When Robyn Malcolm learned that her powerful drama After the Party had earned a nomination for a BAFTA award for Best International Series, the talented actor nearly fainted.
“I was in Liverpool having lunch at a café with Peter when I heard we’d been shortlisted,” Robyn tells the Weekly.
Robyn, who had just turned 60, was in the Merseyside city with her partner, award-winning Scottish actor Peter Mullan, who was starring in a play at Liverpool’s Royal Court Theatre, and when the news reached them, Robyn was rendered speechless. Albeit briefly.
“I knew we were on the long list,” says Robyn. “We also knew they were announcing the shortlist that day at 1pm, so we went out for lunch to distract me.
“It was 12.45pm. I was eating my eggs, trying not to overthink. Peter said, ‘I don’t think you’ve got it or you’d have had a call by now,’” she recalls. “And I was like, ‘Oh, well, it was fun to imagine,’ and I hadn’t brought a frock over. Then he refreshed the BAFTA page, scrolling and scrolling, when his face changed colour. He went silent, then he said, ‘Oh, my God, you’re on the list.’ Then I went quiet, I got a bit teary and I nearly passed out!”
Within moments, Robyn’s phone lit up with messages of support from around the world. “Text after text, DMs, WhatsApps… Then an email came from BAFTA saying congratulations, this is the hotel you can stay at, and here’s the invitation to the nominees’ cocktail party. It became very real very quickly,” continues Robyn. She clearly still feels gobsmacked that the six-part series where she plays Penny, a teacher who accuses her ex-husband (played by Peter) of a sex crime, is up for such a prestigious award.
Back in Aotearoa, Robyn’s creative collaborator and scriptwriter, Gisborne-based Dianne Taylor, was similarly ecstatic.
Explains Robyn, “Di set her alarm for 2am to check if we’d been shortlisted. She called from her bed and we screamed at each other.”
Now that Robyn has had time to digest the incredible news, her next drama became deciding what to wear for the big night.
“I have a WhatsApp group with my mum and my sisters called ‘Rob’s BAFTA Dress’. It is live 24/7,” she says. “I also mentioned it on Insta and all these fab women started sending me ideas. And I feel thrilled that Liz Findlay from Zambesi is making me a frock especially for the occasion.”
Always adamant that she wanted to showcase a local designer on the world stage, Robyn couldn’t be happier that Zambesi has come to the party. As for Robyn’s other non-negotiable, she wants her ensemble to be long enough to conceal her trainers.
“I wore heels to the Oliviers the other day [London theatre’s Laurence Olivier Awards]. I’m never doing that again because you can’t be on the dance floor for hours in heels,” she says.
“I spoke to one woman at the Oliviers – she was wearing a massive pink taffeta ballgown and she looked amazing. Her friend in a green gown was wearing trainers and I asked the taffeta woman if she was wearing trainers too. She said no and revealed her gorgeous heels. Then she put her hands in the pockets of her big taffeta gown and pulled out a pair of slippers!”
Robyn probably wouldn’t give two hoots if people saw her wearing sensible shoes. She has made it her mission to normalise everything from mental health to menopause. To that end, Robyn has also said goodbye to shapewear.
“I don’t wear tummy- flattening undies any more. They’re so uncomfortable and sweaty, but my body is my body. And I love seeing glimpses of a woman’s shape beneath her clothing, with all her moving parts, not some trussed up, imprisoned abdomen that looks like AI redesigned it,” the star declares, then cackles and recalls the first time she attended a glittering BAFTAs ceremony.
“It was 2019 and Peter was in a comedy called Mum that was up heaps of awards,” she shares. “I was shooting a film in Serbia at the time and I’d bought this phenomenal jumpsuit in Belgrade. But I’d also eaten a fair bit during the shoot. By awards night, I had to lie on the floor and have someone else zip me into my outfit. I was even wearing incredibly tight undies underneath.
“Halfway through the night, I’m so uncomfortable. The three amazing actresses from Mum took me to the ladies, removed my pants, then zipped me back up. I swore I’d never wear shapewear after that!”
As Robyn reflects on the incredible recognition the BAFTA nomination represents, she’s quick to express gratitude to all the people she has collaborated with, and not just on After the Party, but across her four-decade career.
“It’s been a ladder and I’ve climbed it hand over hand, rung by rung. I’ve become pretty resilient in the process. Of course, I’ve lost my secure rope a few times. I’ve slid and barely held on, but I’ve kept going,” she declares. Then, she adds that she and Dianne didn’t set out to win a BAFTA when they wrote After the Party.
“We shared a lot of fury about how middle-aged women are portrayed on screen and we wanted to explore a story with a fallible 50-something, and challenge her profoundly. We then surrounded ourselves with genius people and the rest just happened.”
Asked if she has drafted an acceptance speech, Robyn is philosophical.
“Nope. We’re up against incredible shows, including Shōgun, Say Nothing and Colin from Accounts. The nomination itself is more than enough,” she tells, then notes that the BAFTAs do sometimes celebrate the underdog.
As to who’ll take the trophy home if they do win, Robyn has definitely given that some thought.
“I’ve been in this business a long time and I’ve been on a hundred shortlists. The thrill of the possibility is part of the fun,” she muses. “Because if there’s another thing I’ve learned in this racket, it’s that expectation is the mother of all disappointment. But on the off-chance we win, perhaps we can 3D-print it, then share it between Sydney, Auckland and Gisborne.”
Robyn is also proud to inspire the next generation of actors, including the incredible younger cast members from After the Party. “Tara [Canton, who stars as Grace], Ian [Blackburn, as Ollie] and Elz [Carrad, as Tom] knocked us sideways with their bravery and talent, and let’s not forget four-year-old Ziggy [O’Reilly, aka Walt] who taught us all how to act again,” Robyn says fondly.
“I also tell younger actors, while acting is the best job in the world, if it doesn’t work out, trying will have made you a better person because you’re in a constant conversation with yourself and your humanity,” she says, which is why, if people tell Robyn they want to be actors, she only has words of encouragement. This is also possibly why Robyn’s own sons have also fallen for the craft.
“One of them was doing an audition recently and I said to him that acting’s pretty simple really. You just have to like feeling stuff,” she says. “A lot of people will do everything they can not to feel. They’re hard-wired to run a mile from pain or confusion, embarrassment or anxiety. But for actors, feeling things is our bread and butter.”
Looking to the future, Robyn is happy to be surprised with what comes next, but she has a few ideas up her sleeve.
“I want to hang out with everyone I love in Aotearoa, Australia and the UK, without contributing to climate change,” she declares. “I also want to work with amazing people until I drop, on stage and on screen. To do things I’ve never done before and remain terrified and ambitious. I’d also like to make more TV with Di, get more dogs and pay off my mortgage, if that’s not too much to ask!”
One thing is certain – we’ll all be glued to our screens on May 12 as we watch the BAFTAs unfold.
Robyn will be wearing her Zambesi frock − with comfortable undies and trainers beneath − and all her fans, family and friends will have their fingers tightly crossed for a win.
Watch After The Party before the awards evening now on TVNZ+.
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