Step Dave's Delaney Tabron on magazines and faxing a Sex Pistol
Delaney Tabron appears in Step Dave, now screening on TV2.
You recently relocated to Los Angeles. Initial impressions? I'd only been once before and thought it was a vapid, superficial tourist town, so I was really dreading it. You just hear terrible stories about actors in LA and the things they go through. But it has surprised me. There is so much incredible art and culture I wasn't aware of when I was just visiting. You have to live in a place to scratch beyond the surface.
What type of characters do you look to play? What won't you go near? I just look for a good story people can relate to. I also like playing really dark, awful, duplicitous characters. I'm quite a nice human so I like to play characters that are the opposite of that. I don't think there's a character I wouldn't play – maybe if something felt off or demeaning.
On Step Dave you play the well-meaning but trouble-making Xandra. Are you similarly wayward? I have a really innocent face which means I get away with a lot of things I shouldn't. But when I go through airports I always get stopped. I think it's because I look so innocent – 'She's clearly a drug mule' – but generally in life it works for me.
Career highlight so far? I was in a movie, Desired, by Amanda Phillips, and in 2013 she flew me to Cannes for the premiere. It was incredible – suddenly the whole film business became real to me. I was walking the red carpet behind Johnny Depp and sitting next to Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling. I also went to meetings with distributors and heard the way they sell films.
Long before working on Sunday you had your own magazine, No. What story are you proudest of publishing? The interview that was hardest to get, but I'd always wanted to do, was John Lydon of the Sex Pistols. Johnny Rotten. He doesn't have email or a telephone, but I managed to track down his fax number. I sent him these heartfelt letters but he ignored them all, so I started sending through black pages with just one word – 'Please', 'Say', 'Yes', 'To', 'No' – which used up all his ink. He obviously appreciated my persistence and said yes.
Do you think independent magazines have a future? Yes. People will always want good content. Magazines will just have to change and evolve. They can exist in a much bigger way now online. If readers trust you as a curator, they'll keep coming back. In the same way people love vinyl, there will be people who collect magazines.
Which of your traits do you most deplore? I am scared of everything. I'm in a constant state of terror all the time.
Which are you most proud of? The fact I'm brave enough to not let my terror stop me doing what I want to do. Also people tell me I'm kind. I'm quite proud of that.
Tell us something about yourself few people know. When I was little, my big dream was to be a professional dancer. I used to put on elaborate shows for my parents, friends, whoever would watch. It wasn't until I was 16 my sister sat me down in a kind, loving way and said, 'You're really just not co-ordinated enough to be a dancer.' I'm glad she told me – I was on the path to being one of those really bad reality TV auditions.