Bluey voice star Melanie Zanetti returns to UniSQ in Toowoomba to run workshops

Her voice is heard on children’s TVs all across the world, and Bluey star Melanie Zanetti credits her time in Toowoomba for putting her on the path of acting. She’s returned to her roots recently to impart her knowledge on the next generation of performers.

Before Melanie Zanetti was the voice of Chilli from the hit cartoon show Bluey, she was a student in the University of Southern Queensland’s acting program.

For the past week she returned to her roots to run film workshops with the uni’s acting students and about 60 Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley high school students.

Together they developed scenes from contemporary scripts, ran through mock takes in front of a camera and discussed how to improve their performances.

Ms Zanetti said it was important for aspiring actors to work with professionals so they could experience how the day-to-day business of acting for films was done.

The voice of Bluey's mum Chilli, Mel Zanetti running an acting class at UniSQ pictured with Katie Knowles, Bachelor of Theatre acting major student. Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“I don’t know if there was a lot of that when I was in school or uni but when professional actors did come out it was really impressive, inspirational,” she said.

“As an artist, I’m always looking for situations where I can be the person that I needed as a young person.

“I try to make time, especially for other young women who need some guidance because it’s a tough industry and we need mentors.”

The workshop comes as the university reshapes its acting program in the wake of the Covid pandemic that ravaged the arts sector.

UniSQ School of Creative Arts lecturer Travis Dowling said this included students working with Queensland Theatre, The Empire Theatres, and being taught and directed by industry-leading artists including Jason Klarwien, Emily Burton, and Thom Larkin.

“This vibrant reinvigoration has positioned UniSQ’s theatre program as one of the best regional theatre programs in the country,” he said.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed employment fell by 872,000 jobs in the national arts industry, from galleries to theatres, movie sets, and concert venues in 2020.

About 30 per cent of those job losses came from the motion picture and performing arts sector.

While the industry is recovering, Ms Zanetti said a lot had changed.

“For university students, it’s so important to have people who are really working in the industry, so that they can come in and say here are the actual parameters of the world we work in and these are useful up-to-date, industry facts,” she said.

“Sometimes you leave an institution and you think, “Oh, was this practical, and was this everything I needed to have learned?”

Part of the post-Covid change is in audiences moving online and so too is how content is produced with creators looking for new places to make their work.

Bluey is now a massive media and cultural phenomenon.

While Bluey was an Australian hit before Covid, its popularity overseas has exploded and has raised the profile of Brisbane and Southeast Queensland.

Ms Zanetti said living and working in Southeast Queensland was no longer a barrier to success.

“Bluey has gone from this little show from Brisbane to world domination in the kid’s sphere,” she said.

“I spend about half my time in the US now and people lose their minds over Bluey.

While not all the workshop students will go on to voice top-rating TV mums or even enrol in an acting degree, Ms Zanetti said the classes would help them in other ways.

“Literally anyone could benefit from doing some form of creative arts, theatre or camera training because it’s life training and personal training,” she said.

“I know a lot of people who went through courses or did workshops and did not follow it as a career, but got so much out of it in terms of personal development, of their confidence, their ability to communicate to understanding themselves and work out what they wanted in life

“I don’t think that time is ever wasted for anyone.”

Originally published as Bluey voice star Melanie Zanetti returns to UniSQ in Toowoomba to run workshops