sad when our industry gets this reputation…it’s not just the entertainment industry.”

Having worked for over 40 years in entertainment, veteran actor Heather Mitchell is pleased to have witnessed change.

As a younger performer, she did not feel strong enough to speak out where she felt threatened, or in situations which were abusive, predominantly in film and television.

“Things have changed enormously. When I look at the 80s, and I look at now, it’s like a different industry in many ways. I think that now, not only is there greater awareness, but so many things have been put in place, within our industry as well, from counseling to intimacy coordination.

“We must care for each other and be good to each other. We must not cross the line when it comes to ensuring that people are safe -both physically, emotionally and psychologically. So I think it’s changed incredibly and also for the better.

“In many ways, I was self-silencing”

“My way of dealing with unwanted approaches from anyone was to sort of justify them, and file them away as an experience. I think that was borne out of not wanting to complain but wanting to upset people was my biggest thing. I didn’t want people to be hurt. And I didn’t want to be the centre of the attention. So in many ways, I was self-silencing. I think in that way, things have changed enormously, that we now acknowledge that not just women, but people when they are experiencing something which is not of their choosing, not in their control, that they tend to silence themselves, if I don’t have the knowledge or the means of knowing how to speak up.”

But following the #MeToo movement, Mitchell believes the situation has changed for the better, and she is able to speak in defence of the industry as a whole.

“It’s very easy in a way to look at our industry and find a lot of fault with it. But I have to say, to counter this, that, in my experience, which has been decades, 99.9% of my experiences have been utterly joyous, and brilliant, and the vast majority of the people who work in our industry, have been the most wonderful, collegiate and fabulous people to work with.

“So I find it sad when our industry gets this reputation, because so many industries are dealing with this. It’s certainly not just the entertainment industry.”

Mitchell, seen most recently in Love Me, Upright, Darby & Joan and The Secrets She Keeps, is a NIDA graduate with credits extending back to 1981. She recalls 1984’s cricket miniseries Bodyline as her first big TV role.

“That was a really big deal for everyone working on it. It had such a big cast, predominantly male, but a wonderful cast. How was it very harmonious, happy experience. Dr. George Miller, was brilliant to work with, and still is. All the directors on that show were just wonderful,” she recalls.

In the 7 part series she played Edith, love interest to Hugo Weaving’s Douglas Jardine -coincidental given she has come ‘full circle’ as his partner in Love Me.

“I knew Hugo at NIDA, he was a few years after me. Our first jobs were contracts at the Sydney Theatre Company and we worked on quite a number of plays together. Then we did Bodyline together, then Proof. There were many years where we didn’t work together, and then Love Me was the first thing working together after probably 25 years.

“He truly is the most wonderful actor to work. His attention to detail, his deep interest in the psychology of a character. He’s a true actor in the best term. He investigates the human condition, he’s quite extraordinary.

“I know his children well, and his partner I’ve been friends with for many, many years. That’s the loveliest thing, I suppose, about getting older and staying in the same industry, You eventually get to work with people again, who you may not have worked with many years. That’s just such a gift.”

“Oh, you’re a dead body under a sheet”

One of her earliest roles was in ’70s series Cop Shop.

“I got so excited about the role and then they said, ‘Oh, you’re a dead body under a sheet.’ I think they needed an actor because they had to pull the sheet back. I said, ‘I don’t think you needed an actor, but anyway…'”

Countless Australian credits would follow: Five Mile Creek, Boys from the Bush, Embassy, A Country Practice, Muriel’s Wedding, GP, Spellbinder, Day of the Roses, Jessica, The Brush Off, Da Kath & Kim Code, The Society Murders, Rain Shadow, Blue Water, High Rogue Nation, Satisfaction, The Pacific, Rake, Crownies, Killing Time, Spirited, Dance Academy, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Molly, Janet King, A Place to Call Home and more.

“Even though you’re facing possibly nothingness, there can be everything in that”

She is now releasing a memoir, titled “Everything and Nothing.”

“It refers directly to a haiku quote that my mother used to read, which was next to her bed. ‘In my 10 foot bamboo hut, this Spring, there is nothing. There is everything.’ What she was referring to in that haiku was that she was approaching death. So it was something which I think she held very close to her, that even though you’re facing possibly nothingness, there can be everything in that. Also in every moment there is everything you need in life.

“So it’s about looking at life as being full rather than empty.”

“I think it’s a wonderful show”

Mitchell who has faced her own mortality twice, diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time, features this week in ABC’s Australian Story where she speaks about health, career and family. The episode includes Hugo Weaving, husband Martin McGrath, Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director Kip Williams, playwright Suzie Miller and friend Joanne Corrigan.

“I just felt very flattered and honoured that they would even contemplate doing an episode on me because I’m a big fan of the show. I think it’s a wonderful show, and I learned so much from watching it.”

Yet despite her vast body of work, Mitchell has never cracked the US market, although she recalls attempting it several decades ago.

“How often do Irish roles come along?”

“I had long red hair, and I was 23 or something. Back then you didn’t use an American accent, you just didn’t do that. So I was there I was with my Australian accent. And they said, ‘What can we do with you?’ But they could only imagine me playing Irish roles.

“I said, how, ‘How often do Irish roles come along?’ and they said, ‘Not often.’

“I’d been offered work back in Sydney so I thought, ‘I think I’ll go home.’

“I love Australia and I love Australian voices and Australian stories. I love that our industry just keeps growing and growing. That’s what’s important to me.”

Everything and Nothing by Heather Mitchell is released on May 2nd by Allen & Unwin.
Australian Story screens 8pm Monday on ABC, Love Me is now screening on Binge.