Jodie Dorday, 56, is what’s known as a triple threat – an actress, singer and dancer. The daughter of iconic cabaret performer Debbie Dorday, Jodie has starred in everything from Xena: Warrior Princess and Jackson’s Wharf to Burying Brian. She has also landed roles with Sydney and Auckland theatre companies. Now living in a coastal suburb in the City of Sails, Jodie shares her home with husband Troy, 56, son JJ, 14, and a menagerie of animals. Jodie also runs a business with Troy, teaches Pilates Barre and grows veges while looking forward to her next comedic ‒ or serious ‒ role.
I was away from New Zealand for about 20 years.
I lived in Australia, Japan, Bali and Noumea, and did all sorts of crazy things. So it’s a pleasure to be back, and close to my mum again and my darling stepdad. Now that I’m raising my own child, I realise what my parents did for me when I was young.
Mum’s work has touched so many people, with her fabulous red hair and Lucille Ball personality, from Burgundy’s to those ’80s TV shows with Billy T James and Ray Wolfe.
Everywhere we go, people always ask me, “Are you Debbie Dorday’s sister?” Mum loves that and everyone has a story. We were in Farmers buying a couch recently, and the salesman was saying how much he’d loved Burgundy’s and Mum.
I did ballet from the age of four and, up to the age of 12, I was all about dance.
This was the 1970s when we lived in Manurewa and Mum performed in a cabaret show at Annabelle’s on Fort St. I remember being backstage, watching all wide-eyed from the wings and thinking, “That’s what I want to do when I grow up.”
I was a chubby little teen and around 13, I went off the rails a little. I started doing the typical teenage rebellion thing. It took me a few years to get my act together and finally, when I was 19, I was offered a role at Burgundy’s, which was a dream come true. It was also one of the best training grounds ever. I was thrown in at the deep end – on stage in front of an audience after just one week of rehearsals!
The show had 50 numbers and 50 costume changes.
One minute comedy, the next dancing… But I had always wanted to be on stage and I loved it. As I’ve got older, the angst has kicked in – there’s a lot of pacing and wringing of hands backstage, but once the curtain opens, all that disappears. And the sound of applause when you’re taking a bow is such a fantastic feeling.
Going off the rails wasn’t all bad either, as I’ve drawn on some of those hedonistic life experiences as an actor.
I also learned street smarts, although I do regret leaving home at 16, as I hadn’t learned how to look after myself emotionally or financially. But all those experiences, the good and the not-so-good, have made me who I am.
After Burgundy’s, I wanted to explore acting and I tried a few Australian drama schools in my early twenties, but I missed out.
Instead, I learned on the job when I bagged an audition for an Irish play called Dancing at Lughnasa with Auckland Theatre Company, back when Simon Prast was the artistic director. I was terrified at the audition as I really only considered myself a dancer, but I got the part of the younger sister – my first proper theatre role!
People were surprised that I had been cast, but that was the catalyst for change.
From there, I got my wonderful agent, who I’m still with today, which led to TV and film roles, starting with a job on Xena with the gorgeous Lucy Lawless. But I can be an impatient bugger, so once there was no acting work on the horizon, I chuffed off to Australia.
I struggled with the Aussie accent for TV, but I ended up landing the role of Goneril for Sydney Theatre Company’s production of King Lear.
The casting director had seen me in a play with Simone Kessell at a theatre in King’s Cross. So much of acting is about being in the right place at the right time.
When the work dried up again, in 1994 I went to Noumea in New Caledonia to set up a mini version of Burgundy’s with a show called La Saloon.
I couldn’t speak French, but I taught the cast the whole show with just 20 words. Pretty much, “walk with grace”, “turn left”, “turn right” and “smile”!
Once that was done, I was back in Australia and broke, so I phoned Dad to ask to borrow money.
“Again?” he said in his gorgeous plummy English accent.
“Oh, darling, you’re destitute, aren’t you?” And I was like, “Crikey, yes I am.”
I was in my mid- thirties with no money, so I found a job as an account manager for a promo and advertising company in Melbourne. All of a sudden, I was earning real money, living a very different life.
That’s also how I met my darling husband Troy.
We’ve been together more than 25 years and married for 15, and much of my late thirties and early forties was spent trying for a child. We did a lot of IVF in Australia and finally JJ came along. He’s 14 now, so we’re older parents, but we have lots of energy as kids keep you young at heart.
When JJ was four, we moved to Bali with the idea of setting up a mini Burgundy’s there ‒ Bali has incredible restaurants, but after dinner, it’s just bars and music.
We had friends that ran a nightclub, so it all seemed achievable, but it didn’t eventuate. I still have fond memories of living in Umalas – jumping on my scooter in my nightie to drop our little boy at the local kindergarten; grabbing a Balinese turmeric health drink called jamu; and stopping at local stalls to buy fresh chillies and spices.
But the acting bug was still lurking and we came home when I was cast in Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Billy Elliot in 2016. Mrs Wilkinson was the toughest role I’d ever done physically, and I ended up black and blue, but the role was a dream.
You can’t be in this business if you can’t handle rejection.
I’m not saying it doesn’t hurt, but I allow myself to be gutted for a day, then I get over it. Whether you’re a Hollywood star or doing community theatre, it is always gut-wrenching to be passed over. Which is also why actors need to have other interests to be able to support ourselves financially.
A couple of years ago, I was looking for something new to do and I trained in Pilates Barre in Australia, which has been very special.
It was also amazing to discover how all that ballet I did when I was younger was still there. I ended up teaching three classes a week to a fabulous group of women in Greenhithe when we
lived there. It was such a pleasure to help them feel fitter, healthier and stronger. I also teach acting classes to kids. It’s a good feeling to give back.
I try really hard to look after myself these days.
Probably making up for all those years of being too hedonistic, I try to eat food that’s sourced locally. I grow as much as I can myself and I love collecting eggs from my chooks. But it is about balance, yin and yang, because if you pop a salty caramel donut in front of me, it will disappear!
My whole life, I’ve lacked confidence in my acting.
Maybe that’s just an actor thing. But in the past two years, I’ve taken a step back and I finally feel I deserve to be here. It’s only taken 30 years to come to that conclusion. Isn’t that ridiculous? Actors can be incredibly hard on ourselves, but I finally believe that I belong and I hope to continue acting long into old age.
Jodie stars in Shortland Street Monday-Wednesday, 7pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
