<p>Debra Lawrance graduated from NIDA in 1977 and has since built a distinguished career across theatre, film and television.</p><p>On television, she first came to prominence playing Maggie, Ned Kelly’s sister, in Channel Seven’s <em>The Last Outlaw</em>. She went on to star as Pat in the ABC comedy series <em>The Fast Lane</em>, portrayed Daphne in <em>Prisoner</em>, and became a household name as the beloved foster mother Pippa in the long-running series <em>Home and Away</em>. Debra won widespread acclaim as Rose in Josh Thomas’ <em>Please Like Me</em>, earning the 2015 AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Comedy and the 2017 Logie Award for Most Outstanding Supporting Actress. Debra can most recently be seen in Stan’s <em>Scrublands Silver, Good Cop Bad Cop and Darby and Joan </em>(Series 2).</p><p>Her other television credits include <em>Human Error</em>, <em>Class of ’07</em>, <em>Five Bedrooms </em>(Series 3 &amp; 4), <em>I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!</em>, <em>Fisk</em>, <em>Neighbours</em>, <em>Get Krack!n </em>(Series 2), <em>Rosehaven </em>(Series 3), <em>True Story With Hamish &amp; Andy</em>, <em>The Doctor Blake Mysteries </em>(Series 4), <em>Wentworth </em>(Series 4), <em>House Husbands </em>(Series 4), and <em>Hell’s Kitchen Australia </em>(which she won, raising $50,000 for Ovarian Cancer Australia).</p><p>Her film work includes <em>Silver City</em>, <em>Two Brothers Running </em>with Tom Conti, <em>Evil Angels </em>with Meryl Streep, and the acclaimed <em>The Jammed</em>. Most recently, she appeared in Peter Farrelly’s <em>Ricky Stanicky</em>, alongside John Cena and Zac Efron.</p><p>Debra’s stage career is equally accomplished. For Melbourne Theatre Company she has performed in Jack Davis’ <em>The First Born Trilogy </em>(including the London tour of <em>No Sugar</em>), <em>Sylvia</em>, <em>Second Childhood</em>, <em>The Memory of Water</em>, and Caryl Churchill’s <em>Escaped Alone</em>. Her other notable theatre credits include M’Lynn in the Australian tour of <em>Steel Magnolias</em>, the title role in the national tour of <em>Driving Miss Daisy</em>, Letitia Blacklock in <em>A Murder is Announced</em>, the Ghost of Christmas Past in the Old Vic’s Melbourne seasons of <em>A Christmas Carol</em>, and Professor McGonagall in both the Melbourne and UK productions of <em>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child</em>.</p><p>She is presently on a national tour of Robert Harling’s <em>Steel Magnolias </em>playing Clairee.</p><p><em>The STAGES podcast is available to access and subscribe from Spotify and Apple podcasts. Or from wherever you access your favourite podcasts. A conversation with creatives about craft and career. Follow socials on instagram (stagespodcast) and facebook (Stages).</em></p>