Few TV shows and films show the beautiful and messy complexity of getting old.
While not having your life together is a common and relatable theme in stories where a group of 20-somethings are the protagonists, rarely is chaos let into the worlds of 60-somethings who, believe it or not, are still dealing with the unpredictability of life and humanity.
That’s where Dalliance comes in.
Homegrown in Australia and produced by Paramount+, Dalliance follows a close-knit group of lifelong friends in their sixties who, after unexpected grief and relationships enter their lives, discover that friendship, life, sex, and love are just as unexpected as they were in their twenties.
Co-created by John Edwards (Secret Life of Us) and Heather Mitchell, the TV show fronts an iconic cast including Australian stars Hugo Weaving, Georgie Parker, Mitchell, and Wayne Blair.
Speaking to WHO, double TV Week Gold Logie winner Parker, 61, and double AACTA Award winner Mitchell, 68, radiated humility and grace as they reminisced on their lifelong friendship, the joy of seeing middle‑aged women front and centre on screen, and the freedom of giving “fewer f—s” as you get older.
Georgie Parker reveals the ‘forty-eight-hour’ turnaround for her casting
Parker and Mitchell have known each other for years – “26 years”, according to the Home and Away star – and it was this relationship that brought her into the show.
“I’ve known [Mitchell] was working on a show – it sounded fascinating, and I was so happy for her because she has such a breadth of knowledge of the industry as an actor,” Parker told WHO. ” I asked how she was going with the show and she said, “We’re getting to the pointy end,” and told me a bit about it.
“Two days later, she texted me and said, ‘Darling, can you get any time off your series’ – meaning Home and Away. Forty‑eight hours after I received that text, I was in the show.”
When Parker received the script, her first reaction was that “there is so much to sink your teeth into”.
“It was such a big world, and such a great world, because it’s a real world,” Parker continued. “You’ve got 60‑year‑olds who have known each other for 40 years, and just when you think things should really be sticking together, everything falls apart.
“It’s hilarious and it’s sad, and it’s full of things people will recognise from their own lives. You’ve got the safety net of it looking quite beautiful, but not out of reach.”
a woman navigating her new world after experiencing a life-altering event. Credit: IG/georgieparker
After working on the series, Parker revealed that she “learnt so much”.
“It was such an intense, delightful experience,” Parker said. “Playing Rose took a lot of work to map out her journey, which involves a lot of grief. But grief isn’t a monolith, it’s all the things.
“It’s comedy, it’s finding things a bit too funny, it’s making weird choices…I wanted to make it truthful and relatable, but not exhausting. It was still exhausting for me, though.”
What’s the secret to long-lasting friendships?
Mitchell and Parker have known each other for a long time, and their characters in Dalliance explore what friendships like this actually look like on screen – in all their messy, relatable glory.
Reflecting on their own lives, the stars unpack the advice they’ve learnt from years of relationships that have both lasted and fallen apart.
“I would say for long-lasting friendships, don’t be afraid to ask your friends some tough questions,” Mitchell said. “And when I say tough, I don’t mean challenging them. Ask them, not just are you okay, but go further.
“I think we all carry things that we sometimes hope the people who love us the most will inquire about. I have just noticed recently as I’m getting older, some friends drop away because they’re not interested enough in who you are and what your life is about, and I think that’s really important.
“It’s more interesting to me why friendships don’t last,” Parker chimed in. “I really look at why that was so, and often it’s just because you change or they do something different to you, which is sometimes a bridge too far.
“But I value my friendships deeply and I don’t take them for granted, and I think the most important thing is to really acknowledge what your friendships mean to you, because in the end, they’re an extended part of your family.”
The biggest misconceptions people have about getting older
It’s no surprise that misconceptions about getting older exist, particularly as young women are fed a narrative of eternal youth, where perfection is at the centre.
Dalliance rewrites this narrative.
“Oh, my God, life just gets better – which is weird to say,” Parker confesses when asked about the biggest misconceptions and fears younger women have about aging.
“I’ll speak mainly from a female perspective,” she continued. “When you’re younger, there’s a lot of pressure to be polite, to be the one who can ‘make it work’ or the one who doesn’t take offence.
“As you get older, whether you make a conscious decision or not, you just give fewer f—s. It becomes: ‘I don’t have to do that. Why am I doing that?’
“Maybe it comes from menopause, maybe it comes from the exhausting experience of always being the one in the room saying, ‘Don’t worry, I can make it work.’ That lands on a bigger life scale. You become much more content to be your own person and not the person who makes everything OK.
Parker stresses that women still have “so much to offer” when they get older, and life certainly doesn’t stop – unlike what representations in media may suggest.
“You’re still having love, you’re still having sex,” she said. “All these things are still happening – you’re just experiencing them as an older person who can hopefully make better choices.
“Life doesn’t stop, it just, goes on for longer.”
Dalliance, a bold drama exploring the messy, complicated and deeply human lives of 60-somethings who refuse to be defined by their age, starring Heather Mitchell, Georgie Parker and Hugo Weaving.
Available to stream now on Paramount+.
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