‘A blubbering mess’: The episode that reduced the actress playing Bluey’s mum to tears
Melanie Zanetti has revealed why she fought so hard for the role of Bluey’s mum Chilli, why the show is so special and the one episode that reduces her to tears.
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When actor Melanie Zanetti was dreaming about her breakout acting role, a cartoon dog never figured into the equation.
But Zanetti, best known these days as Bluey’s mum Chilli, had a special feeling about the Brisbane-made children’s TV show after she recorded a voice demo for the role.
“Back then I don’t think anyone could have predicted that Bluey was going to be this big, but I knew it was special,’’ Zanetti, 38, says.
“I was hounding my agent, saying, ‘Tell them I want this.’ They said, ‘You know this is an ABC cartoon right?’, and I said, ‘Yes, this is special, trust me.’”
Five years after premiering in Australia and four years since launching in the US on Disney Junior and later Disney+, Bluey is now shown in 60 countries.
A worldwide hit, the show’s English dub features the original voice cast, including Zanetti, with their true-blue Australian accents.
Despite playing one of the most popular characters on children’s television, Zanetti says her voice has never been recognised out in the real world.
“I have a slightly more neutral tone and I lean into the vowels with Chilli,” she says. Even her young niece, aged four, took some convincing.
“For ages my brother was telling her ‘Aunty Mel is Chilli’ and she just wasn’t getting it. Then one day he said it and she just stopped, and sort of went into shock, and then started screaming, and then she was real weird with me the next day,” Zanetti laughs.
After working in the industry for more than 15 years, doors are starting to open in Hollywood for Zanetti in no small part thanks to Bluey.
“Because the messaging of Bluey is so beautiful, people feel very warmly towards it and I think that really helps,” she says.
Zanetti’s latest US indie feature film, Head Count, is due for release in September. It follows her leading role in last year’s gothic supernatural thriller Raven’s Hollow.
Her next film in the Gabriel’s Inferno series, in which she plays the starring role of Julianne, is also due for release this year. Filmed in Florence and directed by Tosca Musk – sister of Elon – it is based on the best-selling erotic romance novels by Sylvain Reynard and will air on Tosca’s streaming service, Passionflix.
Born and raised in Brisbane, Zanetti was a creative child not all that dissimilar to her onscreen canine children Bluey and Bingo. She loved playing make believe and would round up her five siblings (she’s second-eldest) to act out stories set in different worlds.
“I was not interested in playing doctors or teachers or anything like that. Everything had to involve dress-ups or potions,” she says.
Her father, who has an Italian background, worked in property management and her mum was a teacher. Growing up in the Zanetti household was fun and chaotic and they all remain close to this day.
“It was amazing. Because there are a lot of us, it really does teach you how to live in community with people and how to be patient. We were raised to know how to champion each other and we were never compared to one another. Now it’s kind of amazing having this clan of people who are yours, particularly my sisters. I’m so close to them and they’re people I’d choose to be my friends. I feel really lucky,” Zanetti says.
Zanetti attended Holy Family School at Indooroopilly and St Kevin’s Catholic Primary School in Geebung before going to high school at All Hallows’ in Fortitude Valley. Despite performing in lots of school plays and musicals, as a teenager she wasn’t interested in pursuing an acting career.
“I just thought it was for really beautiful and really deluded people,” she says.
After graduating from high school she enrolled in a creative industries degree but six months in, she was miserable.
“My parents sat me down and said, ‘You love acting, why don’t you give it a try?’” she says.
Heeding their advice, she auditioned for the University of Southern Queensland’s reputable acting degree in Toowoomba. For the next three years, she devoted herself to learning the craft.
“It was so full on. Usually when people go to university they’ve got a few lectures and tutorials throughout the week – we were 8am to 6pm every day and I was often there in the morning before we started or afterwards working on pieces,’’ she says. “I loved the rigour of that. We did acting classes and rehearsals every afternoon and we also had ballet and combat and tai chi – all of these things to condition your body, because it was predominantly a theatre course. That structure stood me in good stead for diligence for the future, because when you get out and there is no structure, you have to be so self-driven.’’
When she graduated in 2007, Zanetti moved back to Brisbane and started picking up acting work in theatre productions.
Her first big role on the stage came in 2011 when she played Eliza in Queensland Theatre Company’s Pygmalion. Her performance earned her a Matilda Award for Best Female Actor in a Lead Role at Queensland’s premier theatre awards. It was around this time that Zanetti decided to spread her wings and start seeking work on the silver screen.
“Theatre takes such big blocks of time, so I started to say no to it, which is hard because you’re saying no to work in order to be available for film and television roles,” she says.
In 2012 she got her first role in a feature film – a zombie movie called Battle of the Damned directed by Chris Hatton, who she teamed up with again for Raven’s Hollow.
“It was filmed in Malaysia and it was a ridiculous movie but it was wild and a lot of fun,” she says.
After getting a rep in the US, Zanetti started travelling back and forth to Los Angeles. Over the years, she has picked up various roles in TV shows and films including black comedy The Leisure Class, Netflix fantasy series The Bureau of Magical Things, post-apocalyptic comedy Love and Monsters and Dwayne Johnson sitcom Young Rock.
A combination of hard work, talent, self-belief, family support and a little luck have got Zanetti to where she is today. Last year she appeared with Bluey castmate Dave “Bandit” McCormack on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon before a quick costume change and a dash down the street to present at the International Daytime Emmy Awards in New York. It was the first time she and McCormack had met “for real life”.
“It just hadn’t happened and it was so lovely to meet such a legend,” she says.
Every few months, Zanetti records about four Bluey episodes at a time wherever she happens to be in the world.
“The director (Bluey creator Joe Brumm or Richard Jeffery) zooms in for the session and it’s all over in a few hours,’’ she says.
“It is such an amazing job in that way because I can slip it between other projects. When the writing is so good and the characters are so clear, it’s all there on the page.
“Bluey does feel like my second family. I love being involved in this show, it’s so gorgeous.’’
It’s hard for her to pick a favourite episode. Tradies, Hammerbarn and Escape are all up there, but Sleepytime takes the cake.
“I think it’s a masterpiece. When I first watched it I was a blubbering mess,’’ she says.
“It’s the most beautiful and in ways profound but also simple episode. So many parents have said to me how they feel seen with all that labour that goes into bedtime and making your kids feel safe while you’re also trying to get some sleep.’’
While Zanetti would love to see a Bluey movie take shape, her dream role would be a period piece. “I think they’re fabulous,” she says.
“I love that I’ve been able to play so many different roles and not been typecast. It keeps it fresh and exciting. Anything where you’ve got an amazing script and an amazing team that’s making work you’re excited to put out into the world is living the dream. I’m aware it’s a privilege to work in the arts and I don’t take that for granted for a second.”
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