“As soon as you hit 30 as an actress, you’re always pregnant”: In conversation with Maria Angelico
photography by Laura Du Vé
words by daisy henry
“Fashion is such a big part of the way I navigate the world.”
There’s a version of Maria Angelico that exists in oversized ’80s wedding dresses, on red carpets and at international film festivals. Then there’s the version wandering Melbourne’s inner north in vintage menswear, stopping for frozen Coke cocktails from Bar Carnation.
Though her work regularly pulls her interstate, and increasingly overseas, Maria’s heart remains tethered to Melbourne. “I’m a Carlton North baby,” she tells me. When we speak, I catch Maria during her final weeks at home before she heads to Queensland for three months to film a true-crime series she describes as a blend of Catch Me If You Can and Erin Brockovich.
Interested to hear how others navigate the world? Head to our Life section.
Before leaving town, though, she’s been busy attending local screenings for her upcoming film, Birthright, ahead of its cinema release on May 21. “I was really excited about doing the Q&A at Nova,” she tells me.
A debut from director Zoe Pepper, Birthright follows Cory (played by Travis Jeffery) and his pregnant wife, Jasmine (played by Maria), who, evicted and out of a job, have no option but to move in with his parents in Perth. Described as a ‘twisted black-comedy’, Cory and Jasmine are forced to extend their stay, building tension between family members.
View this post on Instagram
Feverish and funny, the film taps into very real feelings of anxiety surrounding home ownership – something Maria says is more relevant today than ever. “For a lot of us, it can feel like a failure moving back home as a grown-up,” she explains. “Sometimes watching drama and extreme catastrophes unfold can be kind of crucial… It’s like, okay, well, this is really relatable, but my situation isn’t as bad as that, so it’s reassuring.”
It was the kind of story that hooked Maria from the moment she read the script. “I also felt really connected to Jasmine, I really understood her point of view and her ‘eat the rich’ attitude, but then also kind of wanting to be the rich.”
It also wasn’t Maria’s first time playing a pregnant character: “As soon as you hit 30 as an actress, you’re always pregnant,” she laughs. Fit with a latex bodysuit, everything from the skin tone to the weight of the bump was eerily realistic. “I literally couldn’t bend down to do things or take my shoes off.”
After wrapping Birthright, Maria flew back to Melbourne for season three of The Newsreader, where she was fitted into another all-encompassing costume – this time an ’80s style wedding dress. “It was just so feral and big… like a pavlova,” she laughs. “I couldn’t get through my trailer.”
In contrast, Maria’s personal style veers towards clean lines and classic tailoring. Though she didn’t take the pavlova dress with her when The Newsreader wrapped production, she did leave with several vintage Pierre Cardin men’s suits from the costume department. “I think I have like four of them in my wardrobe,” she says.
View this post on Instagram
She’s also a long-time fan of Melbourne designer, Emily Nolan. “Through her making this suit for me, we just became really good friends,” she says. Along with E Nolan, she counts Cleopatra’s Bling, Lee Mathews and Verner among her favourite local labels.
“I like being my own stylist a lot,” she adds. “Fashion is such a big part of the way I navigate the world.”
Often, Maria’s red carpet looks begin with a specific vision. At last year’s Logie Awards, she departed from her usual look, taking inspiration from a ’90s Chanel Spring/Summer runway.
“I loved these beautiful taffeta dresses,” she tells me. “I was trying to see if I could get a stylist to find me something similar, and then I ended up finding some beautiful vintage taffeta in a fabric shop in Dandenong, of all places.”
After buying the whole roll, Maria took it to Anne Stowers, a local dressmaker. “It was one of my favourite red carpet looks, I felt so proud of it.”
View this post on Instagram
Conscious of the time we have left, we switch gears. “Let’s do a rapid fire.”
Star sign
“I’m a Libra, with a lot of Capricorn, which kind of makes sense. I’m flirty and fun, but I love working and money.”
Favourite perfume
“I often wear Daddy by Perdrisât, from a small-batch Melbourne-based perfumery. I have two of his fragrances, and I also wear Money Water, which is fantastic.”
Comfort film
“You know what I watched the other day, which was like, I was like, I will watch this again and again and again, was The Sweetest Thing, and I hadn’t seen it in so long. It’s the silliest, dumbest film, but I watched it with my girlfriends and we were cackling. Or the Extras, I could watch the Extras over and over.”
Currently bingeing
“I’ve actually been watching Margo’s Got Money Troubles. It’s Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer, and it’s such a wonderfully constructed show. I think their performances are great. When I love a TV series or a film, I start digging into who made it, and it’s a book, so I want to read the book.”
Just finished reading
“Like every other woman on earth, I’m reading Famesick at the moment and it’s making me want to rewatch Girls.”
Morning ritual
“It’s almost like a rule, but I don’t look at my phone until I’ve been outside. Which is really hard if I’m shooting and getting picked up at like 5.45am. But my alarm will go off, and I’ll turn it off without looking at it, and I’d just go and stand on the balcony of my hotel room.
I think I started feeling sick about waking up and just looking at my phone straight away, so I just don’t break that rule.”
Watch Maria in Birthright at select cinemas here.
Liked this? You’ll love these...
