Natalie Abbott on the highs of finding success and the lows of lockdown

Natalie Abbott opens up about the highs of finding success in Aftertaste and the oh-so-low lows of lockdown.

It’s been strange days – well years – indeed for Natalie Abbott.

There were the heights of success with her first roles on stage and TV.

She was lauded as the eponymous Muriel in the musical Muriel’s Wedding and as Diana in ABC comedy Aftertaste.

But then followed the oh-so-low lows of lockdown.

“It was really hard and so weird because there was all this time when Aftertaste finished filming (in 2020) and after it aired and then I didn’t work,” Abbott shares.

“I went back to Sydney and I had to get a bit of a Muggle job to pay the rent.

“And then being locked down and it was winter and the seasonal depression is real. That was really hard.

“So there was this element of success but in reality that had all passed and I was going to work in a bar and trying to pay my rent and do some (audition) tapes.

“(I was) just back to the grind which is the territory of this business.

“Everything I had done up to then had been quite like being thrown in the deep end – Muriel’s wedding was my first musical and Diana my first TV role – and then the hangover you get afterwards is really interesting.

“I’m still learning how to process that.

“Let’s just say lockdown and winter are not my friends – they’re not good at all.”

Natalie Abbott was lauded as the eponymous Muriel in the musical Muriel’s Wedding and as Diana in Aftertaste.

Fortunately, following a much-loved first season, and a Logie nomination, ABC is serving up a second helping of Aftertaste and Abbott is back in the quirky wardrobe of pastry chef extraordinaire Diana.

Erik Thomson returns as her onscreen uncle, celebrity chef Easton West.

After throwing away his last chance at fame, Easton (Erik Thomson) has settled into obscurity in the Adelaide Hills rather well.

However, Easton’s new life out of the public eye is shattered by Diana’s return to Uraidla, as she flaunts her successful new London career and love life.

Still furious with her family’s secrets and lies, Diana is desperate to prove how much better off she is without them.

Season 2 brings back the exceptional ensemble cast including Rachel Griffiths, Wayne Blair Susan Prior, Remy Hii and Kavitha Anandasivam. While Lynette Curran, Julian Maroun and Syd Brisbane join the cast this season.

Abbott’s still refreshingly wide-eyed and contemplative, relaxed, and funny as the first time we met as we sit in her trailer at the Kangarilla unit base. And she’s again just oh-so grateful for her chance to play Diana.

Erik Thomson and Natalie Abbott in a scene from season two of the ABC comedy.

She’s never stepped back into a character before and admits she also found that a little challenging.

“It really took me a couple of weeks to find my feet, and Diana’s feet, again – I didn’t think that would be a problem,” Abbott shares.

“But look she’s a little bit older and she’s going through different experiences. She’s changed and she’s growing.”

Her salty language and insults have not changed though. And Abbott hints there’s some doozies in this new six-episode series.

Her parents love Diana’s unique turn of phrase so much so that they’ve adopted a few. She’s not sure they’d be so tolerant if they peppered her own vernacular.

“I feel like my mum would be ‘Oh Natalie, don’t speak like that’ and my dad would be ‘oh that’s crass’, but they love it when it’s Diana,” Abbott laughs.

“Every single day my dad will say ‘cockwomble’ or some other Diana insult to each other like ‘we’re so cool’.

“They’re just so overwhelming with their love and fandom.”

Erik Thomson returns as Natalie Abbott’s onscreen uncle, celebrity chef Easton West.

Despite being selected from more than 500 people for the role of the pastry chef, Abbott initially struggled with impostor syndrome. How is it this second time around?

“There’s definitely still some times where I don’t know what I’m doing – But I think that might just come from the territory,” she says.

“Now that I’ve done a few more jobs I feel like that’s just a common theme so maybe everyone feels that way.

“But the beautiful thing about this job is we have already had a season working together and now it feels like we are all mates and just sort of hanging out.

“There was one morning last week where I didn’t start ‘til 1pm and I came in early because I just wanted to hang out and talk. It’s just like family.”

She pauses as I ask her what she’s enjoyed most this second time around. And then her widely infectious smile lights up her face.

“Everything – honestly there’s really so many things,” Abbott says, before confessing.

“You know what the first thing that came to my head was? Getting to wear her wardrobe again. And getting my hair done. She is a farshun icon.”

Aftertaste, Wednesday, 9.10pm, ABC and iview

Originally published as Natalie Abbott on the highs of finding success and the lows of lockdown