What you didn’t know about ... Rebecca Gibney
Beloved Australian “mother hen” actor Rebecca Gibney reveals the sheer terror of her spin on Dancing with the Star, how she handles her panic attacks and what she would do to change the world ... and her own brain.
Sydney Weekend
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Rebecca Gibney may have been born in New Zealand, but Australian fans are quick to claim her as our own – and lucky we did.
The 60-year-old is not only spinning around the dance floor for Dancing with the Stars, but next month will tread the boards for the first time in 23 years in a new Sydney Theatre Company play, sharing the stage with her Luxury Escapes partner, Cameron Daddo.
She’s a proud “mother hen”, an eternal optimist and opens up about overcoming the panic attacks that haunted her for more than 15 years.
What do you have coming up?
I’m about to do another few episodes of Luxury Escapes so I am disappearing with Cameron Daddo soon.
I’m showing him some of my area in the Marlborough region of New Zealand, and I can guarantee there’ll be a bit of wine tasting.
After that we go to Fiji. I’m not going to lie, it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Once we’ve gone to Fiji, Cam and I come back to Sydney for our play with the Sydney Theatre Company.
The play is called Circle Mirror Transformation by award-winning playwright Annie Baker and it’s supposed to be a relationship drama kind of comedy. Cameron is playing my husband.
It is a really great play and it’s my first time on stage in over 23 years so it’s exciting and very nerve-racking.
How would you describe yourself?
I’m an eternal optimist I always try to look for the good in people and I don’t hold grudges.
Life’s too short and it’s wasted energy because ultimately hating someone from afar is more damaging to yourself than it is to that person.
How do you think others describe you?
Well, I’ve been described as a mother hen on more than one occasion. Especially on film sets.
I can’t enjoy myself unless everyone is too. I’ve probably always been a bit of a people pleaser – I think I’ve inherited that from Mum.
As I am getting older I am getting better at setting boundaries … as my husband Richard says, “I am not using up my happy pills on people that don’t deserve it anymore.”
I have always been someone that is interested in other people and making sure everyone’s happy, often sometimes to the detriment of myself, but once Rafters came along I used to be called mother of Australia and I thought I will take that on. I quite like that handle.
I love people and I love making sure that everyone is happy. There’s enough misery in the world. I think we should try and cheer each other up – that’s what we’re here for.
What is most important to you?
I think authenticity and contentment are what I’m craving as I get older, happiness is fleeting but a decent contentment will last forever and I’m trying to be the most authentic version of myself.
I was always so hard on myself so I’m just trying to live in the present and be as authentic as possible.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Well, I think a few people know this already.
Initially, I wanted to be the first female prime minister of New Zealand.
My high school was literally just down the road from The Beehive (federal government office in Wellington) so after school sometimes I would go and sit in the gallery and watch the debate thinking “Oh I could do better” which is bizarre because I actually hated public speaking.
When you watch the abuse that these people have to cop I’m very glad I’m not a politician, there’s no way I would make a good politician.
I haven’t got thick enough skin for it.
Tell us a secret. What is one thing people may not know about you?
Many years ago I was a roving reporter for the short run show called the Eric Bana Series and I was sent to America and I interviewed James Wood, Mark Hamill, Luc Longley, Dennis Rodman, Howard Stern and Debbie Harry.
I was so nervous because I’ve never really been an interviewer before so I had all my questions lined up and Debbie Harry said at the time “I’m gonna give you a scoop” and she told me a story about when she was a young singer just starting out that she had hitchhiked one day from somewhere.
I can’t remember exactly where, but she got picked up by (serial killer) Ted Bundy and luckily escaped from him.
If you want something a bit more lighthearted, I did come third in the national championships for trampoline when I was 13 in New Zealand!
What has been the biggest obstacle you have overcome?
The biggest obstacle over the course of my life is probably my mental breakdown that I had in my 30s and my panic attacks.
I suffered from panic attacks from the age of 14 until well into my 30s.
Learning to understand what they were about and where they were coming from and then actually gaining the tools on how to deal with them has been life changing.
Seeking help for my mental health was vital and I think not enough people are doing that so I just like to encourage people that if they are struggling, to find someone to talk to about it and share it.
I mean some people can’t talk about it in which case just write it down.
More recently, I’d have to say Dancing with the Stars.
If I had known how hard it was going to be mentally and physically I don’t know whether I would’ve done it.
I knew it was gonna be tricky but I’ve gotta say I felt every part of my 60 years and then the mental stuff on top of that I didn’t actually factor how it was going to impact me.
I had moments where I resorted back to a 12-year-old being judged and not being good enough and not doing it well and being told off.
It was really bizarre you feel like you’ve let yourself down. You’ve let everyone else down.
I wasn’t the only one to feel it, I know Michael Usher felt it.
We would talk about the absolute panic going out on to that stage and the spotlight hitting you and then everything going out of your head and thinking I don’t know what I’m doing.
It was absolute sheer terror.
I know I seem like I don’t get stage fright, but I really do! It’s very different performing in front of a live audience being judged compared to working on a set.
But it was an incredible experience to learn ballroom dancing. I felt fitter than I ever had before and I made some incredible friends with the dancers and the celebs and the crew which is a really lovely experience.
It’s lovely to work on a show where there were no villains – everyone’s there doing it for fun and all the right reasons.
We were having so much fun, that we often forgot about the competition part and we were all cheering and commiserating every milestone together.
What has been your proudest moment?
Receiving the Logies Hall of Fame last year, I actually didn’t know what to expect until they played the video of all my work.
Someone did such a beautiful job of piecing together my work over the years and I looked back at that and went: Wow!
For someone who suffered from severe impostor syndrome for most of my life to actually then sit in the room of my peers, it was so lovely for me, but then to watch my body of work it was the first time in probably forever that I thought, ‘Okay, yeah I’m proud of that.’
I’m proud of whatever I’ve achieved as an actor.
Then, of course, to top it off to have my son present the award – that made me even more proud because I was so proud of him, of the human being that he portrayed when he got up on that stage and how genuine and how thoughtful and what an incredible young man he is and that’s probably my proudest achievement, that my son thinks that I’m the best mum he could’ve asked for.
That means I’ve done my job which is awesome.
What is the kindest thing anyone has ever said to you?
It is probably what Zach said to me when he presented the award at the Logies.
He said: “The first thing that comes to mind when someone says Rebecca Gibney is – that’s my mum. She’s always been my mum so I guess the name Rebecca doesn’t mean anything more to me than Mum.
“I know that her name means a lot to other people. She’s an amazing actor, friend, co-worker, daughter, sister, hardworking, honest, kind and caring soul and I feel so lucky to have been raised by someone with so much love to give and be guided through life watching her show so much kindness to everyone she meets.
“Many people love Rebecca Gibney the actor. I will always love her as the kindest most loving mum anyone could ask for.”
What is the last thing you read, watched, ate, listened to?
I am reading Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, I love it.
I watched Chimp Crazy on Netflix, it’s about a lady that ran a chimp thing a bit like Tiger King, just horrifying.
Also, I have just finished The Four Seasons on Netflix.
I just made some scrambled eggs.
I am listening to the podcast Dear Rachelle – a cold case they are reinvestigating. I love a bit of true crime. I was right into Up and Vanished, and Your Own Backyard is another one. I like to listen to them because I am always hoping there is going to be justice for the families.
I was also listening to my Dancing with the Stars playlist and dancing around the room while I was packing for Luxury Escapes.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
I would remove the current narcissists and nut bags that are running the planet. I would remove certain current world leaders and replace them with leaders who actually genuinely care about their fellow man that are more interested in peace over power, that are more interested in love and compassion over hatred and greed. That’s what I would do.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Why?
I’m pretty okay with me. But I’d probably want to live more in the present.
I’m still getting dragged into the future, not so much into the past … but I still spend too much time thinking about what’s coming and how I can deal with it and multi-tasking.
And I’ve got too many drop-down tabs going in my head.
I can hyper focus on one thing and then I get panicked because I’ve let the other thing slide, so if I could change one thing I wish my brain was a bit more normal.
I would stop sweating the small stuff – it’s just not worth it.
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