Q&A: Deborah Riley, production designer, 48

She’s worked behind the scenes on Game of Thrones and The Matrix. Now Deborah Riley is stepping in front of the camera.

Fronting Making It Australia: Deborah Riley

How did a Brisbane architecture graduate wind up in Hollywood? I went from believing I would be an architect to thinking I’d be a stage designer so I switched to a course at NIDA. A couple of years later I worked on my first film, The Matrix, and never looked back. I thought I was interviewing for an opera or something, but when I visited the [Sydney] workshop there was a big fibreglass helicopter hanging from the ceiling and from that moment I was sold.

The Matrix

Your work on Game of Thrones earned you four Emmys and a place in history as part of the world’s most popular TV show. Do you recall the moment you got the nod? I joined the show in 2013 for Season 4. When [showrunner] David Benioff told me, I couldn’t do anything except sit on the floor. Just the shock. My body, my brain – nothing worked. Then this wonderful group of people took me under their wing and schooled me in all things Westeros.

You certainly racked up some frequent flyer miles, once taking 65 flights in a single season... We were based out of Belfast but we were shooting in a number of other countries: Spain, Croatia, Iceland. So it was quite intense in terms of travel. I could be in Spain in the morning and back in the office in Northern Ireland by the evening. It was really mad.

The infamous coffee-cup scene in Game Of Thrones

In the final season, an anachronistic coffee cup was left on set. Were you involved in the production gaffe that broke the internet? It was obviously a mistake. I thought someone must have Photoshopped it in there because we were so careful about everything we did. No one was more surprised to see it than me.

Was it hard to say goodbye to Westeros? When the day finally came, we were ready. We’d built a city; we’d burnt it to the ground. We were exhausted. Of course I cried my eyes out. But when I think about the very, very early mornings, the cold and the mud and the rain and the fake snow, I think of it fondly.

Did you get a souvenir? I have a baby dragon skull here at home in Sydney. The props maker had asked what I would like and he made a mould and cast one for me.

You provided art direction for the Sydney 2000 Olympics closing ceremony. How nerve-wracking was that? The thing about the Olympics is the whole world is watching and you don’t get a second chance. I will never forget the marathon runner approaching the stadium and knowing it was time. I felt like all my bones disappeared and I was just a blob on the floor. All of the work, all of the rehearsal, comes down to that one moment.

Your whole career seems like a high-wire act… There is a lot of pressure but I quite like that because I thrive in that kind of environment. I’m very good at procrastinating and my whole life could easily be wasted – there are days when I’m not working and I can’t even get the washing on. But when I have a deadline, it’s extraordinary what can be done.

How do you feel about moving in front of the camera as a judge on the new crafting and DIY show Making It Australia? Making It is all about talking to people about their craft and skills and that’s what I do every day, so I thought, “I can do that, it’s just chatting to people about what they’re making”. The idea that it was in front of the camera didn’t really occur to me until I walked on set the first day and thought, “Good God, what have you done?” But I really enjoyed it. It’s a very charming show.

Making It Australia premieres on Ten on Wednesday, September 15 at 7.30pm.