Noni Hazlehurst is the nation’s Mum-In-Chief. Not only did she spend a quarter of a century on our screens in Play School, she is only the second woman to ever be inducted into the Logies Hall Of Fame. She now plays matriarch Elizabeth Bligh in one of Australia’s most popular TV dramas, A Place to Call Home.
Her children’s’ TV beginnings still hang over her life; since presenting Play School Noni has worked as an advocate for small children, and speaks passionately about brain development in preschoolers.
“Small children unlock something in us if we are exposed to them,” she explained. “I had no idea before how precious that age group is.”
She attributes the government’s eventual decision to accept 12,000 Syrian refugees as being the direct result of the picture of Kurdish-Syrian Alan Kurdi that made headlines when he drowned on September 2 of 2015.
“Until that picture, it wasn’t real, it was abstract… That child was dressed in Western clothes and looked like one of our kids.”
Her connection with Play School wasn’t immediate. “For the first year, I wasn’t rrally there,” she admitted. “I was more interested in not looking like a complete tosser in front of the crew, but then I realised it’s about talking to a lens as if it’s one person.
“That’s the secret to all communication. The best singers make you feel like they’re singing just to you.”
Despite A Place To Call Home being targeted at a much older audience than Play School, Noni believes there are still lessons to be learned.
“Bigotry and intolerance are two of the central themes. We’re still fighting against those things. I don’t think Australians have the right to be bigots.”
When asked what continues to motivate her as a performer, Noni is clear.
“Ten per cent of Australians are taking antidepressants. This is one of the richest, most affluent countries in the world, or so we’re told. Jobs and growth.
“I want to make stories I’m proud of and people can watch and get something from, so you can make a positive contribution to people being seen as human beings.”
Watch the interview above to hear Noni recount meeting Robert Redford in an inauspicious manner.
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