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Behind the scenes

Go an exclusive tour with the Packed to the Rafter's cast

Meet Ben Rafter

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Down load Rebecca’s signed Fan card.

Rebecca Gibney is regarded as one of Australia’s most-loved and respected actresses. A veteran of TV, film and theatre, she has enjoyed a long and illustrious career.

Packed to the Rafters is Rebecca’s first production with Channel 7 and it’s a show she’s incredibly excited and proud to be a part of. “It’s a real slice of Australian life,” she says. “Viewers will be able to see themselves in every single character. Every situation will be familiar to them. All the love, drama and humour is incredibly real and true.”

Having Erik Thomson as her on-screen husband Dave and three talented, relative newcomers as her children, Rebecca says she’s been blessed with an incredible cast to work with. “I’ve never worked with Erik before but we’ve been trying to for years,” Rebecca says. “Then this job came up and it felt absolutely right. “Weirdly enough we’ve taken on the role of parents already. I feel like I’m mum to these three incredibly gifted, young people. They’re fresh, talented and drop dead gorgeous – all of them. We don’t have a bad apple in the bunch. They’re all people to watch.”

Rebecca was born in New Zealand and is the youngest of six children. She moved to Australia at the age of 19 and worked as a model before landing the role of Julie Davis in the children’s series Zoo Family.

Roles in GP, Acropolis Now and the hugely successful mini series Come in Spinner followed. It was a breakthrough role which earned her an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Mini Series in 1990 and a peer-nominated Most Outsanding Actress Logie in 1991.

Rebecca went on to play mechanic Emma Plimpton for four years in the popular drama series The Flying Doctors. The role earned her critical and popular acclaim, as well as numerous Logie Award nominations. In 1990 she starred opposite Jon English in the successful sitcom All Together Now as Tracey Lawson, a role she played for three seasons.

Rebecca then took on the part of Dr Jane Halifax in Halifax f.p, a role created especially for her. A total of 21 episodes were produced over eight years to critical acclaim. Having screened in over 60 countries, it remains one of the longest-running movie series of all time. Rebecca then appeared in the mini-series Kangaroo Palace in 1997 and Day of the Roses the following year.

Her next high-profile role was in the telemovie trilogy Small Claims as Chrissy, co-starring with Claudia Karvan from 2003-06. She appeared in the movie adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Salem’s Lot in 2004 and then followed up in 2006 with King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes TV mini-series. Her last TV appearance was in that same year as Lydia in the drama Tripping Over.

Rebecca won rave reviews in 2007 in the Australian film Clubland playing the decidedly unglamourous Lana opposite Oscar nominee Brenda Blethyn. Showing her versatility, Rebecca has also hosted talk show Mars and Venus on Foxtel and presented the documentary series Sensing Murder.

A woman of many talents, she’s also taken to the stage in Mum’s the Word 2: Teenagers and Happy Days: The Arena Mega-Musical as Miss Frost.

Rebecca is married to production designer Richard Bell, with whom she has a four-year-old Zach. The couple have temporarily relocated from Tasmania to Sydney to film Packed to the Rafters.