Much loved Australian actor Heather Mitchell is making every day count

Heather Mitchell is a two-time breast cancer survivor and now at the age of 65 she has never been busier and is excited to take her lauded, solo stage show around Australia.

Cameron Daddo and Heather Mitchell in the Maldives for Luxury Escapes Picture: Mike Cardillo

If Heather Mitchell has learned one thing over her 65 years, it’s that it’s a true privilege to get to 65.

The two-time breast cancer survivor was sitting in a hospital room supporting her dear friend through a chemo session when she got the call to go to the Maldives to shoot Luxury Escapes.

“She was sitting there, hooked up to have chemo and they rang and said ‘would you like to go to the Maldives?’- and I looked at her – she’d heard it and gave me a big thumbs up and I thought … ‘look at you – you’re not getting to go but you’re very excited for me’ – and that’s what it’s all about,” she tells Insider.

“I’ve had breast cancer twice, and I was very fortunate that both times I had the best of care and – but I am more aware.

“I’m 65 this year, I am very aware now of the how fortunate I am to be 65. And for as long as I’m here, I want to make sure I live it all, with great respect for myself and for everyone else and live a good life.

“I really want to. And I’m very aware of the fragility of life and how special it is to be alive, and to be able to do things that we care about and love.

Heather Mitchell says she feels very lucky to have made it to 65.

“And that’s a real honour, really, to be able to fulfil the things you love in life and have children … you know, I’ve got a very wonderful life.”

The Sydney actor and mother of two is walking through nearby Centennial Park when talking to Insider, taking it all in. There’s a lot to reflect on lately. A big body of work as a stalwart of great Aussie theatre, a happy 31 year marriage with fellow cinematographer Martin McGrath and sons Finn, 24, and Seamus, 22, happily living at home with them.

“I don’t think they’re going anywhere,” she laughs.

“I said to Martin the other night ‘I wonder if they’re thinking of leaving’ – but not talking about it yet.

“We all get on and love living with each other.

“They’re very independent but the way we get together is to play cards or have meals and things.

“My eldest is a beautiful young artist and he’s having his first exhibition in November, which is very exciting – it’s a two hour only exhibition at a gallery called Damien Minton … and it’s a wonderful idea for young artists.

“When my kids were little, I’d hear people say ‘it doesn’t matter how old they get, you’ll still worry’ – and it’s so true. I don’t worry about my sons – I know my sons are going to be fine – but I do have to learn to hold back.

Heather Mitchell in the Maldives for Luxury Escapes. Picture: Mike Cardillo

“My big lesson is learning not to interfere, not to try to help – to let them make mistakes.

“And I think when they’re little we’re trying to help them not make too many mistakes … it’s re-educating yourself to be their friend in a way, rather than their parents.

“It is a big adjustment, actually.

“I would never give advice – but I think the younger they learn to solve problems and deal with situations, the better – I think sometimes I’ve been guilty of thinking I can do it better, so I’ll quickly do it, I’ll do it in half the time. Basically, I’ve done too much, put it that way. I don’t think I’m a controlling person. I like to do things and I tend to interfere.”

Ever a perfectionist, the NIDA graduate and once Camden High school captain has worked alongside Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving, Marta Dusseldorp and starred in Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom as well as Aussie classic Muriel’s Wedding and with Bryan Brown for Palm Beach.

Next year the Love Me star will revisit her Ruth Bader Ginsburg – RBG: Of Many, One – show which she did last year for the Sydney Theatre Company. The first six months of 2024 will see her tour RGB around Australia, work she labels a “real honour”.

“When you’re doing eight shows a week, I tend not to do much during the day, but I’m hoping to do some more writing – I had an opportunity to be in a writers room last year for a drama series, and I’d love to do more things like that. And then I’m still learning about acting — I just love acting.

“So I feel very fortunate to still be in love with what I do.”

Heather Mitchell will be touring RBG around Australia. Picture: Rene Vaile

Her relationship with Martin is a special one too, despite spending a lot of time apart. “I think Martin was away 10 months last year, and six months this year,” she explains.

“It’s a long time but we are very excited by each other. We get very excited about what we’re doing and we’re very stimulated by each other’s ideas. “We talk at least three times a day, plus all the texts. And the great thing about that is, when we do see each other, we have so much to talk about, so much to share.

“And fortunately, neither of us ever felt resentful of the other one not being there – and I think that that’s been the key to the longevity of our relationship, and the lack of conflict in our relationship.

“We never allow the other one to feel that they should have been somewhere else when they’ve been away … fortunately, we’re happy for each other.”

Something else that makes them happy is travel. So the opportunity to explore the Maldives with Luxury Escapes was another chance to see the world. “Travel is sadly one of those things which has become rarer and rarer for me,” she explains.

“When I was younger, the first thing I wanted to do when I left school was travel.

“I was very fortunate to grow up at a time when travel was not as expensive as it is now … you’d get a Euro Pass and go and stay in very cheap little hostel – so my 20s were a lot about travelling through Europe and experiencing everything from galleries to tiny little towns – it’s just magnificent.

Heather Mitchell says she is still learning more about the skill of acting at the age of 65. Picture. John Feder/The Australian.

“Whereas now – and this is why when this amazing experience to go to the Maldives came up, I was over the moon – because I would never get to do something like that.

“That is now something that seems such a dream to me, so it was an amazing experience … and it is even better than the photographs you’ll see.

“It’s a dream come true, really, and to be there with Cameron, who’s just a dream as well, was just glorious – I’m still pinching myself.”

She says it was an opportunity to slow down, in a life that post-Covid, is busier than ever.

“I’m coping with life, but I am feeling fragmented,” she says.

“I am feeling – and I think having that experience away made me realise how – I don’t know if that’s the age I’m at now, but I’m cramming a lot of things in.

“I suppose in your 60s, often people are slowing down, they’re choosing to leave work – I’m feeling that I never want to stop working. I love my work and my husband’s in the same industry so we’re very reluctant to say no to anything because there is no permanence in it, so you grab the work that you want to do when it’s there.

“I do feel like if you carve out the time – I think it’s essential, which is why we have holidays – it’s the reminder that we must stop.

“It doesn’t matter how far you go or where you go.

“Sometimes it’s about acknowledging the need to relax and stop and reflect.”

Stopping and reflecting isn’t her strong suit – but she is ‘acutely aware’ of the importance of health and happiness, particularly as we get older.

“I’m healthy and well, I can do anything that comes my way – I can make choices,” she says.

“I can make the choices that work for me and my family.se things.

“I suppose it’s only on your deathbed that you’d sit there and reflect on whether you’d had time to reflect and go ‘this is what I had’.

“So until then I won’t be looking back going ‘oh, that’s been my life’ – I think it’s very much ‘what can I do now?’.”

“Our life is finite, and every single person will die. Everyone will. And so with that in mind, it’s not like – ‘live your life because you know you’re gonna die’ – it’s more just living. We are living very fast lives.

“Everything is in short grabs. Everything is about quick fixes … so that’s where the word ‘holiday’, even if a holiday is sitting in a chair, and taking the time to breathe.

“It’s almost like having a holiday every day, giving yourself a little holiday every day in some form, whether that’s a cup of tea and a book – or the Maldives,” she laughs.

Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays is on every Tuesday on Foxtel’s LifeStyle channel, and also available to stream on Binge.