Deborah Mailman AM
Mailman atThe Sapphires Australian premiere in August 2012
Born	Deborah Jane Mailman (1972-07-14)14 July 1972 (age 53) Mount Isa,Queensland, Australia
Alma mater	Queensland University of Technology
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Partner	Matthew Coonan
Children	2

Deborah Jane MailmanAM (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian actress. Mailman is best known for her characters:MP Alexandra "Alex" Irving on the Australian political drama seriesTotal Control, Kelly Lewis on the Australian drama seriesThe Secret Life of Us, Cherie Butterfield in the Australian comedy-drama seriesOffspring, Lorraine in the Australian drama seriesRedfern Now, Poppy Birkbeck in the miniseriesBoy Swallows Universe and Aunt Linda in the Australian dystopian science fiction seriesCleverman.

Mailman was the firstAboriginal actress to win theAustralian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and has gone on to win seven more both in television and film.^[1] She first gained recognition in the 1998 filmRadiance for which she won her first AFI award. Her other well known films areRabbit-Proof Fence,Bran Nue Dae,Oddball,The Sapphires,Paper Planes,Blinky Bill the Movie,H Is for Happiness, andThe Book of Revelation.

Deborah Jane Mailman was born 14 July 1972 and grew up inMount Isa in north-westQueensland.^[2] She is one of five children. She has both Aboriginal (Bidjara) andMāori (Ngāti Porou andTe Arawa) heritage. In 1992, she graduated fromQueensland University of Technology Academy of the Arts with aBachelor of Arts majoring in performing arts. She is married with two children.^[3]

Mailman played the role of Kate in aLa Boite Theatre production of Shakespeare'sThe Taming of the Shrew in 1994.^[4][5] Other early stage roles include solo showThe Seven Stages of Grieving (which she co-wrote withWesley Enoch) forKooemba Jdarra andQueensland Theatre Company's 1997 revival ofLouis Nowra's playRadiance, and Cordelia inKing Lear forBell Shakespeare in 1998.^[6][7]

In 1998, Mailman made her film debut as Nona in the Australian independent filmRadiance (based on the play), for which she won theAFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.^[2] She had a role inThe Secret Life of Us, for which she was twice awarded Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series at theLogies (2002 and2004).^{[citation needed]}

Mailman was part of theLeah Purcell documentaryBlack Chicks Talking (2001), where she discussed her Aboriginal heritage.^[8] In 2006, she took part in a four-part television documentary series withCathy Freeman calledGoing Bush, where the pair set off on a journey fromBroome toArnhem Land spending time with Indigenous communities along the way.^[9]

She appeared in thePlay School TV series and was part of The Actors Company for theSydney Theatre Company (2006–2007).^[10] She was a presenter on the ABC Television showMessage Stick.^[11]

She appeared in the filmRabbit-Proof Fence.^[6] She played a lead role in the 2010 musical filmBran Nue Dae.^[12] In the playThe Sapphires and the subsequentfilm of the same name she played the role of singer Gail McCrae.

She was awarded anInside Film Award for her short filmRalph, which starredMadeleine Madden.^[13] From 2010 to 2014, she played the role of Cherie Butterfield inChannel Ten'sOffspring drama series.^[14]

In 2012, she starred inRedfern Now, an indigenous mini-series for theABC.^[15]

On 29 January 2015, Mailman co-hosted theAACTA Awards withCate Blanchett.^[16]

Mailman started as Maureen Prescott inPaper Planes, released 15 January 2015. She then appeared as Mayor Lake inOddball and the voice of Blinky Bill's mother inBlinky Bill the Movie.

On 18 February 2015, Mailman joined theSydney Opera House Trust.^[17]

In 2019, Mailman was appointed to a three-year term as a member of theScreen Australia Board.^[18]

In 2019, she starred as politician Alex Irving in the seriesTotal Control, produced byBlackfella Films and screened on the ABC.^[19]

In 2024, Mailman guest starred in theBluey episode "The Sign", voicing one of the twoSheepdogs looking for a house with a swimming pool.^{[citation needed]} On 7 August 2024, Mailman was named as part of the cast for theDisney+ seriesLast Days of the Space Age.^{[citation needed]} On 18 August of that year, Mailman won the Logie for Best Lead Actress in a drama at the 2024 Logie Awards.^[20]

Mailman stars inWarwick Thornton's 2025 filmWolfram, in which she plays a mother longing for the return of herstolen children. The film premieres at theAdelaide Film Festival on 26 October 2025.^[21]

In September 2024 Mailman was appointed as a member ofFirst Nations Arts, a newly-established division of the government arts funding bodyAustralia Council focused onAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts, for a term of four years.^[22][23][24]

In 2003, Mailman wasNAIDOC Person of the Year, and also won Female Actor of the Year.^{[which?][citation needed]}

In 2012, Mailman was a recipient of theQueensland Greats Awards.^[29]

In 2017, Mailman won theChauvel Award, which acknowledges significant contribution to the Australian screen industry.^[30]

• Deborah Mailman atIMDb

• 1972 births
• Living people
• Actresses from Queensland
• Australian children's television presenters
• Australian film actresses
• Australian people of Māori descent
• Australian stage actresses
• Australian television actresses
• Australian voice actresses
• Australian women television presenters
• Best Actress AACTA Award winners
• Best Supporting Actress AACTA Award winners
• Bidjara (Warrego River)
• Blinky Bill
• Helpmann Award winners
• Indigenous Australian actresses
• Logie Award winners
• Members of the Order of Australia
• Ngāti Porou people
• People from Mount Isa
• Queensland University of Technology alumni
• Queensland Greats
• Te Arawa people
• 20th-century Australian actresses
• 21st-century Australian actresses

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