For more than four decades, Noni Hazlehurst has been a staple in the Australian film, television and entertainment industry.
Now 64, an age when many careers are winding down, Noni is busier than ever. In addition to filming the upcoming sixth season of A Place to Call Home, she appeared on this week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and continues to tour her wildly successful one-woman show, Mother.
Speaking to Starts at 60, the mother-of-two said that for her, age is never an excuse to wind down.
“There’s lots happening,” she says. “I don’t buy the word ‘old’ really. It’s up to individuals to work out what they want to do and whether they can do it. Can they take steps to achieve it? If you can, that applies to any age, whether you’re 12 or 92, if you feel you can do something and you want to do it, then it’s up to you to find a way to do it.”
She also adds that being over 60 is an age people should feel most comfortable in themselves.
“Most people over 60 have worked out that it’s okay to be yourself,” she said. “You can’t compete in any other stakes, other than being the unique individual you are. You may as well just go for it.”
Noni credits her time as a host on beloved children’s show Play School for giving her the chance to continue to work in an industry she adores.
“The fact I did Play School for 24 years has given me a really wide demographic appeal if you like,” she explains. “Everyone who has either watched the show or been a parent or grandparent since 1978 knows me as Noni from Play School. And 10 years on Better Homes and Gardens, it really put me in peoples’ lounge rooms a lot.”
While she admits there are some things in her career she wouldn’t repeat, she’s driven to tell good stories, which is what initially drew her to the role of Elizabeth Bligh in A Place to Call Home.
While fans are anticipating the final season, Noni assures us that not even she knows how scenes will play out when the show premieres later this year and follows the characters into the 1960s.
“We’re in the very early stages of shooting at the moment, so there’s not a lot that’s been revealed to us,” she says. “It’s coming in little bursts with each episode. We have a vague idea of what’s going to happen, but we certainly don’t know the ending as such.”
“We do deal with a lot of incredibly topical and important social issues that people can examine their own consciences through the vicarious medium of television,” she said. “They see lots of different attitudes portrayed. You get the chance to examine how you feel about certain prejudices you may have or certain people you know may have through the show.”
Noni adds that the show takes viewers back to a nostalgic era that was easier than the demands of modern society.
“There’s also a rose-coloured look back at when things were simply in terms of society’s demands,” she said. “There were less of them and the time-wasting things we have now, so people sort of yearn for that kind of elegance and communication that’s so embodied so beautifully.”
When she’s not in front of the camera, Noni says she enjoys watching Escape to the Country, A Place in the Sun and English comedies on TV.
Seasons one to five of A Place to Call Home are available on DVD, while season six is set to debut on Foxtel’s Showcase later this year.