Party of five continues for Tassie actress Katie Robertson

Five Bedrooms star Katie Robertson is back on home soil and enjoying family – both in the real world and the TV version.

When Katie Robertson was pregnant she had visions of being a cool, calm, parenting goddess. But when her son George arrived she quickly realised she needed to rethink those ideals.

Because as well as adjusting to the chaotic, sleep-depriving schedule of a needy newborn, the 32-year-old actor was also in Melbourne, far from her home in rural Tasmania, juggling the filming of season two of popular TV comedy/drama series Five Bedrooms.

And then, to complicate matters further, the coronavirus pandemic hit.

“I would definitely say that we had a rocky start,’’ Robertson says as she reflects on those early weeks of bonding with her son, who was born at Royal Hobart Hospital.

“I think most mothers, in particular, feel that in those first six weeks. That feeling of ‘what’s happening?’ … you’ve just gone through so much with birth and then the recovery and breastfeeding – it’s huge, that experience, and it really took me a while to find my feet.’’

Katie Robertson as Ainsley Elling in a scene from the second season of popular TV comedy/ drama series Five Bedrooms.

So it was a little different to the foray into motherhood Robertson had imagined.

“I thought I would be a total natural,’’ she laughs. “I don’t know why or where I got this idea from but I thought I’d be a calm, mother nature, earth-mother type.

“But I really struggled with the whole thing, I felt so disconnected with myself and I felt really overwhelmed by this tiny person that I’m in charge of that I didn’t feel like I knew.

“And social media has a hand in that. There’s this expectation that you get when you look around seeing the picture-perfect mother, glammed up, pushing a fancy pram around and getting a coffee. But that’s not reality.

“I was really depending on my mum and my girlfriends, who had been through it before me to help me process that.”

Robertson says that on the plus side, she had plenty of lived experience to draw on when she stepped back into the role of Ainsley Elling on the Five Bedrooms set. When season one of the series ended in 2019, Ainsley had just discovered she was pregnant and the house she and her housemates had been living in was sold at auction.

Tasmanian actor Katie Robertson, left, with the rest of the Five Bedrooms’ cast – Doris Younane, Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart and Roy Joseph.

Season two (which was due for release last year but delayed because of the pandemic) kicks off this week with a more heavily pregnant Ainsley and her housemates desperately hunting for a new home so they can be settled in time for the baby’s arrival.

“I went back to work when George was nine weeks old,’’ Robertson says. “Which is crazy in hindsight.

“It was such a steep learning curve but I was lucky I had such a supportive husband, cast, crew and production team, who went over and above to make it work for us, I was never made to feel it was like an inconvenience. It was a juggle. But everyone was keen to make my life easy as possible.’’

Katie Robertson with her husband Jesse Dugan and son George. Picture: Tracy Vagg

Robertson says she will leave it up to fans to decide whether her real-life experiences provided more depth to the character she portrays in the show.

“I like to think it was a really good thing as it was all so raw and fresh for me,’’ she says. “I got to go to work and I had so much to draw from, I like to think it was helpful.

“I was also very underslept and juggling so much, it’s such a whirlwind those first three months with a newborn.’’

Robertson says that during her lunch break George would get passed around the set – one minute he’d be at the make-up truck, the next minute fellow actors would be playing with him or the caterer would be enjoying a cuddle.

But Covid soon put an end to that, with filming halted at the end of March last year when George was just four months old.

It was disappointing not to finish filming the show but Robertson says, looking back, it gave her some much needed time for her, George and husband Jesse Dugan to bond as a family of three.

Tasmanian actress Katie Robertson and her husband Jesse at their Bream Creek wedding. Photo: Instagram

They returned to Tassie just before borders closed.

“We were fortunate enough to have that time, just the three of us together,’’ she says.

“We were very protective of that time … it was important for us … it was a very special time among the chaos.

“It had been so full-on going back to work, so that time was really a gift for us. It gave us extra time we wouldn’t have otherwise had.’’

When filming resumed in mid-June last year, everything had changed.

“When we went back to Melbourne for filming we were in a whole new world,’’ Robertson explains. “The fun and freedom with George being looked after by the whole crew had to go.’’

Robertson says fortunately Dugan, an actor and Koonya garlic farmer, has been able to take time off work whenever she is travelling and filming to help care for George and ensure things run smoothly on set.

“Jesse has always really supported me and my career dreams,’’ she says. “He really is the most wonderful stay-at-home father, he’s so much better at parenting than I am – he’s got the patience of a saint.’’

Katie Robertson, centre, as Grace in a scene from season five of Rosehaven flanked by the show’s leading stars, Tasmanian Luke McGregor (who plays Daniel) and Celia Pacquola (who plays Emma).

Filming wrapped up at the start of August and Robertson, Dugan and George found themselves stuck in Melbourne.

“Because Tassie had closed borders, even as Tasmanian residents we couldn’t return at that time,’’ Robertson says. “So we decided to ride out the storm, not knowing it would go on for so long here in Melbourne. It got to a point, sometime in September, that we thought we’ve got to bite the bullet and get home.’’

So they flew to Tasmania, endured two weeks of hotel quarantine and could then return home to the peace of their property at Bream Creek, not far from her childhood home where her mum and stepdad still live.

One of George’s first words was “moo”, inspired by the cows in the rolling pasture surrounding their home.

“We had an apartment in Melbourne,’’ Robertson says.

“It’s nothing like the paddocks that we’re used to at Bream Creek but at least we had a little outdoor courtyard and we could go and get our exercise at St Kilda Beach and go down to the corner and get a takeaway coffee.

Katie Robertson, centre, in a scene from season two of Five Bedrooms.

“We made the most of it … but we really wanted to get home to Tasmania. So we sucked up the two weeks (of hotel quarantine) – thankfully George wasn’t mobile at that stage. And having a set routine of getting up and feeding him breakfast each day helped our sanity.’'

Since being back in Tasmania, Robertson has worked on the fifth and final season of ABC comedy series Rosehaven – alongside the show’s creators and leading cast members Celia Pacquola and Tasmania’s Luke McGregor.

“It’s just a heavenly job, I love all those people so much, we’ve become so close like family over the years,’’ Robertson says of the show which is now showing on TV and on ABC iview.

“I really think Celia and Luke have knocked it out of the park; the audience will not be disappointed.

“The entire time we were filming [emotions were] heightened because we knew it was the last time. There was a real buzz in the air but also a touch of sadness, and a lot of tears along the way – it really is the best season yet.’’

Robertson also found time to get married, with she and Dugan tying the knot during a backyard ceremony with family and friends in February this year which was “very, very special’’.

A scene from Five Bedrooms, season 2.

Now Robertson has turned her attention to the release of Five Bedrooms on Wednesday.

The first season aired on Network 10 but season two will instead screen on the network’s affiliate streaming service Paramount+.

It is one of three shows leading the launch of the streaming service in Australia, which Robertson says is exciting.

Viewers will be able to watch all episodes of the previous series and all episodes of season two will also drop on the launch date, allowing fans to watch the whole lot in one sitting if they choose to.

“I love a binge-fest,’’ admits Robertson, who uses her rare downtime to curl up on the couch and watch back-to-back episodes of her favourite shows.

“Streaming services seem to be the way that dramas, in particular Australian dramas, are gravitating … it’s potentially a way of reaching a broader audience.

“Viewers are so starved for content, particularly during lockdown, everyone jumped on streaming services. They were saying ‘I’ve finished Netflix, I want more’.

“We’ve loved our home at Channel 10 and they’ve been great to us and this just feels like an exciting bigger step.’’

Robertson loves working on Five Bedrooms, and says castmates Stephen Peacocke, Kat Stewart, Doris Younane and Roy Joseph have become like family.

“The five of us are very close. We’ve got a WhatsApp thread that we keep in contact with throughout the year,” she says.

“They were all invited to our wedding – not everyone could make it due to Covid – but it’s a good example of how close we have become.

“There’s just a love and respect that we all have; we’re all so wildly different but from pretty much day one we just clicked and the dynamic really worked. It just feels like something pretty magical that we’re part of and I just adore working with them.’’

Robertson has more acting work in the pipeline and says she feels “so fortunate’’ to have a successful national career while being based in her beloved home state.

She grew up in Tasmania then moved to Sydney at 18, completing Sydney Theatre School’s Diploma of Arts (Acting) before doing the hard yards on the audition circuit.

Katie Robertson, back centre, with the rest of the Five Bedrooms cast.

But it wasn’t until she returned to Tasmania that her career took off, with roles in major Australian television dramas including The Kettering Incident and Rosehaven – both filmed in Tasmania – as well as Wanted, Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries and Five Bedrooms.

“Maintaining a home back in Tasmania has always been the dream for us,’’ she says.

“I’m still pursuing exciting work opportunities wherever they pop up but I’m so lucky and I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure.’’

Best of all, as George approaches his second birthday in November, Robertson feels like she’s finally found her feet as a parent.

“It took me a while,’’ she admits. “But he’s such a fun age now. “It’s full on, he’s got so much energy, he’s running about, he’s talking. He’s a little person all of his own and he’s so funny and weird and he truly is just a joy personified. And we’re having a really lovely time and it’s full on and we’re completely exhausted after a day of running around after him.’’                        ●

Watch Katie Robertson in the new season of Five Bedrooms on streaming service Paramount+ Australia when it launches on Wednesday (August 11). Subscriptions are $8.99 per month. paramountplus.com.au