"My mother taught me about being a strong woman by leading by example. She roared through life," says the engaging Australian actor Marta Dusseldorp, sitting at Paddington's Alimentari café. She lives in the area, with her actor-director husband Ben Winspear and their daughters Grace, eight, and Maggie, five...

The stylish Dusseldorp has clearly inherited her mother’s strength. At 41, the star of television dramas Crownies, A Place to Call Home and Janet King, is witty, wise and not afraid to speak her mind. You could talk to her for hours on end about everything from motherhood to politics to how she spent many hours in her bedroom as a child singing along to Marylin Monroe. When she fell pregnant with her first daughter Grace, the celebrated actress was one of 12 actors who, in 2005, was offered an exclusive contract by the Sydney Theatre Company to form The Actors Company. “I worked up until I was seven months. I felt really empowered. I was working with Deb Mailman at the time and she was also pregnant so we were tangoing together. I was three months pregnant and she was five months pregnant.” Dusseldorp had originally planned to return to work after three months, but as many mothers will tell you, after a baby arrives, things don’t always go as planned. ”Unfortunately one of the directors didn’t approve of me breastfeeding, so I had to withdraw from the show. I’ve never told anyone that. I think it’s probably time. He couldn’t make a place for me feeding every four hours.” In retrospect, Dusseldorp says this was a gift. “It forced me to take a longer maternity leave. I ended up not going back to work until Grace was seven months old. I loved that time with her. What happened was outrageous, but at the same time, it made me stay at home, which I wouldn’t have done. I guess I would have liked to have been the one who made that decision.” When her second daughter, Maggie, was born two and a half years later, she was intent to stay home as much as she could for that first year. ”I think there is this overriding feeling of you’ve just had a child, what’s the big deal? Well, we were all children once and it is a big deal.” Indeed, the conundrum of pursing a fulfilling career while also trying to raise children is a constant challenge for women. ”There should be a place to do both. They do it in other places in the world and are incredibly supportive. There are a lot of theatre companies and productions, which are welcoming of new mothers and old mothers. What happened to me after Grace was born was an anomaly. It’s not a common thing and as I say, it was a gift in retrospect. It was their loss. I think children bring an amazing energy into a room. They cry occasionally, but so do adults. On their good days, like adults have good days too, there’s a magic to them that we cant recreate, particularly in a creative environment. Since I’ve had children, I’ve become a better performer.” In an age where everyone seems glued to a device, Dusseldorp is refreshingly present. You can see what a wonderful mother she must be and what an exceptional role model she is to her daughters. ”Like all mothers, there are times when I find it hard to keep up. But certainly in their younger years, I prioritised them and I would make sure that they were always in a good place.” And by a good place, she means being the one to tuck them into bed six nights a week. Now that Grace and Maggie are a little older, Dusseldorp is taking on more work. Back in January, she won the 2015 4th AACTA Award for best actress in a television drama for Janet King. Season three of A Place To Home starts filming in Sydney next month and she’s set to star in the next installment of the ABCs Jack Irish telemovie opposite Guy Pearce. She’s also an Ambassador for Save The Children and Cancer Council’s Daffodil Day. We caught up with the dynamic Dusseldorp to talk career and motherhood… Photography: Luc Remond