ABC
To say that it’s been a roller-coaster ride since Denise Scott was cast as Maggie Boye in the remake of Aussie sitcom Mother and Son is an understatement.
Diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer just as filming was set to begin on Season 1, she bravely chose to juggle intense chemotherapy treatment with the demands of her first lead role.
Not that you would have known it, with the show’s debut delivering plenty of laughs – and TV Week Logie nominations for Denise and her co-star Matt Okine, who created, wrote and executive produced the series.
Before hitting screens for its second uproarious outing, WHO sat down with Denise, 70, to check in on her recovery and talk all things family – and why she’s no closer to saying, “I do”!
Read the full interview below.
WHO: Filming Season 1 of Mother and Son while undergoing chemotherapy was quite groundbreaking. It must have been challenging for you all on set?
Denise: Absolutely. And I had really good, amazing support. No-one, from the producers to the writers through to my management, had ever actually had to deal with someone who’s undergoing brutal chemo while they’re filming. I mean, people have done it, but no-one in this story had, so no-one was quite sure what was going to happen.
Having completed 18 months of treatment, it must have felt like night and day going into Season 2?
Yes, it was. And for the crew, a lot of whom had been filming the first one, and for people like Matt Okine, who had to look at me lying on a piece of floor somewhere, trying to get a bit of a break. It was good for them, too.
The show is somewhat of a family affair, with your son, Jordie Lane, and his partner, Clare Reynolds, composing the music. How did that come about?
Yeah, so they compose music in Nashville. What’s the word that movie stars do? Nepotism. So what I did, Matt is the same age as my son and he knows my son’s music, so he was talking about it. I introduced the producers to Jordie and Clare, and then I just went away and they got the gig. And [they] learnt very quickly on the run how to compose music for a comedy.
With your comedic background, do you provide any input into the scripts or is there any room for ad-libbing?
No, I think because I was doing chemo, I learnt my script like I was doing a Year 12 exam or something. Whereas actors often don’t [stick so faithfully to the script]. So yeah, I didn’t ad-lib much at all the first season – and then the second season, even then, I didn’t ad-lib much.
I had a bit to do with the bits and pieces of the writing that were very much what a woman Maggie’s age – early seventies – would say, and because Matt, you know, a cool hipster 40-something, he actually would communicate quite a bit. Like, “Is this what someone your age would say?”
It’s been great to see you back on TV and at the recent Logie Awards looking really well. How is your recovery going?
It is going well. But I’m amazed at my lack of self-care. I’m really amazed. Like, you’d think after all I’ve been through that I’d be – and I am – I’m grateful to be alive, but I’m really surprised at how little interest I have in exercising or going to see a psychologist. I eat well, because John [Lane], my partner, cooks. But it’s disappointing actually about myself. I think, “Come on, you’ve got to put more grunt into this recovery.”
You’ve been with John for more than 40 years, but you’re not actually married. After going through something as life-affirming as cancer, has it made you reconsider tying the knot?
No. I still have this lingering feeling that, ooh, it would just take away some of my independence. But I know that’s not what has happened to my friends. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I feel like, “Oh no, John might get carried away” – he has a very big personality. Forty-four years we’ve been together.
Mother and Son S2 airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on ABC and iview
