This is a conversation Kate has been dying to have for awhile now - keen for the lowdown on
The Letdown and generally a massive fan of Alison Bell's work.
Alison is the co-creator/co-writer/producer/director and star of the award winning ABC and Netflix co-production
The Letdown. Together with her co-writer, Sarah Scheller, Alison won the 2016 AACTA Award for Best Television Screenplay.
The Letdown also won the AACTA Award for Best Comedy Program for both seasons 1 + 2 (20017 + 2019). Alison’s performance was recognised with the AACTA for Best Comedy Performer for her work in the second season of
The Letdown, her fourth performance nomination. Other nominations include the 2019 AACTA Award for Best Direction in a Television Comedy or Drama for her TV directorial debut, (
The Letdown).
In 2021, Alison developed and led the writing team on the critically acclaimed Binge series,
LOVE ME.. The show picked up 7 Logie nominations. She wrote and starred in an episode of
Summer Love, an ABC anthology series, which aired in August 2022, and in the ABC drama,
Significant Others, airing October 2022. She has worked as an assessor for Playwriting Australia, a script consultant on theatre productions and short films and has contributed pieces to Marie Claire and Vogue Australia. She’s worked with production companies both here and in the US, including Sharon Horgan’s Merman, the FX Network, Kapital Entertainment, EKO, Giant Dwarf, Wooden Horse, Endemol Shine and the ABC. Prior to making
The Letdown Alison was best known for her dramatic work on the stage, for which she won multiple Helpmann and Greenroom Awards, as well as her starring role in the AACTA Award winning comedy
Laid. She has guest starred in many Australian series and her US credits include the HBO’s
The Leftovers, No Activity for CBS All Access and the reboot of Steven Spielberg’s
Amazing Stories on AppleTV+.
Alison is currently appearing in the MTC production of
What If If Only this August and September in a double bill.
The conversation covers:
