Like Russell Crowe or pavlova, Rebecca Gibney is one of those New Zealand sensations that Australia has claimed. Gibney has been a fixture on Australian screens for decades, having appeared in everything from Hey Hey It’s Saturday back in the 80s and 90s through to more recent favourites including Packed to the Rafters.
Her latest project is Prosper, a new Stan series set in the inner sanctum of an Australian megachurch. Gibney plays Abi Quinn, the calculating wife of pastor Cal (Richard Roxburgh).
While Gibney still lives in New Zealand, she flies frequently for work, and with her always is a special travel pillow and high-end pair of earplugs. Here, the actor tells us why she couldn’t function without those items, as well as the story of two other important personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
A painting that my husband, Richard Bell, did many years ago. We’d just started dating and I found this canvas among a bunch of boxes and rubbish to be thrown out. It was a beautiful seascape – but Richard, being the perfectionist he is, said he didn’t like it. I snuck it into the back of my car and had it framed. To this day it is still one of the pieces in our house that gets the most comments from friends.
My most useful object
My travel pillow and earplugs – I take them pretty much wherever I go.
I am a super-light sleeper and always find hotel pillows either too soft or too hard. Then I discovered this lightweight pillow that comes with a silk case – excellent for not leaving lines on your face – and moulds to my neck. Plus, it rolls up into a ball and comes with a strap to carry it on planes. It’s been a lifesaver on more than one occasion.
As for the earplugs, I never go away without a bunch of them but I also have some that are noise-cancelling and really comfortable for sleeping. If I don’t get enough sleep, I am a nightmare, so I couldn’t live without either of these things!
The item I most regret losing
We once lost my son Zac’s favourite toy, Puff the Magic Dragon, on a holiday overseas and it created absolute mayhem. Zac sobbed for days so we trawled through every website we could find to try to get another one. It was a gift from one of our dearest friends when Zac was born, and he took it everywhere with him – but unbeknownst to us, it was also a collectible, so it cost a fortune to replace!
When we finally found another one and had it shipped, my husband made up a pretend aeroplane and we had the noise of an aircraft landing playing on the stereo. So when Zac rushed in, we pretended that Puffy had somehow made a plane and flown himself home. It was one of the sweetest moments of his childhood to see his absolute joy at being reunited with his best friend.
Prosper is now streaming on Stan
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