Bondi Local | Tina Bursill

Bondi Local | Tina Bursill

Tina Bursill is a loved Australian actor (IMDb HERE) … probably best known for her role as Sonia Stevens in the iconic Australian 80s TV series Prisoner (1983–1984).

We’ve known the lovely Tina for a long time, and she worked with us as a Christmas Elf for the Bondi Road manifestation of REMO from 2010 to 2012. 

Tina actually lives on our street, and we see her power walking on the Promenade a lot. She is a delightful soul.

Melanie spoke to her and this is what she had to say:

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What’s your back story? Give us a little bit of your history.

I’m a Sydney girl, born and bred on the North Shore. My parents were salt, sea and surf people, and I just followed suit.

Why Bondi?

Prior to living in Bondi, I lived and worked in Melbourne for 8 years. When I came back to Sydney I had a dog and I couldn’t find anywhere to live that would take a dog because the rental rules were tough. Also, Bondi was known as a more artist friendly community in those days because it was cheaper to rent and live. So the motivation for me to come to Bondi was first of all because I could afford it, and then the people that owned the place where I ended up staying [Adrian and Anne Newstead], said that I could keep the dog. As an aside, the place where I stayed is today a well known aboriginal art gallery called Cooee.

Bondi was actually a great fit with my personality, and back then it had a huge Maori population that I also found really interesting. It was very, very different.

And thanks to my rental I met many artists. Bondi became an enclave for so many producers, writers, directors and models. I had a notable profile back then because I had done lots of shows on TV. I could be so cool with my blonde hair and dark black Ray Bans. I was a beach babe! We used to lie on the beach with the coconut oil, just like a rotisserie, from dawn ’til dusk.

Also, being an artist or an actor, and not being in constant work, the thing you need to look for is somewhere that gives you an optimistic outlook, and looking at the sea and the horizon gave me that … You can walk down to the beach in the morning with a coffee or a paper or nothing at all, and you have a sense of optimism. It lifts the spirits and you can come home and do fuck all for the rest of the day and feel replenished. It fills you up and it really can get you out of the doldrums. Just to sit at the end of Lamrock Avenue and look out to sea can fill me up. I’m prone to become a little interior, particularly with the lack of work that can have so many ramifications: not being able to pay for this, or that.

Once I’d lived here for a while, I bought a place. Everyone said you must buy something and I thought, “What’s with the ‘must’? I don’t get it.”  But, psychologically it can actually work for you. My mortgage is a positive motivation.

What about work? What have you worked on recently? What have you enjoyed?

Usually you say it’s your last job that you enjoyed the most because it’s the most fresh. Probably the last few years have been really favourable in the kind of work that I’ve done. I think a lot these days about my own mortality, having lost a mother and having an ageing father. So is it because I’m older and I’m more comfortable with what I do? I feel more vulnerable, curiously, as I get older. I’ve got strengths in so many areas but vulnerabilities in so many others. Until recently I hadn’t been on stage for seven years, but then the last job I’ve just completed was at the Sydney Theatre Company, a fantastic play!  ‘Boys Will Be Boys’. Beautiful playwright  called Melissa Bubnic. The play was a triumph and also a challenge to overcome … working live every night with a house full of people. I had to get the beta-blockers into me! Stage fright can pop in and I didn’t even have a drink in those weeks for fear of losing my mind! And then you think ‘it’s only a play’ Only a play!! All those thousands of words, syllables going through your head, and you can’t drop the ball for a second.

And of course the good fortune of working in television with the Moodys and the Moody Christmas and Time of Our Lives – the two series I did. So I’ve had job satisfaction. And also the little short films here and there. But the TV is lucrative – you wish you had more of that!

Are you excited about anything at the moment?

Truthfully no because I’m navigating an ageing father, but having said that, it’s not the end. It’s a challenge and I’m just in a holding pattern. But that hasn’t diminished the possibilities or the spark. I’m exploring the Southern Highlands at the moment [where father lives] and when I come back to Bondi I’m always excited. I love the smell of the sea. And I love the little stamping ground that’s been my home for years. The challenge in my world is to understand that it is ok to be where I am at the moment. Talking about trips I want to do excites me and reminds me of the things I want to do.

Eating/drinking?

Ah god, the lot! I have favourites for different tastes. I frequent the Tratt [Bondi Trattoria] because of the view. I love being elevated. Then I love going to the Crabbe Hole for my morning coffee and hopefully get a splash of salt on my face! All those swimming people. I love that spot, I really do. That brings me into a good place in the morning. And then I can come back and next door to the Tratt is Chapter One, and I like them for their boiled egg and soldiers. The Organic [Earthfood Store] I love. Miss Chu’s, I used to love going in there and having soup. Different mood places for me. I love coming to Gertrude & Alice. There’s history. I used to support it when it first opened up, coz it’s books. There’s always a bit of Leonard Cohen or Billie Holliday playing. You can ruminate in a place like this amongst the books.

And Sabbaba! Because I love a huge collection of plates of food. I used to come home from rehearsal and I’d either call Fish Mongers and say can you do this – which I love; or I’d come to Sabbaba and just get my face into it! I love it!

Also, I do like what’s happened on the old Hakoah Club site. The fact that I can go and get fresh veggies [from Harris Farm Markets] if I’m not at the farmers markets on Saturday morning. But a bit of a fave is bills. I’ve gone through that menu there. It’s a very comfortable place for me to go and sit up at the bar and have eggs and whatever. Or a meal. It kind of fits with me very nicely. Good breakfast. Dinner. Lunch. Airy, good price range, good toilets. It’s nicely fitted out - brass not chrome!

Oh and the Speakeasy around the corner. I used to love going in there for a drink.

Special Places?

The walk along the beach on the Promenade. But you know that. I pass you a lot.

What are you reading/watching?

I’ve got 3 books on the go at the moment. I’m absolutely taken in by Julia Gillard. I’m reading her autobiography. I’ve also picked up the Obama book. I was in the Southern Highlands in the Berkelouw Bookstore there. I’d heard a reading about Obama before he was a glint in anyone’s eyes, let alone President so I have that. And Steve Bisley’s book. Fascinating! They’re all on the go a little bit.

I’m loving Glitch on ABC. I was ambivalent to begin with but because I’ve got friends in it I thought I’d stick with it. Well, I’m absolutely hooked. I’m loving it. I think it’s a really good story.

Your motto?

It varies with me but the one I’m hanging on to at the moment is: “Make it happen!”

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Full interview on SoundCloud below or HERE