Combat Wombat star Deborah Mailman just a ‘daggy mum’ with superpowers

It’s worlds away from glittering red carpets, but Deb Mailman is just as happy being the “daggy mum”’ at home, wishing the rain away so her washing will dry and getting the kids through high school.

Exclusive: It may be worlds away from glittering red carpets, but Deb Mailman is just as happy being the “daggy mum”’ at home, wishing the rain away so her washing will dry and doing her best to get the kids through high school, happy and unscathed.

Away from the bright lights of film, TV and entertainment, being grounded – and staying grounded – is her superpower. We’ve all got one, she says with a smile.

“There’s a little bit of a superhero in all of us,” she tells Insider about her new film, Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back.

In cinemas on Thursday, Mailman voices the character of unlikely superhero Maggie – otherwise known as Combat Wombat.

“There’s a little bit of Maggie in all of us,” she laughs.

Deborah Mailman says everyone has one superpower.

Mailman on the red carpet with Cate Blanchett at the AACTA awards on February 10.

“I think one of the original ideas that attracted me to this script and this film in the first place was because of the character of Maggie.

“She’s a bit of an unlikely superhero … a cantankerous old wombat – she just carries herself in her little world.

“She likes to live in her little quiet part of the world and doesn’t care much for the rest of the world.”

Like so many mums – Mount Isa raised, wombat-loving Mailman included – Maggie finds herself in the monotony of unclogging blocked toilets and babysitting, when all she really wants to do is save the world.

Deborah Mailman stars in Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back.

“It’s quite cute and funny as well … when we see Maggie in this sequel, she’s more comfortable in role of being a superhero, being a crime fighter … but now there’s a low crime rate and there’s not a lot going on in her world, so she’s a little bit frustrated, because she wants to save the world,” the NSW south coast 51-year-old says.

“I think some of the best family films give entertainment to our kids, but also, the parents actually identify something within the storyline as well.

“And I think there’s something really simple about this film and its messaging … all it takes is a bit of kindness, courage and working together, to overcome those difficulties.

“And I just really think it’s a lovely, beautiful, simple message for anyone really, for both kids and adults alike.”

Mailman accepts the AACTA award for Best Supporting Actress In Film in The New Boy during the 2024 AACTA Awards. Picture: Getty Images

The world of animation is a nostalgic one for Mailman too, who a decade ago would cuddle up with her sons Henry and Oliver to watch a fun film like Combat Wombat.

Today, the boys are teenagers and life looks a little different. Henry is in his final year of high school and his little brother on his heels. The goal? To raise happy humans. Good people. And she and husband Matthew Coonan are pretty proud of the job they’ve done so far.

“It comes quicker than you expect … I’m sort of standing here going, how did that happen?” she tells Insider while hanging out the washing at their home near Wollongong – to make the most of the morning sun, of course.

“But the good thing is, as parents, that’s the joy – is sitting back and going, you know what, we did alright.

Mailman (third from left) in The Sapphires, with (from left) Shari Sebbens, Jessica Mauboy and Miranda Tapsell.

“We did a lot, bringing up two really beautiful young boys.

“And it’s a nice feeling you get as a parent, when they do get to that stage when you go -okay, somehow we did it.

“But ever since I became a mum, and I’m sure every parent has a story where that world becomes your world when you’re watching films or TV shows that are all for the kids entertainment – and growing up with all the Pixar … I’ve loved every second of being drawn into the world of kids entertainment.

“It’s really important too, for our older kids, to be growing up with Australian accents with Australian stories, I just find that a really important part of what I do as well.”

Combat Wombat picks up on a story Deborah Mailman used to watch snuggled up on the couch with her sons.

So what do two teenage boys think of having the Offspring and Sapphires star as their mum?

“Look, it’s funny, because their mates are probably more like, ‘oh, you know, your mum’s Deb Mailman – I certainly get that side of it from their friends,” she says.

“But you know, they see the daggy mum – getting around in really daggy clothes that I’ve been wearing for over a decade now, doing the mundane stuff of washing, and I do a bit of nagging all the time.

“So, I’m not sure if I’m a superhero in their eyes,” she laughs.

“If anything, I feel like I’m a bit of a daggy mum and you know, I don’t mind having that as a badge of honour.

Deborah Mailman in Mystery Road. Picture: Jack Friels

“I’m lucky that I’ve fallen in love with a job that I’ve been in love with for a very long time and I get to do really super cool stuff with my work, but also at the end of the day, life’s pretty uneventful in my world when it comes to just being at home just being a mum, making sure the dishes are clean, the clothes are clean, they’re getting through Year 12 – but they seem like big things, as a parent – they’re the big things that are more important to me than anything.”

The acclaimed Indigenous actor took home another AACTA earlier this month – this time for best supporting actress in moving Aussie film The New Boy – to add to her haul of awards, including a silver Logie for outstanding actress in 2022 for Total Control, the same drama she won an AACTA for a year earlier.

The accolades mean a lot – as does feeling recognised for her craft at the same time as representing the Indigenous community on screen and stage.

“When you’re doing jobs, particularly as a First Nations actor, at the time where there weren’t very many of us doing the work that we were doing – and now you see so many of our young kids getting into the industry … that’s such a proud position to reflect on,” she says.

The award-winning actor says the arts was an unlikely choice for a kid who grew up in an Australian mining town. Picture: Getty Images

“In terms of how much has changed over decades of the industry and the work that we’ve been doing, it’s, it’s a really nice place to stand and go, ‘yeah, that’s cool’ – whatever work that my generation did, it’s supported the next generation.

“And, you know, I’m a kid who grew up in a mining town … the arts was far from any obvious career choice – it was probably the most unusual choice I could ever make in terms of a career – so I love that idea and that message that if you want to do it, do it.

“Put your mind, body and soul behind it, and find the people that will support your determination, and do it.”

In fact, she set out to be a teacher before acting got in her blood. Growing up in her mining town, she was not “the kid in tap shoes putting on shows” for the family – by her own admission, she was the kid with her head in the clouds.

“I was very much in my own world, on my own time,” she explains.

“(Acting) didn’t really come into my world until I was in high school and drama was a subject, and I just really started to enjoy it more than the other subjects that I did at school.

“And I had a great teacher – I was always going to be a teacher – that was where my path was leading.”

Perhaps they were the foundations that led to the notoriously private star’s craving of a simple life.

“I’m not trying to make a statement around any of that, but I do like being private,” she says.

“I like leading a very quiet life away from work because work gives me all that – I travel a lot with my job, I get a lot of excitement from that side of my work. So when I’m home – I’ve always been a homebody. I’ve been that like that since I was a kid.

“Like if I’m at a party, I’ll probably choose the quiet, very dark, dimly lit corner and stay there for most of the night. I think that’s always been my person and then hasn’t changed at all, even through the work that I do. I sort of tend to crawl back into my little shell when I’m not needed.”

So after Combat Wombat – and after hanging out the washing – what’s next for one of our country’s biggest stars?

“It’s hard to pinpoint because I’ve never had a plan for any of this – I think I just approach work as it’s come to me and if it sings to me and if it excites me and it’s interesting, then I’ll do it – and I’ve been lucky enough that in that body of work, I’ve been really proud to talk about every project that I’ve done – and Combat Wombat is no different,” she explains.

“And it’s great doing voiceover for animation – it’s a lot of fun. It’s no different to the way I would approach any other project because you still have to find meaning in it, you still have to present it with a sense of truth – but there’s a little bit more fun to be had when you’re dealing within that children’s world.

“And there’s a lot of humour within that world as well and it makes me laugh all the time, so yes, work like this really puts a smile on my face.

“My body starting out on me 10 years ago, I would have loved to have done something like action packed but now it’s like nah, I’d probably do my hip,” she jokes.

“If I can just keep getting the work that I’m getting – if it’s well written, what the ideas are around – it’s all about the experience and the people that I want to work with now, and how big or small those ideas are.

“That’s how I choose the work that I do, and I don’t think that’s going to change.”

Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is in cinemas February 29.

Originally published as Combat Wombat star Deborah Mailman just a ‘daggy mum’ with superpowers