Alycia Debnam-Carey has done this before. At her marie claire shoot on Sydney’s north shore she moves with such ease in front of the camera that when she bends down to check her lipstick in the rear-view mirror of the Ducati motorcycle, it’s impossible to know if she’s posing or if the camera has just captured a genuine moment of the Australian actor off duty.
“It’s such a cliché but growing up as a child actor you develop some sort of performative qualities,” explains the self-confessed workaholic. Debnam-Carey started acting when she was eight years old, in Rachel Ward’s short feature Martha’s New Coat.
These days, the 28-year-old splits her time between Los Angeles, where she now lives, and Austin, Texas, where Fear the Walking Dead, the television show she has worked on since 2015, is filmed. “[The show] has been most of my 20s, which is kind of an overwhelming thought, but at the same time it’s been such an extraordinary training ground. I’ve been able to gain a whole lot of insight and confidence.”
After stepping behind the camera to direct a season-seven episode of the series last year, Debnam-Carey is preparing to capitalise on her directorial debut. “It’s very special – especially for a young woman – to be given that opportunity,” she explains. But first she plans to spend some more time at home. “COVID amplified to me how much I miss Australia,” she says.
It’s a realisation that couldn’t have come at a better time, as she begins filming Amazon Prime’s new series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart opposite Sigourney Weaver and Asher Keddie in rural New South Wales. The actor describes the experience as “a kind of deeply manifested dream goal”.
As Debnam-Carey glides back on set and resumes her place in front of the camera sporting a striking cherry red Chanel three-piece ensemble, she seems genuinely elated. There’s no doubt she is exactly where she’s supposed to be: in front of the camera and, perhaps above all, at home.
Video: Ash Pepper.
