Magda Szubanski has a rare stage four blood cancer. What is mantle cell lymphoma?
The 64-year-old announced her diagnosis of stage four mantle cell lymphoma on social media on Thursday afternoon.
Here's what we know about the disease and how it's treated.
Mantle cell lymphoma is a type of blood cancer.
It begins in the lymphatic system, which helps to fight disease and infection via a network of lots of tiny tubes throughout the body.
It affects the outer edge — also known as the mantle zone — of a type of white blood cell called B-cells or B lymphocytes, the Leukaemia Foundation says.
What this means is that the body is making abnormal B-cells, British charity Cancer Research UK's website says.
When someone has mantle cell lymphoma, these B-cells don't work properly, so they can't fight infection like they normally would.
And these abnormal cells build up in the lymph nodes or in other body parts.
"They form tumours and begin to cause problems within the lymphatic system or the organ where they are growing," Cancer Research UK says.
Mantle cell lymphoma is one of about 60 sub-types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the Cancer Council's website says.
Szubanski said her cancer was discovered incidentally via a breast screen, which she'd had after "feeling pretty ratshit for ages".
The first sign of this type of cancer is generally painless swelling in the neck, armpit or groin.
"Multiple lymph nodes may be affected as well as other sites of the body including the spleen, bone marrow, blood, tonsils and adenoids, liver, brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract," the Leukaemia Foundation says.
"Mantle cell lymphoma commonly affects the bowel, with worsening diarrhoea often a sign of this."
Here are some of the other symptoms the foundation lists:
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell transplants are among the treatments listed by the Leukaemia Foundation.
"Treatment is often successful initially, however relapses are common," the foundation says.
"New treatments for mantle cell lymphoma are being researched all the time in clinical trials in some Australian hospitals."
Szubanski echoed this in her post to fans.
"I've started one of the best treatments available (the Nordic protocol)," she said.
"I'm lucky to be getting absolutely world-class care here in Melbourne."
She said the treatment would give her immune system "a hammering" and leave her immunocompromised.
Stage 4 cancer means the cancer has spread to other areas of the body, the Cancer Insititue NSW website says.
It's the highest stage on the scale, which ranges from stage 0 to stage 4.
Stage 4 cancer is also called metastatic or advanced cancer.
Szubanski's announcement was met with an immediate outpouring of support from her entertainment colleagues and fans.
It prompted others to share their experience with the disease in the comments section of her Instagram post.
Here are a few of the comments offering insight into mantle cell lymphoma treatment:
"I was diagnosed with Mantle cell lymphoma ten years ago! I was 57 at the time, I had 7 strong chemos over 7 months & a stem cell transplant!! I'm still here!! It's a lot & Mantle cell is an unusual one but medicine today is amazing! I'm fighting fit & I believe in my glass being half full!! I'm sending so much love to you & you will get through it!! I ended up with curly hair!!!! Xoxo"
"My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2021. He went through chemo, and had been in remission for three years when we found out this last Christmas it was back, but not as aggressively. He started chemo again and will finish this week! He's doing amazingly, and I know you will too!"
"My brother was diagnosed with the same 15 years ago. Back then Google said it had a 4 % survival rate. His treatment started with his stem cell then the Nordic Protocol and finally stem cell from your brother. We just celebrated his 70th last year in Langkawi Malaysia and he is fighting fit. Off all meds. Married 4 years ago. Loving life 💕👍🏻 Trust the process 💕"
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News.com.au
18 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Crisis': Expert reveals secrets to how to get a flawless sleep
A new report has revealed the extent of Australia's silent sleep epidemic, with one expert offering simple fixes for the nation's most common sleeping difficulties. The Great Aussie Wake-Up, commissioned by Holiday Inn Express, found that 91 per cent of Australians struggle to fall or stay asleep in a typical week, and 93 per cent regularly wake up too early. Sleep expert Olivia Arezzolo said the research showed the issue had progressed from a problem to a crisis. But she said three core controllable elements could be implemented to form the foundation for good sleep. 'When you look at the biomechanics of the circadian rhythm, there are key factors which control it,' she said. 'Light is one, eating is another, and temperature is another.
Before adding the nice-to-haves, you need to get the essentials right first.' In terms of food, Ms Arezzolo stressed the importance of having breakfast and warned against all too common late night snacking. 'I think a really big factor which is often overlooked, is there's this massive growth in intermittent fasting,' she said. 'It's one of the biggest trends of 2025 and this is meaning that a lot of Gen Z, but also just overall Aussies, are skipping breakfast. 
 'The stat from the Holiday Inn research was that 76 per cent of Aussies are losing part of their morning routine and one in four are not eating breakfast. 'Breakfast is absolutely critical for circadian rhythm alignment. I'm sure you've heard that term with reference to light and temperature, but eating is also a regulator of the circadian rhythm.
 'It essentially anchors the body clock. So in order to fall asleep with ease in the evening, we need to be having breakfast within the first hour of being awake.' Ms Arezzolo said you ideally want three hours in between your last meal of the day and bedtime. For coffee it was a minimum of eight hours. 'I have a 2pm absolute latest cut-off time (for coffee), but ideally, you want nothing after 12 o'clock, especially if you're struggling to sleep.' For light Ms Arezzolo recommended getting 20 minutes of light within 30 minutes of waking and staying away from blue light producing screens close to bedtime. 'Like eating, light is a factor controlling the circadian rhythm. 
 'Essentially, if you're exposed to blue light in the evening, then you have the suppression of melatonin, which is your key sleep hormone to fall and stay asleep. 'This is akin to having a coffee before bed. As soon as you have that blue light enter your eyes, you have the biological signals to remain alert and awake.' 
 Another key finding of the report was an overreliance on the snooze button with more than half (52 per cent) of Australians hitting snooze every morning. Gen Z were among the worst offenders, with a massive 70 per cent regularly hitting the button – and one in ten tapping snooze at least 120 times a month. 'When you're hitting the snooze button regularly, every time the alarm goes off, you get a spike in your stress hormone cortisol,' Ms Arezzolo said. 'Too much cortisol leads to chronic states of anxiety, burnout, having that 'wired but tired feeling', being unable to sleep, and particularly 3am wakings. 'You're essentially setting your nervous system up to be on overdrive from the moment you wake up simply by pressing the snooze button, not just once, but multiple times. So that one is definitely alarming. Pardon the pun.' Ms Arezzolo said in the course of her regular life, people are constantly asking her to fix their sleep however they tend to focus on alternative aids rather than focusing on the essentials. 'I'm like, 'okay, but tell me about your mornings and tell me about your evenings. What are you doing just before you're waking up and just before you're going to sleep? What are you doing just when you're waking up? Do you have the foundations right'? 
And nine times out of 10, they don't. 'You can't overlook these and then just pick and choose which sleep strategies you want to employ because you prefer that. It doesn't work like that.
It's biology. 'Circadian rhythm is controlled by light, temperature and eating. So you have to get these things right.'
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Claudia Karvan
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Hi. One of the strangest but most beautiful things about life is that humans can experience all these contradictory things at the same time. So moments of joy in the middle of great sadness; humour amid tragedy, all of that. You look at the actress Claudia Karvan and you see this polished, accomplished, optimistic woman who's been on our screens now for decades, kicking goal after goal. But what you don't see is the constant juggle of a turbulent family life. (Claudia Karvan's house before the AACTA Awards) Claudia Karvan: I'm just getting made up with everyone from Bump. We're having a bit of a pre-AACTA's party. We were nominated for best director, best editor, best actor, actress, whatever. And best show. CLAUDIA KARVAN: If only I could go back in time and just talk to my 20-year-old self and just go, man, you know. There's so much pressure on people in their twenties, particularly as an actor, like this is you at your peak, it's all downhill from here. And it's not been like that at all. (Midday Show 1987) Ray Martin: Claudia, you're still at school. How old are you now? Claudia Karvan: 15 Ray Martin: Do you want to be an actress or is this simply just spare time freelance stuff. Claudia Karvan: Um, No I'd like to be one, but I'd need professional training though. (Paperback Hero) Ruby Vale: Now is the time, Jack. You've got to be able to become your dream. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: In that early 20s period, she was a movie star. She was, you know, just captivating. (Paperback Hero) Ruby Vale: I don't want a bloody wedding you stupid bastard. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: But I sensed that she had ambitions beyond … beyond being an actor. (Sweatshop arts centre, Parramatta) Claudia Karvan: So I'm here at Sweatshop in Parramatta, working on an adaptation of Michael Mohammed Ahmad's book The Other Half of You, which we're hoping to adapt for a TV show. Ten half hours. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: I think Claudia has to be regarded as the most successful producer in Australia. More so than anybody by miles. As a producer, nearly all of her shows have been hits. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: All her storytelling and everything that she takes from her life, her childhood and everything she went through and how she grew up – she has so much material there. (Sweatshop literary centre, Parramatta) Claudia Karvan: I had a friend like her when I was a teenager. CLAUDIA KARVAN: The way I evaluate and understand my life is putting it into drama. Even with my mum. like some devastating crap will happen in my family life and my mum will be, you know, crying. She'll be going, 'Can you use this? Can you use this in one of your TV shows?' 'Yeah, I will, Mum. I'll put it in somewhere. It'll be worth it.' TITLE: Making a Scene CLAUDIA KARVAN: When my biological dad, Peter Robins, was alive I was a lot more protective of my privacy. He was eventually diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. He could get quite vindictive or quite upset about stuff in the media about family. So I just always knew that delving into family stuff was sort of a little bit dangerous or going to be complicated. Peter, my father, passed away May, in 2022. As a sort of a symptom of his mental health issues, he constantly wrote different wills. He'd lodged one in 1988, I was 16 years old, and I was like, Oh, can't wait to read this. But then it gets to the part about me and my brother Rupert and he writes ... it's on page five: 'I hereby disinherit and disown and disassociate myself from Rupert Temple Karvan and Claudia Karvan.' I was like, oh, I did not expect that. My first reaction was to be sort of like, a lot of anger and tears for a couple of hours. And then I was sort of disappointed in myself – so sort of, why do I have these positive expectations? CLAUDIA KARVAN: Now that he's passed away, I feel like I can talk about my relationship with my dad and and those stories. And it just feels … everything feels a bit lighter. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Peter, my dad, he met my mum just socially, I think. Rupert, my brother, was born and then they sort of were separating and then my mum sort of went back, you know, and that sort of back and forth sort of separation. And then I'm a product of that. I'm like a … I'm the mercy fuck. You'll never put that in will you. CLAUDIA KARVAN: My stepdad, Arthur, then fell in love with my mum and she didn't even know she was pregnant with me. So that's pretty wild. And then it was all just ... it was just horrible, I think, for all of them. My mum changed my name to Karven, and my brother's name, and that was always a wound in my father's side, forever. CLAUDIA KARVAN: My mum said I was just born with a happy disposition. Just connected with people very quickly, very easily. My brothers were not like that at all. CLAUDIA KARVAN: So we were living in Woollahra. And then they bought the building that became Arthur's. (Victoria Street, Potts Point) Claudia Karvan: So this is Victoria Street, Pott's Point. This is where I grew up. So we moved into the street when I was six. And the nightclub ran until I was about 16. So yeah, we lived in the street for about 10 years in lots of different places. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Arthur's was part brasserie, part bar, part restaurant, part nightclub. It sort of attracted the fashion scene and drag queens and musicians and actors and producers. And you know all the '80s excess, like so much excess. Like crazy. (Victoria Street, Potts Point) Claudia Karvan: Parents would still be drunk in bed and we'd go over, open up the nightclub and scout around and you can find … we were just scavengers. You'd find … everyone would like drop a $20 bill or like 50 cents. Or like, you'd make good money. Find some jewellery, find little packets of illicit substances and parents go, 'Oh, I'll take that''. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I'm still close to Mum and Dad, Arthur and Gabrielle. Mum lives around the corner, so I see her a lot. And Arthur is in Bali. (Arthur Karvan's house in Bali) Arthur Karvan: We didn't lead a nuclear family life. Claudia Karvan: Yeah Arthur Karvan: And all the staff loved you. And you loved the staff. They spoilt you like you wouldn't believe. And they were always doing things for you that we wouldn't do. And ah ... Claudia Karvan: I know, I have to say I think if I had a dollar for every person who's come up to me and said, I babysat you when you were a kid, I'd be a millionaire. Arthur Karvan: I know. Well, I mean, we we sort of had that life where we were coming home and you were off on your way to school. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: I'm so glad that wasn't my childhood. I think it's incredible because it made her who she is, and that's awesome. But I wouldn't swap with her. (Outside the former site of Arthur's, Victoria Street, Potts Point) Claudia: It was a stressful way, I think, to raise a family and have three kids. A lot of socialising, a lot of alcohol, a lot of all that sort of stuff. So, you know, not always great. JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: From day one, I think, you know, she was the adult. There weren't a lot of adults around. Or if they were they were kind of doing other things. CLAUDIA KARVAN: As a result of my childhood, I think it's made me really, really avoid, you know, excesses or anything that can destabilise me. I'm very, very alive to that. Like, you know, not being in a volatile situation. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: I think she did a really great job of breaking away from any sort of toxic cycles that she'd inherited from her parents. The way she brought me up and my brother and how we lived as kids. I would not at all link that to how she was brought up. CLAUDIA KARVAN: When I grew up in the Cross with the nightclub a lot of the visitors were producers and directors and film industry people and so they just sort of reached out to kids that were around to audition for things. I had zero ability or awareness or whatever or interest, really. And then I went through this auditioning process to be in Molly, which was a kid's film. I was 10 years old. (Molly 1983) Claudia Karvan as Maxie: If you were looking after something for someone and you lost it, what would you do? CLAUDIA KARVAN: And then Gillian Armstrong auditioned me for High Tide. JUSTINE CLARKE, ACTOR AND FRIEND: We both auditioned for it, and she got it and she was so completely perfect for it. When I went to see it afterwards, I just thought, Oh, of course. She was just so perfectly Judy Davis's daughter. (High Tide 1987) Claudia Karvan as Ally: Can you read hands? Judy Davis as Lillie: No Claudia Karvan as Ally: I thought you could. Here, which one's my lifeline. Judy Davis as Lillie: Oh my God. Um, that one I think. CLAUDIA KARVAN: There was no acting in those scenes with Judy and I. Like, I was just in love with her. You know, you can't act that. And so you … and to act opposite a woman like that, like, you don't have to do much. You just … you're listening. And that's what acting is, is listening and responding to the person you're in a scene with. (High Tide 1987) Judy Davis as Lillie: I'm sorry Claudia Karvan as Ally: What? Judy Davis as Lillie: I said I'm sorry. Isn't that what you want? (The Midday Show, 1987) Ray Martin: How did you cry then? I mean, how do you suddenly turn on the tears? Claudia Karvan: You just mope around and get sadder and sadder. Ray Martin: How do you mope and get sad when you're 14? What did you do? Think of … Claudia Karvan: Just think about sad things. Think about mum and dad. Think about the role. And it just comes. I don't really know. Ray Martin: But they were real tears? Claudia: Yeah. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: She was the reason for the film's success, in my view. She was the captivating moment. I think openness is the thing that the camera picks up and that was the start of it for her. CLAUDIA KARVAN: After High Tide I got offered a role on Home and Away. At the same time, I got offered The Last Resort on the ABC. And we chose the ABC job, which I'm just so grateful for. Massive sliding doors moment. Yeah, I wouldn't have survived the Home and Away machine. I would not have survived that at all. (The Last Resort) Claudia Karvan as Emma: Is that for Mum? Kris McQuade as Jennifer: Yeah. Claudia Karvan as Emma: Are you going to put her real age on it? Kris McQuade as Jennifer: Sure. Women who lie about their age lie about everything else. CLAUDIA KARVAN: The ABC job was like really unsuccessful. No one watched it. (The Last Resort) Claudia Karvan as Emma: You taken out life insurance? CLAUDIA KARVAN: I put in appalling performances. After like an episode would go to air I'd go into my room just like dying with shame and my mum would walk past my door going, 'Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs. Worthington.' I'd be like, oh Jesus. (The 7.30 Report, 1993) Quentin Dempster: At only 21, Claudia Karvan is being touted as Australia's next big film actor Claudia Karvan: My mum was always, you know, be a lawyer, go to uni – please, you know – for three years. Get a real job, you know. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I sort of saw the beauty of acting but I also was very aware of the pitfalls and how inconsistent it is, how ... you know, all the media stuff, all that sort of manipulation. (The Heartbreak Kid) Claudia: Just leave me alone, OK. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I wrestled with that for quite a long time and sometimes I would self-sabotage. Go to work, you know, not having not slept the night before – stupid, stupid things. So I'm lucky to have held on to my career through all that. JUSTINE CLARKE, ACTOR AND FRIEND: Claudia and I lived together in our early twenties for a couple of years. When you'd go out with her, we'd all get dressed up and go out to a nightclub, she'd bring a cardigan. She'd always look amazing, but she'd bring a cardigan because she'd know it was going to get cold. She was always very, you know, sensible and pragmatic but also kind of a wild child as well. CLAUDIA KARVAN: There was always a lot of pressure to go to Hollywood. I attempted the Hollywood thing a few times. I just was never comfortable there. I felt really out of my depth. I felt very nervous and sort of weirdly … like this existential loneliness that hits you in LA that a lot of people talk about, I just could not have survived that. Then because I was in love with Jez, I had a stepdaughter. So, you know, it wasn't really an option. JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: When Claude and I kind of got together I would have been about 24 or 25 and Claude would have been just in her early twenties. I look back then and I almost go, who gave those children a child to look after? CLAUDIA KARVAN: I did settle down early. It's strange. Like I was 22 when I became a stepmother. I was like looking after a four-year-old at the age of 22. But I felt really old. At 22, I felt like I'd done everything and seen everything. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: Claudia in her 20s was a film star and it was definitely known that she would not do television. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I was a real film snob. I just only did films. Then Secret Life of Us came along. The Secret Life of Us (Southern Star Entertainment, Network Ten, 2001) Samuel Johnson as Evan: What didn't you like about it? Claudia Karvan as Alex: I didn't like that all the guys were kind of scruffy and messy and charismatic and all the girls were gorgeous with great bodies. It just seemed like male fantasy bullshit to me. CLAUDIA KARVAN: You get into TV and suddenly it's like, oh my God, people are watching this. So that was like a real game changer. That was fabulous. The Secret Life of Us (Southern Star Entertainment, Network Ten, 2001) Deborah Mailman as Kelly: Are you a lesbian? Claudia Karvan as Alex: I could be. Actually on some level I'm sure I am. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: Claude is clearly bright and I suspected that her intelligence should be harnessed beyond just being an actor. CLAUDIA KARVAN: John Edwards approached me and said, 'Do you want to produce something with me? You know, you want to create a show together?' I was like, why don't we do a show set in Sydney, all about your thirties and all about the legacy of past relationships. So I was sort of riffing on what I was experiencing in my own life. And that became Love My Way. JUSTINE CLARKE, ACTOR AND FRIEND: What was so refreshing about Love My Way was that it was a kind of bald truth that I don't think we'd seen in drama like that before. Love My Way (2004, Southern Star, Foxtel) Asher Keddie as Julia: She's been a brat all day. Claudia Karvan as Frankie: So what? Asher Keddie as Julia: This is my house I have to be able to take care of the kids in my own way. I'm not you, Frankie. I don't mother like you. Claudia Karvan as Frankie: What's that supposed to mean? How do I mother? Dan Wylie as Charlie: Let's just chill out a bit here, OK Claudia Karvan as Frankie: If she's a problem I can … Dan Wylie as Charlie: She's not a problem. JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: When Claude did Love My Way, it, it really captured, I guess, our upbringing as children with our parents and how they were functionally dysfunctional. And then oddly we lived a bit like that, too, in our own way. Love My Way (2004, Southern Star, Foxtel) Dan Wylie as Charlie: You know it occurred to me that you left me because you wanted to get a life and here you are still trying to find one. Claudia Karvan as Frankie: This is about Lou, you arsehole. Dan Wylie as Charlie: No it's not. It's not. It's about you. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I never had any aspirations to be a producer. I didn't even know what a producer did. From woah to go. It was just an absolute eye opener. And I was like, this is incredibly creative. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: The whole idea of creating something from the ground up, it's great fun and she took to it. I don't think she missed a single writer's meeting. She never missed an edit. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Becoming a producer on Love My Way and becoming a creator of a TV show, yeah, changed the course of my career. (Claudia at home with Jeremy, Audrey and Albee) Claudia: I don't know what kind of salad I'm making here. Something edible. So I was just going to stick that in the air-fryer as well. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Jez and I were together for 21 years, 21 and a half, almost 22 years. And, yeah, I mean, we started relationship counselling like four years before it ended. So it was like it was just getting just hard. JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: It was a choice that Claude made, and I wasn't necessarily as finger on the pulse. I don't read things emotionally as well as Claude. So um ... and she made a really good call for us both. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: They told us they were breaking up. And then about two or three weeks later, we went on a family holiday to Sri Lanka, Thailand and India. Like whose parents tell you they're breaking up and then bring all the kids on a holiday? It was almost traumatising. I don't think I went through what other people would say was a divorce or a normal split whatsoever. We've had family Christmases all together since the year they split. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Separating, life became a lot calmer A lot easier. So it was the right thing to do. Definitely. Yeah, it's just … everything's a lot more manageable. (Claudia in car on the way to visit Rupert) Claudia Karvan: So I'm on my way to see my brother, Rupert. He lives in a boarding house now. He's been here for about four years, I think. And he's doing extremely well. JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: Claud's relationship with Rupert. I mean, it's a really special one. Like with Peter, her father, she's taken the parent role and she took it many, many, many years ago. (Claudia in car on the way to visit Rupert) Claudia Karvan: Rupert has schizophrenia. I think he was diagnosed in his early thirties. I said to Rupert once, how would you feel if you saw in print, Claudia's brother has schizophrenia and Rupe was like, 'Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia. Is that what I've got?' I was like, 'Yeah.' 'Schizophrenia? Yeah. No, I love that. I'd love to ... I'd love to read that, Claude.' So once I got his blessing then it felt like something that I was allowed to talk about comfortably. And and I yeah, I think it's really important to talk about it. (Claudia and Rupert outside his boarding house) Claudia: Hey, Rupe. Rupert: Hi, Claude. Claudia: How are you? Rupert: Good, how are you? Claudia: Good. I'm alright. OK, let's go and get cigarettes. Claudia: Yeah? Rupert: Yep. Claudia: Let's do it. How's your morning been? Rupert: I'm a bit worried but OK. Claudia: Worried? What are you worried about? Rupert: Oh, everything to do with life. Claudia: Right? Not having a good day? Rupert: Not having a good day. No. JUSTINE CLARKE, ACTOR AND FRIEND: What Claudia has done all through her life is include her family in her life in what looked like a very easy kind of a way. But I'm sure it wasn't. Claudia and Rupert in corner shop Claudia: He's not in a good mood today. But that's all right. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Rupert lived for a long time in the public housing. He wasn't coping on his own at all. He was sort of walking around armed with a knife and like he'd shave his face and he'd have blood on his face. He'd spend a year in some sort of rehabilitation clinic and then come out and be just as bad. So it was just this terrible cycle. You just like there's just this revolving door of psychiatrists and nurses and social workers and they're all trying to help solve ... And it's like, Oh, my God, how do I explain this? And every time they're starting from scratch and you try and explain your brother and it's like … Yeah. (Claudia and Rupert in the park) Claudia: Would you come and see my play? Did you know I was doing a play next year? Rupert: No, you told me. That's good. I'll come. Claudia: Mum might come too. CLAUDIA KARVAN: And then he moved into, like, community housing and I was like, I didn't know anything like this existed with this sort of support. It's just like a miracle how much better his life is. (Claudia and Rupert in the park) Claudia: I think you'd enjoy it Rupert: Yeah, I enjoy plays Claudia: Do you? Rupert: Haven't seen one in years. Claudia: No. What was the last play you saw? CLAUDIA KARVAN: He's a bit like me. He loves rules and he abides by the rules. So he lives really well now. (Claudia and Rupert outside his boarding house) Claudia: See you later, alligator. I'll see you tomorrow. Rupert: Yeah. Claudia: Enjoy your summer roll. Rupert: Thank you. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Managing people that are close to you that have mental health issues does make you reflect on your own mental health and how to preserve it. (Claudia at Wayside Chapel, Kings Cross) Claudia Karvan: So this is the reception at Wayside Chapel. I volunteer here. It's something I do when I don't feel like I'm really coping very well, I come and work here. It's strange. And when I'm really coping well, I'm like, I don't. (Claudia at Wayside Chapel, Kings Cross) Claudia Karvan: They have a sort of an approach here, which is the visitors are people to be met, not problems to be fixed. And that really set off a light bulb in my head about my brother and well, also my father, my other dad, Peter. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Since my father passed last year, it's really an interesting period of just trying to reflect on what was that, that relationship. When he had his grandiose delusions and his schizoaffective breakdown or whatever he would develop all these conspiracies about me and paranoias. And he was very abusive. So you just … you couldn't get through to him through those periods of time. You'd get gaps where you could engage with him and the kids could go to Luna Park with him. And and then it would switch back. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: He was definitely a hard presence to be around sometimes. Yeah. He felt the need to bring a lot of negative energy into things with not a lot of reasoning except for probably a lot of baggage that he was carrying. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Your mental health is something you can never take for granted. A lot of it is about not allowing yourself to be contaminated by anger or self-pity. So you've just got to, you know, keep your eye on the prize. Just kindness, openness, generosity, patience, friends, community, avoiding stress. All that sort of stuff. JOHN EDWARDS, PRODUCER: Having a tumultuous childhood can be very useful in our business. What we're often doing in writer's rooms and writing things, we try to turn our problems into virtues. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Writers' rooms are where you just … everything just comes out. It's like a very private sort of workspace where everyone brings their own life to the table and you turn it into, you know, episodes of television. We're telling each other stories all the time about our own lives, about each other's lives. That's what storytelling is all about. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Bump's the most recent show I've worked on. I'm co-producer, co-creator and I'm in it. Bump, season 1 (Roadshow Rough Diamond, Stan) Nathalie Morris as Oly: Can you please turn down the music, Angie Claudia Karvan as Angie: Do you have to use my first name? AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: I think Bump, there's lots of storylines in there that reflect a lot of our family and her and our relationship as well. Bump, season 1 (Roadshow Rough Diamond, Stan) Nathalie Morris as Oly: Perhaps I should use your stripper name. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: She asks me a lot about things. She goes, 'Can I use that?' Or she goes, 'Oh, that's a great ... that's a great one. Can I use that?' Bump, season 1 (Roadshow Rough Diamond, Stan) Claudia Karvan as Angie: This is your baby, Oly. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I remember Audrey was having a meltdown around the HSC, and I composed this monologue that I delivered to her. Bump, season 1 (Roadshow Rough Diamond, Stan) Claudia Karvan as Angie: You're going to love her as much as I love you. CLAUDIA KARVAN: And she just turned to me and went, 'Nothing you just said helped at all.' And we specifically put that line in. Bump, season 1 (Roadshow Rough Diamond, Stan) Nathalie Morris as Oly: Mum. Nothing you just said helps at all. CLAUDIA KARVAN: That was, like, totally Audrey's line. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: She actually said to me at Christmas when we were having a chaotic family Christmas, she goes, 'If I didn't have a family like this, I probably wouldn't have had a successful career.' JEREMY SPARKS, FORMER PARTNER: Claudes immerses herself in her work. It's all encompassing, that's all that's happening at that time. She's very much … very mindful about every choice, more so than probably when she was younger. CLAUDIA KARVAN: It's been a long time since I've been on the stage – 25 years. Mitchell Butel, the director, was wondering, you know, what would get me back on stage. And I said, The Goat. I think it strikes a chord with me because it's a marriage, 22-year-old marriage. Woops [laughs] Rehearsal for Edward Albee's The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia? Claudia Karvan as Stevie: Who am I? Nathan Page as Martin: You're the love of my life. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I think it strikes a chord with me because it is a couple who have been together for 22 years and they are in the depths of despair and yet their aspiration to keep loving each other and keep communicating is always there. Rehearsal for Edward Albee's The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia? Claudia Karvan as Stevie: Let's see if I understand the phrase, you love me. JUSTINE CLARKE, ACTOR AND FRIEND: I think it's great she's returning to the stage. She's at a point in her life now where she should just do whatever the hell she wants. (Rehearsal for Edward Albee's The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia?) Mitchell Butel, director: Let's just go from, 'You said it right out and I laughed'. Claudia: You said it right out and I laughed. CLAUDIA KARVAN: I could never have predicted to be enjoying my career as much as I am now at 50. No way. No way. Because there was so much talk when I was younger about, oh, all the roles for women dry up, you know, after 35 and, you know, women are only cast for their fuck-ability. And I was like, Oh, OK, it's going to be … it's going to be quiet and lonely after 35. AUDREY KARVAN-SPARKS, DAUGHTER: The place that she's in right now, it makes me want to be her age. Like … and I'm 21. Aren't we all supposed to want to be 21? I'm like looking at my mum and I want to be 50. CLAUDIA KARVAN: Yeah, 50? Literally couldn't be happier. Couldn't have predicted that I'd feel as calm and ... Life just feels a lot simpler, nicer, clearer. Jez: How was your day? Did you work today? Claudia: No. CLAUDIA KARVAN: You know, you just ... You manage to avoid drama a lot I think when you get older, if you've … if you want to avoid it. Some people don't [laughs]. Yeah. Just feel very content and relieved. Encore screening Actor and producer Claudia Karvan is at the peak of her powers. When this episode was filmed, Karvan was getting rave reviews for her first stage performance in 25 years and was working on a new season of the award-winning TV show, Bump, which she co-created, co-produced and starred in. Karvan has been in the public eye since her first movie at the age of 10. But behind the scenes of her long and successful career, Karvan has also been managing a sometimes chaotic family life. A remarkably candid Karvan talks about growing up around her mother and stepfather's King Cross nightclub and her transition from childhood actor to adult star. She also reveals the mental health issues in her family and speaks publicly for the first time about her difficult relationship with her biological father, who died last year. Related links Stream Making A Scene on ABC iview and YouTube ABC news feature article | The secret life of Claudia Karvan as she turns her chaotic childhood into a glittering career
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