Off Cut Thirty Six

Amanda Muggleton was interviewed for the Sunday Age (6th January 2002) by Claire Halliday. This interview took place towards the end of her run playing Maria Callas in Master Class at Melbourne's Playhouse. but it was the general discussion which was of most interest.

Claire asked, in reference to the devastating personal experience of Amanda's mother's death, "As an actor what do you do with that emotion?

Amanda replied, "If you've got beautiful words, you don't need any of that method stuff. When I did Chrissie Latham in Prisoner, did I go out and become a prostitute and murder someone just to see what that felt like? No. Do I have to pull on the feelings about my mother dying to achieve sadness on stage? That kind of cheapens my mother's death, in my opinion. I just get lost in the moment. You have to believe that what you're going through at that moment is what the person you are playing is going through."

Claire also asked how Amanda got her first big break - which was an ongoing role on Prisoner. Amanda's agent had told her that because she was a theatre performer Grundy's wouldn't see her as they only wanted people with experience in television. But Amanda snuck in to an audition appointment on the coat tails of a friend who had a real appointment. When the "officious looking woman with the clipboard" didn't call her name Amanda responded indignantly with "What do you mean I'm not on the list? I've got to call my agent - this is the second time she's done this to me this week." Her luck held - she got an audition and got the part, which provided four years of regular work.

Of television soap she says, "It's work and you are honing your skills no matter what you do. If you can make nonsense work - and very often soap opera is nonsense - then your pretty bloody marvelous."

January 2002