‘Sounded like Kylie Minogue’: Trained in the UK, this Aussie actor had to re-learn her accent

1 week ago 9

Long days in the sweltering heat near the Royal Flying Doctor Service base in Port Augusta, splattered with fake blood while recreating the aftermath of a bus crash – Emma Hamilton couldn’t be happier.

“It’s my favourite world to be in,” says the London-trained Australian actor, who plays English doctor Eliza Harrod in Seven’s Logie-winning outback medico drama RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service.

“I love this show so much, and all the people who collaborate to make it,” she says. “We really do love and respect each other. It’s quite common during filming for us to have barbecues and singalongs. It’s really wholesome. A lot of us have children and our kids are growing up together, which is beautiful.”

Justine Clarke, who plays base manager Leonie Smith, leads the chorus around the campfire, while the male cast members – namely Jack Scott and Stephen Peacocke – cook the meat. Hamilton’s five-year-old son, Oliver, tells his kinder friends that his mum is “pretending to be a doctor”.

“I’m the first to say that I know absolutely nothing about medicine,” says Hamilton, laughing. “But some of the jargon does go in. I’ve ended up using detailed medical terms to describe things to doctors. They look at you strangely.”

After training in London, Emma Hamilton had to relearn her Australian accent.

Hamilton, who has been filming the third season of Stan’s Ten Pound Poms during the year-long break from RFDS, has little in common with Dr Eliza.

“An obvious difference is that she’s in a relationship [with fire and rescue officer, Ryan, played by Offspring’s Rick Davies], and I’m not!” says Hamilton. “Eliza can be quite serious, and she needs to be, whereas I like to look at the lighter side of life.”

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after being turned away by NIDA, Hamilton has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company opposite David Tennant. She’s had roles in The Tudors and Mr Selfridge. And yet she requires a voice coach to help her refine Dr Eliza’s plummy intonations.

“There’s a process in finding [the character] again,” she says. “I want her to sound as authentic as possible. I was fortunate that I went to drama school in the United Kingdom, so I learnt how to do English accents there, but being on set surrounded by Australians in the middle of the outback, you really have to try and keep your head in the game.”

Rodney Afif, Justine Clarke, Ash Ricardo, Rob Collins, Emma Hamilton, Stephen Peacocke, Jack Scott, Emma Harvie and Rick Davies.

She admits she “sounded like Kylie Minogue for a while”, after she returned to Australia to appear in films such as Last Cab to Darwin, and to portray Mary Donaldson in Mary: The Making of a Princess.

“It means everything to be home. I love being back in Australia and raising my son here,” she says. “I am very Australian. I live in Victoria. I barrack for Essendon. My favourite ice-cream is a Golden Gaytime.”

With renovations under way at the real RFDS base in Broken Hill, where the first two seasons were filmed, season three was shot between studios in Adelaide and the RFDS Port Augusta base, and on board light planes. “Sometimes it feels like you’re in Top Gun! It’s the best.”

The dramatic season opener is nothing compared to the shocks to come, as the crew mirrors the high-stakes work of their real-life counterparts.

“We’re fortunate to work closely with the real organisation,” says Hamilton. “And we have a team of medical advisers who are on set every day. We couldn’t do it without them. I’m in awe of anyone who works in medicine, particularly on the front line. It’s often thankless, and they put themselves in harm’s way just to care for people and save lives.”

Hamilton feels the series’ central themes are more relevant than ever.

“We all carry with us an awareness and possibly even a fear of death,” she says. “And I think [medical] shows walk that line. It taps into our sense of humanity and sense of compassion. You see the best in humanity. And, certainly, today, I feel like that’s something we could do with a little bit more of.”