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It's win, win, win for these women

It's new, it's Australian, it's not a cop show and it's not about life in an emergency ward. And the four lead characters are women. Winners & Losers is a comedy drama set in Melbourne and, apart from the WAAPA-trained Virginia Gay (Sister Jaeger, All Saints), the roles are taken by virtual TV unknowns.

Gay is at a Melbourne coffee shop. It's down a cobbled side street and the actress is sitting outside at a small table tucking a stray strand of her pinned-up hair behind an ear as she responds to passing well-wishers.

It's not surprising the striking Gay is attracting attention. Massive billboards around the city and on the main route to the airport are spruiking the show.

The Seven Network has invested millions in this project and sent its top-rated drama Packed to the Rafters on hiatus to use its timeslot, backing their young performers to the hilt.

"I have been exceptionally lucky, I had the part of Gabrielle Jaeger written for me and now Frances," Gay says of her new role. "My boss John Holmes (executive producer) is really looking after me and, well, I am so, so, so lucky."

Created by Bevan Lee (Packed to the Rafters) and produced by Maryanne Carroll (City Homicide), the show is about four high school friends who were members of the same losers' club. Ten years after graduating, they meet again at a school reunion to recount their nightmares. And yes, their tormentor (Michala Banas) is still trying to ensure the four continue to suffer social death. Some things don't change.

The 1.8m Gay says she shares her character Frances' awkwardness, especially when she was a high schooler. "I was a big girl and, yes, that was an issue. It didn't exactly help I had braces, my limbs were everywhere and I didn't have the best style. Plus I was one of those who never knew what was going on. To cap it off, I played the trombone. Hey, I had to beat the boys away with sticks," laughs Gay.

Frances has few social skills but has exceptional business savvy and runs her own company so is seen as one of life's winners. Sophie (Melanie Vallejo, a Rafters guest star) graduated dux of the school and has dropped three dress sizes. Winner, right? Then there's Jenny Gross (Melissa Bergland) whose mum (comedienne Denise Scott in her first acting role) cossets her so she hasn't left home. Note the name: Gross. Loser surely? Bec (Zoe Tuckwell-Smith) is engaged, surely another winner?

Here's the show's idea: what does it really mean to win in life? So, there's a serious side: what do we value? But primarily Winners & Losers is written to make us laugh.

"I have a love for comedy and we are all funny, talented girls in this," says Gay.

"Mel (Vallejo) is such an interesting person — remember her in the Dare iced coffee ad? It was mostly adlibbed on her part. And I have improvised a lot in my time — something where the fear drives you on.

"But the thing about comedy on TV is it takes it right into people's lounge rooms so it is a lot more personal. People feel entitled to make personal comments. Someone said to me 'Are you that girl from TV? Nah, I don't think you're her because she's got a much bigger bum'."

Producer Carroll agrees. Seven years ago she moved to Sydney to helm the medical drama All Saints. She took on City Homicide before Winners & Losers but began her career in comedy.

Comedy lives or dies by immediate audience reaction, she says. "It's not like drama where you think 'Well, it's OK but it's not my thing.' If comedy doesn't make you laugh, you say 'It's s...' There's no in-between. Comedy is totally subjective."

There is nothing new about an ensemble comedy drama set in trendy, gritty Melbourne — think Offspring, Tangle and The Secret Life of Us. Offspring offered prime time female leading roles. Rare.

Winners & Losers is rarer still: four leads, all female, all individual.

"In terms of sexual politics and men, I have been exceptionally lucky not to experience the downside," says Gay. "The boys in this twigged on quickly and they were like 'Oh, so you girls must always feel like this, like your part is just to facilitate the story. Because in this the men are all in supporting roles.'"

Which makes all of these women winners.

By Helen Crompton
March 16, 2011
The West Australian