Five Bedrooms star Kat Stewart on catching up with Offspring co-stars

Actor Kat Stewart talks about filming during the pandemic, homeschooling her young children – and why her husband doesn’t care who she’s pashing onscreen.

None of us were ready for the upheaval the pandemic brought with it, but actor Kat Stewart believes the unpredictability of the entertainment industry helped her cope as 2020’s Covid curve balls kept coming. But Stewart, a mother of two (Archie, 9, and Georgia, 5), long ago learnt to embrace uncertainty.

Twenty years ago, she walked away from a day job to pursue acting, which had long been a passion. So when her life in Melbourne was repeatedly upended by lockdowns, the Offspring star knew how to go with the flow.

“You have to remember that we actors, entertainers and musicians are used to living on the edge,” the 48-year-old tells Stellar.

“We are used to life changing with a single phone call. Now I think everyone else has got a bit of a taste of that. We suddenly had life changing each day with a news conference.”

“You used to go from 40 to 60 in about five minutes. Pretending to be 39 and three-quarters is exhausting!” (Picture: Cameron Grayson/Supplied)

Stewart says she’s also a “resourceful optimist” who made the best of a bad situation by binge-watching award-winning hit TV comedy Schitt’s Creek, spending quality time with her family and putting wheels in motion to become the Reese Witherspoon of Australia.

Has the ongoing uncertainty in the entertainment industry made life difficult for your family?

I was lucky because, while Five Bedrooms was paused, I was able to get JobKeeper. Also, my husband [fellow actor David Whiteley] is very clever and he set up a wardrobe as a home studio.

We both do voiceovers, so we were able to keep doing those. And I was doing a lot of voiceovers for the government ads during the first lockdown. So, that kept us busy and we were OK, but keenly aware of how this has decimated so many performers in the live sector.

How did you fare homeschooling Archie and Georgia during that time?

I really thought I had Grade 3 under my belt. I could answer the questions and get them right but the techniques to teaching them have changed. So I had to learn those. Look, I love teachers, I love nurses and I love doctors more than I can express.

As actors, was it easier keeping the kids entertained?

Our kids are really creative, so they made a lot of movies. They entertain each other and make each other laugh. For me routine was really important. So getting up at the same time, doing a bit of exercise or some yoga, and then having the structured time for when the kids started their online learning. We did bake. And we had discos on the weekends.

In the new season of Five Bedrooms, we see your character grappling with the idea of motherhood. Tell us a bit about your own journey to becoming a mum.

I had been working [as an actor] for a while, but kind of in a pretty low-key way, when Underbelly happened [in 2008]. By then I was mid-30s and I started getting busy, so it was hard to turn the jobs down.

I always thought I would have kids, so when I was doing season two of Offspring – and I had the infertility storyline and I was doing some research on IVF – it really made me sit up straight and acknowledge the fact that I couldn’t just live one day at a time and assume that everything would be alright.

Statistically I had to get a move on, and I was 38 at the time. So, by the end of that series, lovely Archie was on his way.

Kat Stewart with her husband David Whiteley.

There have been many stories about the extreme lengths some productions used to continue filming during the pandemic. The Bold And The Beautiful actors had to film love scenes with mannequins. Was it a similar story for filming Five Bedrooms?

Well, we had to pause for three months. No-one really knew what we were dealing with, so it was quite stressful. But we were so lucky. When we came back we had a 40-page document of procedures. It was meticulous and we were so well looked after. We all got so good at doing Covid tests we could practically give them to ourselves.

You have great screen chemistry with your new co-star Rodger Corser. Because you and your husband are both actors, does it make it easier to watch each other cosying up to someone else on screen?

Dave does more theatre than screen, but I don’t like it when he kisses other people. I’m a grown-up about it, but I don’t like it. I hate that he’s so disinterested [in my screen kisses with Rodger]. It was almost irritating.

He must have absolute confidence in me because he couldn’t care less. He’s worked with and likes Rodger. He just wanted me to say hello to him and pass on his regards.

So, no mannequins for love scenes then?

Hilarious. No, but I’ve spoken to [series creators] Michael [Lucas] and Christine [Bartlett] about this and they did start writing differently [because of Covid], which I thought was brilliant. They started writing love scenes like a 1940s romance where you’d say something with a look or sassy line rather than have characters go in for a pash.

Kate Stewart with Rodger Corser in Five Bedrooms.

What is the show that fans most want to talk to you about?

It used to be Underbelly, but now it’s Offspring. There’s just so much affection for it. So much warmth.

Do you catch up with the Offspring cast?

I caught up with Asher [Keddie] and Eddie [Perfect] last year for dinner, so yes, we do. Offspring was in the “13 episode” days, where it was a longer gig [than most series recorded today]. You might not socialise as much during it because it was a long haul, but it bonds you. We worked through so many life events as well. We kind of grew up together.

Career success came later for you in an industry that has historically put a lot of emphasis on youth. As Goldie Hawn’s character in the 1996 film The First Wives Club famously put it: “There are only three ages for women in Hollywood: babe, district attorney and Driving Miss Daisy.”

Do you think that is still the case?

Yeah, you used to go from 40 to 60 in about five minutes. But pretending to be 39 and three-quarters is exhausting! There are so many women in their 40s and beyond. And they’re the ones making a lot of decisions about the household budget. We want to see ourselves on screen.

I just finished Mare Of Easttown and, oh my God, Kate Winslet brought her own face along! God bless her. She’s beautiful, but it’s real, and it’s a character of real depth and nuance, and it’s just brilliant. That’s what’s possible. And I’m hungry for that.

That’s one of the things I love about Five Bedrooms. It’s not just my character who is in her 40s. You’ve also got Heather [Doris Younane] who is in her 50s. And these are women who are sexual, full-blooded, complex, flawed and dynamic creations. So, I think it’s getting better.

Kat Stewart stars on the cover of this Sunday’s Stellar.

Could you see yourself joining the ranks of Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman and creating content for yourself in the future?

I’ve got a couple of little irons in the fire. I’m developing ideas. I think it makes sense to do that at a certain point and the industry is much more accepting of us doing that now, too. They have paved the way.

Five Bedrooms is one of the few Australian-made scripted dramas left. What do you think we need to do to ensure our stories continue to be told on commercial TV?

I think we’re consuming TV differently. And that’s OK. There will always be a place for network TV. They have a lot of success with things that are immediate – like event TV, reality TV, news and sports. But we like to binge our drama.

So, I think we’re all just adapting and evolving. As long as it’s driving the quality up and more is being created – we are very sophisticated as Australian audiences and now only watch things that are the high standard – then I think that’s a great thing.

Season two of Five Bedrooms will stream exclusively on Paramount+ Australia from August 11.